Reusing old camera accessories

[Taz]

I'll be dusting off my old 35mm camera kit this weekend to see what I can reuse with my new Nikon D90. Back in the 80s I built up a nice little 35mm SLR system consisting of a Minolta Dynax 7000i camera with stock lens, a Sigma 300mm zoom lens, a flashgun, etc. All of that is housed in a nice gadget bag than I may salvage.

I also have two Hama tripods (with spirit levels), a desktop tripod, a mini-vacuum cleaner (battery=powered), and, most importantly, a box full of Cokin filters (around 50 in total). What are the chances of reusing the Cokin filters with the D90? I think I spent a fair bit of cash on them back then and anything that I can salvage, I will.

[brammers]

The Cokin filters will work fine with a D90 - the lenses still work the same way. The question is more along the lines of whether or not you want to.

Digital has pretty much erased the need for filters - you simply use PS filters instead. There's still a use for CPLs and NDs, but you could argue that even graduated density filters have been replaced by stacked exposures.

The Minolta stuff will all sell on ebay - make sure you bundle the 7000i with one of the lenses though - it's too common to sell on its own. What's the stock lens? If it's a 50 1.7 then you've got 70quid or so there. The old Sigma won't be worth much, and there's the fact that some of the very old Sigmas won't work on digital bodies.

Minolta also changed the flash system since the 7000i when they brought in the i-iso shoe - this means that your flash is worthless except as a remote slave. For it to be of any use here it'll need to have manual power output - 1/1, 1/2 etc. If this is the case keep it for use with your D90, otherwise bundle it with the 7000i.

Tripods will be fine, but I really can't reccomend you put the vaccuum anywhere near your D90's sensor!!!

Incidently why did you go for a D90 and not an A700 if you've got Minolta kit? D90's newer, but an A700 is a bit higher spec and cheaper. Video? Dislike of Sony?

[Taz]

Thanks for the info brammers. I guess I went for the D90 because a relative has the D80 and he has several lenses that he can loan me for free for extended periods of time. He's also got a couple of spare Nikon flashguns that should work with my D90 plus a few other bits and bobs. So, whilst my initial outlay was a bit more than I would have liked to have paid, i've got a couple of £K worth of lenses and other Nikon accessories at my disposal at no cost to me.

[merdat]

I,m going to revisit my old camera lenses as well ,may get some interesting results especially using primes .

[colmo]

I'll be dusting off my old 35mm camera kit this weekend to see what I can reuse with my new Nikon D90. Back in the 80s I built up a nice little 35mm SLR system consisting of a Minolta Dynax 7000i camera with stock lens, a Sigma 300mm zoom lens, a flashgun, etc. All of that is housed in a nice gadget bag than I may salvage.

What kind of 300mm is it? Is it a fixed focal length (aka. prime) telephoto lens (max aperture is likely f4, or maybe even f2.8, which will make it really big), or a zoom (the 300mm is at the long end)? Primes tend to hold their value better (as zooms have improved markedly in recent years, making their ancestors less desirable), especially if they work on an extant digital system. If you can find it on the Dyxum lens database, then you're in luck. You might even find a taker here

[brammers]

It sounds like an el-cheapo 70-300 varient I'm afraid - Sigma only make one 300mm prime and it's a 2.8. If it was one of those I think he'd know about it

[colmo]

It sounds like an el-cheapo 70-300 varient I'm afraid - Sigma only make one 300mm prime and it's a 2.8. If it was one of those I think he'd know about it

I suspect so, but one can hope - Dyxum actually list four Sigma 300mm primes, one of them an f4 (a sibling of my 400mm f5.6 Tele Macro, actually).

Ffordes currently have one of the ancient white/cream 300mm f2.8 designs, chipped for digital, in stock for £749.