i am new to SLR photography and i want to purchase SLR camera for about 300 USD.

friend of mine offers me his 2 years old Canon EOS 500N with EF 28-80 3,5-5,6 lens and battery pack for 250 USD. for another 120 USD he has EF 75-300 II Canon telezoom. is this a good offer?

my second choice is new Nikon F65 with AF 3,5 - 5,6G lens which here in slovakia costs 350 USD.

which one camera do you think will give me better photo results? i dont want the camera for specific job, i want good all around camera for amateur. do you think the lenses with the EOS 500N are good quality? i read some comments about EOS 300 kit and very poor lenses bundled in it.

-- Vladimir Rehanek (rehanek@nextra.sk), May 08, 2002

Answers

I personally would much rather shoot with a used Canon 500N than a new Nikon F65. Nikon makes good cameras but the less expensive ones are not as good as the Canons. With the F65 you can't even set the film speed manually. This is a really "dumbed down" camera.

The Canon 28-80 f/3.5-5.6 and the 75-300 are not examples of Canon's better lenses. I'd call them lower middle class, but they really aren't bad lenses. And they would certainly compare well with any of Nikon's "G" lenses.

The price for the Canon stuff is good. Not outstanding, but good.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), May 08, 2002.

The N65 has two weaknesses compared to the EOS 500N. The first if the absence of film DX override. The second is the absence of partial/spot metering. The EOS 500N has both these important features. Get the 500N because it includes these two features and it's less expensive. With the 500N's feature set, it is an excellent all around camera for an amateur.

The EOS 500N allows you to override the automatic film speed setting. Normally when you load film, the camera reads the DX code off the film canister and sets the film speed automatically. When you load ISO 400 speed film, the camera sets the film speed to ISO 400. However, there are many instances where you will want to override the automatic setting and enter in another ISO. For example, many photographers know that some films perform better at speeds other than what the manufacturer has indicated. For example, I regularly override the following films: Fuji NPH 400 (to ISO 320 or 250), Fuji NPZ (to ISO 640), Ilford XP2 Super 400 (to ISO 320 or 250), Fuji Velvia 50 (to ISO 40), etc. The advantages of doing this are finer grain, better shadow detail, better colors, depending on the film. As you can see, having film DX override is a very useful and convenient feature to have. That is why it is standard on most cameras. But the Nikon N65 does not have it.

You would also use film DX-override when you want to "push" film. For example, if you are shooting with an ISO 200 film but need something faster, you can set the camera to ISO 400 and request that the film be push processed.

The EOS 500N has 9.5% partial metering. This allows you to take a reading from the central 9.5% of the viewfinder, indicated on the focus screen by a circle. With the selectivity of a partial meter, you can get a more precise and accurate meter reading. This is particularly useful in difficult lighting situations that would otherwise fool an evaluative/matrix meter. The EOS 500N does evaluative metering in AV and TV mode, and centerweighted metering in manual mode. However, you can activate partial metering at any time by pressing the (*) button. The Nikon N65 does evaluative metering in AV and TV mode, and centerweighted metering in manual mode, also. But the N65 does not have partial metering.

I personally would not get a camera that didn't have film DX override or partial/spot metering.

The EOS 500N lacks depth of field preview, though. So, too, did the Nikon N60. But then Canon replaced the EOS 500N with the EOS 300, which added depth of field preview. Nikon replaced the N60 with the N65, which added depth of field preview as well. So the N65 has depth of field preview while the EOS 500N does not. However, I would rather have film DX override and partial meter than depth of field preview since I use film DX override and partial metering much more. Plus, using depth of field preview is a little more difficult on entry-level cameras because of the viewfinders found on these cameras are not very bright.

I have an old Rebel X (EOS 500, predecessor to the EOS 500N). It was my first EOS. I still keep it and use it on occassion. It still works like a champ and has all the basic features I need. I use its partial meter constantly because I like to maintain optimum control of exposure. And as mentioned before, I almost always override the film speed with films I use.

-- PeterP (pphan01@hotmail.com), May 08, 2002.

thank you very much for your answers. so, you would like to buy the canon 500N over the new nikon f65 but what about the other slr cameras? in the 350 USD price range i have is the minolta dynax 5 and too the pentax MZ 30 they have the metal lens mount do you have good experience with plastic lens mount in canon cameras? the 75-300 lens has metal mount, is it ok for the camera with plastic lens mount?

-- Vladimir Rehanek (rehanek@nextra.sk), May 09, 2002.

The plastic mount is not likely to give you a problem. They seem to wear well. I have only heard of one person ever complaining about excessive wear noticed on a plastic camera mount.

The Minolta 5 is another nice camera and is probably a better value than the Canon EOS 300. Canon has some better technology in thier lenses (USM & IS), but just comparing camera bodies, I think the Minolta 5 is better than the Canon 300/Rebel 2000

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), May 09, 2002.