Cindy Towsner owns two Nikon 35mm cameras that boast single-lens reflex (SLR) capability, where the camera uses one lens for both viewing and picture taking. She's also got a host of lenses, including the following Nikkor lenses: AF 28-80, AF 35-80, AF 80-200 telephoto. She writes:I'm looking to buy my first digital camera, and from what I've read, the SLRs are still the best way to go. So with my present lenses, I should be looking for a Nikon digital SLR. I would, however, like the following components in my camera: diopter adjustment for those of us who wear eyeglasses, in-camera red-eye elimination, anti-shake or image stabilization, and white balance. Is there a camera with these components?
I don't think there's a camera that fits all your specs. Nikon offers four models of digital SLRs -- the high-end consumer D50 and D70, the "prosumer" D200, and the professional D2. All of them should accept any Nikkor lens with the standard Nikon-F mount, though of course you will only get those features that the lens can support.
For example, your AF lenses will support autofocus and auto-aperture control. But the oldest Nikkor lenses will have to be used manually, even though they fit the mount on the Nikon D-series cameras.
UNSTABLE BODIES. Red eye usually isn't much of a problem with these cameras. Red eye is caused when light from the flash bounces off the retinas of the subject's eyes, and it occurs when the flash and the lens are too close together.
That's an unavoidable problem on small point-and-shoot cameras. But even with the built-in flash on the D50, D60, and D200, you are less likely to get red eye than on smaller cameras, and if using a shoe-mounted flash, you're not likely to get it at all.
The big problem is image stabilization. Nikon builds optical image stabilization into its VR (vibration reduction) lenses rather than the camera bodies, so none of these bodies comes with stabilization. The same is true of other digital SLRs from Canon and Olympus. This is a superior technology, but it gets expensive since it must be duplicated in each lens.
Given your collection of Nikkor lenses, probably your best bet would be to go with a Nikon body and add a VR lens. Image stabilization, of course, is important primarily with longer lenses, where vibration is far more likely to keep you from getting a sharp picture.
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