1st DSLRs and lens advice (1st post!)

[cowasaki]

Hello everyone,

I am looking at buying my first DSLR and was looking at the Nikon D200 with a Nikon AF-S DX 18-200mm VR f/3.5-5.6 G IF-ED & Nikon AF-S 105 f/2.8 G VR plus I was going to buy a Nikon D40x with standard lens for my wife and two flashes an SB600 and SB800.

Obviously this is a lot of cash to spend and get it wrong so I thought I would ask on the forum.

(1) Is the 18-200 lens going to be good for general photography, portrates, kids, landscapes etc or should I get two cheaper lens.

(2) Is the 105 macro going to be good for photographing gems and jewelery?

(3) Is the D40x a good camera too?

(4) If I wanted a lens specifically for portrates for the D200 what would be best?

(5) Is it worth paying the cost of the SB600 & 800 or can I get flashes that will do the same for less money?

Thanks everyone in advance....

 

[Slapo]

1.
The 18-200 mm will be better if you either don't want to change lenses often or if you wouldn't be able to change them often (like when you're out with kids running around and such). I have a Nikon D50 with 18-55 Nikkor (the kit lens) and a Sigma 70-300 mm APO DG macro. Sometimes I wish I had the 18-200 Nikkor, Tamron 18-250, the Nikkor being better, but the Tamron cheaper (the Sigma 18-200 OS might not be too bad, but from what I've seen, its bokeh isn't very pleasant).

2.
I think this has been recently discussed here, but I don't remember the name of the thread.
However, with gems and jewellery, I think you might need to invest into some lighting (or wait for nice light from outside), since the tend to reflect light quite a bit.

3.
Pretty much every DSLR that's on the market now (with the newest entry levels, the older ones from other brands than Nikon and Canon often left something to be desired more so than their counterparts from the big two).
If your wife would do mostly family photography and slower action, is should be quite fine (and I've seen some impressive action shots made with it too). Bear in mind that with the 3 AF points the D40x has, she might need to use focus lock if she prefers to select her focus points manually (which I'd recommend at least trying out).

4.
... I'm not sure I'll be of help here, but I don't think there's a single best lens out there for any job. Most lenses seem to be sharpest when stopped down 2-4 stops, so you might want to take this into consideration as well.
The 50 mm Nikkor primes seem to be very nice for that purpose, though (the F1.4 being sharper at lower f-stops, the cheaper F1.8 prime tends to be sharper at higher f-stops).

5.
What do you want the flashes for (I don't mean the obvious - flashing, but a narrower specification)?

 

[cowasaki]

Thanks,

I have bought one of those macro tent things with two lamps. It was a bargain on ebay for £18+12 postage. I really do like some of the macro shots and portraits. I have been reading a lot and the stuff about lighting regularly used two flashguns. I though if I buy a SB600 and a 800 we can use one each but if one of us is doing something that needs more light we can use both and the 800 can trigger the 600! Well that was my thought on it!!

I have seen a few people talk about the 50mm lens. Is it going to be better than the 18-200 at 50?

 

[digitalfailure]

I can't really help with the Nikon lens side of things, but from my limited experience playing with other peoples bodies, the D200 and D40x are both damn fine cameras and you'll be impressed.

I would imagine the Nikon flashes will have more functionality with a Nikon camera than another marque.

Welcome to TPf, enjoy your stay. I'm sure some of our Nikon users will be along shortly to offer their thoughts.

 

[Slapo]

Thanks,
I have seen a few people talk about the 50mm lens. Is it going to be better than the 18-200 at 50?

The macro tent should work fine, I think (I haven't used them, but I'd love to... once i think of something to put inside )

The 50 mm, either the 1.8 or 1.4, you'll be better prepared for low light situations.
Don't forget it's 50*1.5, i.e. 75 mm film eqivalent. If you'll have some space to walk around in, they should both do pretty well and I'd bet they'll be a bit sharper (you might need a decent monitor to see the differences, though).

If you think you'll do a lot of, say, party photos, they I'd suggest some primes withing the 10-30 mm range or a wide angle zoom lens.

Be careful, though, most of the primes probably won't autofocus on the D40x.
If you want the resolution and more lenses to choose from, I'd suggest the D80 instead.
I'm not sure if it's as 'user friendly' as the D40x, but it can do a bit more

 

[cowasaki]

Thanks, but i'm getting the D200 the D40x is for my wife. Will the AF work on the D200 ?

I have just looked on ebay and the 50mm with f1.8 is about £80 and the f1.4 is about £170 is the extra stop worth doubling the price? Is it a better lens? why?

Any ideas

 

[Slapo]

For lens reviews, have a look at http://photozone.de/8Reviews/index.html
I think the D200 will autofocus with all of the current(!) AF Nikkors, but you might want to check the manual for exceptions: http://www.nikonians.org/html/resources/nikon_articles/other/manuals/manuals.html

The differences seem to be appear when you stop down a bit and corner sharpness at various f-stops differs too.
If I were to shop for these, I'd get the F1.8, unless I'd want better corner sharpness (which I usually don't care for that much, unless I'm trying to get some landscapes, 50 mm is too long for landscapes, though), as it's not that expensive and if you get a BR-2A adapter (which I want to get for use with my 18-55 kit lens), you might get some nice macro shots with it.