 BetterPhoto Member |
Any reason to upgrade from Coolpix 5700? I was on the verge of selling of my Coolpix 5700 and getting a Nikon D70 or Canon 20D, when I realized that: 1. The lens of CP 5700 is the 135 equiv. of 35~280, and the f value is 2.8~4.2. The Nikon kit lens is 18~70/f3.5~4.5. 2. While gaining in terms of effective focal length, I am wary of the cropping...in digital SLRs, is what you see what you get? Do you see the cropped image, or the uncropped one? 3. The image sensor of Coolpix 5700 is 2/3" or 8.8 x 6.6 mm while that of the Nikon D70 is 23.7 x 15.6 mm, both being CCDs. Is that reason enough to upgrade? 4. The only problem I face with the CP5700 is that it does not have AF assist. Since I do not see much value in an immediate upgrade, should I wait for a D80 or a 30D to come along? Thanks,
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Jon Close |
1. With respect to exposure, the difference between f/2.8-4.2 and f/3.5-4.5 is less than 2/3 of a stop, not really significant. With respect to the angle of view, the CP5700's 8.9-71.2mm lens is equivalent to 35mm-280mm. But the depth of field for 8.9-71.2 is much greater than for 35-280, so that with respect to depth of field its f/2.8 aperture is equivalent to f/11. You generally cannot get the subject separation and creamy blurred backgrounds with 2/3" digi that you can get with the larger sensors and lenses of DSLRs. 2. What you see is what you get. The "crop" is only with respect to what the same focal length lens would give on a 35mm film camera. 3. Yes. See Depth of Field issue in (1). Also the larger sensors have much less noise, so that clean pictures can be taken at up to ISO 800-1600 v. and effective limit of 200-400 for the CoolPix 4. The built-in AF assist of the D70/20D is not that great. Better would be to use an accessory flash with a patterned near-infrared focus assist beam. If you don't see much value in an immediate upgrade, then wait. A DSLR like the D70 or 20D is a significant investment, requires even more investment in lenses and flash, and to get the most out of its images an investment of time in post-processing/editing. JMHO, YMMV.
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