What camera do I buy? / general gear talk

Looks like that 50mm lens is AIS. My understanding is if it has the Aperture Index ring, and the 16 is orange, not blue, then it is AIS. In which case that should meter on the d300, but not the d60.

It will still physically fit on to the d60 and take pictures, but the light meter is your eyes and brain, or external light meter.

I used the d60 with my mum's non AI lenses purely on manual and that taught me quite a lot.

Agreed, that to me looked like the AIS version. My non-AIS version has the blue f16. Best way to tell is if there is a notch on the back part of the lens as shown to the bottom of the page here.

Got it.
That's why my earlier web searches pointed towards pro / semi pro bodies (the older ones) as light meter would work even with older lenses (i.e. the d300 like you say).
I'm My wife has a entry level nikon dslr, which takes my lenses, but without light meter reading... I'm not good enough to take pictures without this...

Fair enough. So a d200 or D300 would be best.

A colleague at work has a Rollei 35 LED that they are looking to sell. What's a fair price for this camera? I'm looking at eBay and the prices vary massively from £40-£180.

You'll get a decent D200 for a good price, check LCE in Derby, I traded my D200 and vertical grip in there recently, fully boxed etc. It has a really low shutter count and I can tell you it has been very well looked after!

I understand any London Camera Exchange can get them you in for a small fee, give them a ring, tell them it was the guy who traded it for the Fuji XT2, make sure it is the same one...it'll do you a treat! This one was mine, I'm sure of it!
https://www.lcegroup.co.uk/Used/Nikon-D200-Body-Only-***-Shutter-Count-on-13.2K-***_182225.html

Red

I buy from LCE often and there's no fee for transport between shops. They're always bang-on regards condition rating.

I can rate LCE, thats where I got my mju. Condition was excellent. They even shipped it directly to me for free.

If you want it in detail, Ken Rockwell is happy to explain..

Short answer - get a D200 (if D300 is too much).

The only "pro" body you can get in that price range is a D1, which is an ancient, heavy 2.6MP camera with a display the size of a stamp.

It does look pretty cool though. I saw a girl in Kreuzberg last year shooting with one.

It would be in Kreuzberg :)

The Nikon Df will work with a huge range of f mount lenses. That might be worth a look?

Don't know where to post this but has anyone experience of IR trail cameras?
I want to see what's in my garden at night. Needs to be battery powered and SD. Do I go something brandy/spenny or cheap chinese? Specs look similar.
Or something else?

£160
https://shop.naturespy.org/product/2017-bushnell-trophy-cam-hd-essential-e3-119837/?gclid=CjwKEAjwgZrJBRDS38GH1Kv_vGYSJAD8j4Dfe_FDphgN-c7bga2qk08ozHW8XTz-erMHGRyi9pbkdBoCki3w_wcB

£60
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-4-LCD-1080P-HD-12MP-Hunting-Scouting-Trail-Camera-Game-Wildlife-PIR-LED-Night-/262160453520?_trksid=p2385738.m2548.l4275

I've got a Bushnell. Can't remember the model but a few years old now. Works pretty well - I've used it for badgers in the woods and also in the garden.

Thanks for the feedback... good to know.

I know variable NDs are invariably a bit shit, but does anyone have any they'd recommend if held at gunpoint? 55mm di, budget not an issue - just want something that doesn't fuck up colour too much and introduce too many artefacts/focus issues/vignetting blah.

Actually scratch that, a 72 with a 55-72 step up ring makes more sense.

Compact system/digital camera . £300 or less, might be able to stretch that if its worth it. What's the best camera this sort of money can buy?

an iPhone?

At a guess, second hand A6000?

Sony RX100 mk3 I'm sure you'd get for under that.

Or one of the Sony Nex models. DSLR size sensors, decent lens on the newer models (although a bit pricey buying additional lens second hand)

It depends how compact you need. If it's to be as small as possible a compact camera like the Sony RX100, if you can go a little bigger then a mirrorless like a Sony A6000.

thank you all guys. Looked at the rx100 the other day.

This looks interesting...