Quote:
Originally Posted by Lakesrider
She might want to go digital right away. So consider if any of her "new" lenses will go on say a D60 or D80 as well. Myself....I'd put the money toward a Digital camera instead. More practical, more sellable if she doesn't like it. Prices are great right now on the D60. Look at B&H photo. Ask for a catalog. She should like to look through it. Also take her to a good museum with a photography exibit. Get her stoked. It is a great field. I've been taking pictures with film camera, and am now still learning all the things my D80 will do. The new cameras are amazing.
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I'm going to agree with Lakesrider here, I probably wouldn't spend any $$ on new lenses just yet. If she decides she likes photography she'll want to go digital and drop the film based camera. These days digital is sooo much easier to do and cheaper too ! And if you're just learning, the immediate feedback you get w/digital is a big plus. You get to experiment w/o having to wait (and pay) for film to get developed and so figure out what works and what doesn't while it's still fresh in the mind. So the question then is, will she go Nikon for her future camera ? Certainly no reason not too, though I wouldn't use the existing lens as a
firm reason to go Nikon vs Canon or Sony or ???.
FWIW the N6006 has an F mount. F mount lenses will not autofocus on Nikon's D40, D40x or D60. To use it she'd need to step up to the uber new D90 or last years D80 (or possibly an older D70 - 6 MP). The lens she has is probably a f/3.3-4.5 and worth maybe $50-70 today. Now if she had the constant f/2.8D lens ... wells that's another story ($400+). You should see
this link to see what lens is which. Even then I would probably opt to go digital w/o worrying much about compatibility with the existing lens. Figure out what camera feels best in her hand and then go from there. Fanatics can debate the picture quality differences but IMHO whatever small differences there may be pale in comparison to the talent behind the camera. For that matter you can get very good pictures from point'n'shoots and "super-zooms" under most conditions. dSLRs really only "rule" when things are dark or fast moving, though I have to say having gotten used to a good optical viewfinder I find it frustrating to use an LCD for framing.
ps - Remember if you do go Nikon digital (D70/80/90) that 35-70 lens will act like a 52 - 105 mm due to the crop factor. Not a bad short tele but she'll eventually want to go both wider (28mm) and longer (210 - 300mm) and so at some point new lenses will enter the picture.