Larry, Godfrey, Thibs, Tom, Bill, John, Dario, Bob W, Bob S et al (*), I
appreciate your comments and suggestions.
I am thinking of the following "strategy".
1. Larry, both my cameras are fully hmmm accessorized, meaning properly
tuned Katz Eye screens and viewfinder magnifying eye caps. I would try
to teach her how to shoot in manual focus. I will probably even
suggest to her that she takes her camera+lens for a purely manual focus
shoot. It could be indeed fun and useful.
2. I am looking very seriously into investing in another, mirrorless,
system. Hopefully soon enough I would be able to get a chance to play
with one of these cameras to see how it goes.
3. I have AF film camera (in repair as of now) and a MF film camera on
its way to me (thanks to certain amazing gentleman from this list). If
she feels like it, she'd be able to have a roll of film through either
of these cameras, though I am not entirely certain she could
successfully and usefully manage both manual focus and completely manual
exposure.
4. I am also eyeing compact cameras with non-interchangeable lenses such
as Canon G series. I was asked to shoot in relatively low light with G11
and was impressed by its responsiveness.
5. I do not foresee at this moment buying yet another DSLR from Pentax.
I have two and they should suffice. In practice, we can exchange cameras
(me getting K10D and Galia getting K-7) and keep shooting. This could be
a good idea from "social" (wink, wink, nod, nod) point of view.
To answer specifically few points that Larry made:
If old Nikon glass is reasonably inexpensive in Israel, maybe a
Nikon body that'll use AIS glass.
Nikon service in Israel is not something I'd like to deal with.
Canon/Pentax (same company) however is very close to be brilliant (under
standard limitations).
My ratio of keepers with a film camera was an order of magnitude
higher than with digital, if only because I stopped to think about
each shot, and didn't try 30 different things to dial it in.
Galia shoots between 10 to 50 frames on a shoot, which makes her
anything but trigger happy. She tries to nail it and she also knows that
an additional take or two (but no more than that) is a good idea. So, I
am not really worried about that.
I will also suggest that you keep your ears open for people visiting
Israel from the US to see if they can bring a camera in. Are there
nasty tariffs if someone (perhaps someone who owes you a favor) buys
one in the US and ships it to you?
Tariffs are like 15% VAT that has to be paid if something comes through
the mail. The main problem is that it is customary here not to respect
international warranty. For example Canon/Pentax service that I praised
is cool, but (standard limitation) they don't respect international
warranty. In modern days of very low level of QC and manufacturer
problems your suggestion is still valid but extreme caution must be
exercised.
Thanks again!
Boris
(*) If your name is not on the list, but you participated in these
threads, I appreciate your help just as well!
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