Buying some gear for the university paper...

FreeloaderJoe

FreeloaderJoe

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Hi guys.

I've been given a budget of around £900 (£1000 at a poke!) to spend on a student newspapers gear. I need to buy a body which is annoying because most of the togs who are on the paper have their own bodies and would benefit from the use of a flashgun or longer zoom lens to cover sports events. The editor wants a body for use by the news team if they need to cover a story in a hurry!

The team of photographers is of course a 50/50 Nikon/Canon split so it doesn't matter which way i go. I'm not THAT clear on D5000/D3000 autofocus issues...i doubt very much we'll ever buy anything than modern Nikon D lens if we go down the Nikon route in future. I need £20-30 free to buy a memory card or two and a protective filter for the lens aswell.

I'm very keen on IS/VR lens...because so much of the papers work is indoors

I can either go:

Nikon D3000 + 18-50 VR kit £385
70-300mm VR £397 (For sport...i can't find a more reasonable lens with abit of poke on it unless anyone else has any suggestions!)
sb-600 £200

Canon EOS450D + 18-55 IS £480
or
EOS 1000D +18-50 kit non IS! £368
Speedlite 430EX II £199
+ A another longer lens?!?!?!?

Help me out. The body is the least important part of the kit. Its all about loaning kit out ot photogs who don't have a longer lens or a flash gun!

Help me out!
 
p.s. also in terms of kit holding its value. I think spending cash on lens/flashguns is more sensible....if more goes on bodies, they'll all be obselete within a couple years.
 
Might be worth checking out Kerso's prices on here. I got the speedlite 430exii for £175. the efs 55-250mm IS lens is good value and good IQ for its price
 
Would buying a good compact for the non-togs not make more sense? Then you could get a couple of flashguns and maybe a couple of lenses (1 each per main manufacturer)?

Buying a body for use by someone with no experience will probably end up with worse pictures than the compact anyway
 
I'd strongly discourage getting a D3000, from a futureproofing and 'professional' point of view - I know someone who has bought one recently and even as a new amateur is getting limited by it.

If you can, beg the SU beancounters (they must have a system for this) to let you buy and claim back, or similar, and let you buy second hand, it will mean that you can get a FAR better setup.

- rather than the 70-300vr, get a second hand sigma 70-200 2.8 - much better for gigs and indoor events, as well as floodlit sports. Tends to go for £400 second hand, or sometimes even 350 (on here anyway...ebay is pants)

- The nikon 18-70 3.5-4.5 is a far better wide-normal zoom than the kit 18-55, and goes for about 125 second hand - again, if you can that is.

A D70 is *probably* a better camera than the D3000 - can work as single channel CLS commander for off camera flash stuff, is a bit larger (good thing imo), and you can pick them up for about £200 second hand :D

lastly, SB600s are where its at. £150 second hand, £170 new. job done.

d70 - 200
18-70 3.5-4.5 - 125
70-200 - 400
sb600 - 170
2* 4gb extreme 2's - about £20
kenko filters for the lenses - about 25
spare battery for camera (people never seem to charge after use...) - £15 for two, ebay
cheap bag from 7dayshop - 10
stofen * 5 - a tenner (these just disappear, so buy a load)
AA eneloops + charger - £9 from 7dayshop

I know all too well what budget constraints etc can be like in a student's union or similar, but a) they can probably be sold on second hand kit if you give them a spreadsheet of new prices vs second hand prices b) beg nicely, mention how good it will be for student development to be working with more professional kit, how few adverts in the magazine will pay for the whole new kit, quality of pictures obtainable with 2.8 tele lens, useful for a wider range of subjects, etc...

when we were applying to the union for money (after capital spend application period annoyingly), we presented a list of setups in excel, ranging from the stupidly professional and expensive (2 1Dmk3s anyone?), to the midly affordable (50D+2* 2.8 lenses) - we got given half the money of the mildly affordable setup :P

point out how expensive photography is, what a great avenue for student development this is, an essential part of the magazine, etc etc etc etc.

any q's, pm me...

Would buying a good compact for the non-togs not make more sense? Then you could get a couple of flashguns and maybe a couple of lenses (1 each per main manufacturer)?
Click to expand...

might actually be a good approach... a TZ series point and shoot (TZ5 or so) is a good camera for about 150-200, and fine if editors need to grab a picture quickly. You could then get a tamron 17-50 2.8 for each of canon and nikon, and a 430ex and a sb600, and maybe even a 50mm prime or two - would keep all your photogs happy :)
 
No. The bean counters will want new kit. And i can't be arsed with messing round if it all goes arse over ear...a warrentee is a nice thing for a union bean counter.

I understand where people are coming from with the point-n-shoot, but it's a pre requisite that there is something that can shoot the lens with the budget. I know its frustrating, but its going to be the way it rolls!
 
In my opinion go for whatever body you like, plus an 18-200 or similar and a flashgun (Nissin are awesome value for money).

My reasoning behind an 18-200 is that if it's crucial that you get the shot then having all the ranges covered in one lens is preferable.

Just my opinion, but it's based on having had to cover a LOT of ground in the past - any IQ tradeoffs are worth making for the reduced hassle and risk of changing lenses!

Cheers,
James
 
Would Second hand from the like of London Camera Exchange be exceptable?
I've had a few good deals from my local, especially if you let them know what your looking for before they get it in.
Comes with a Warrenty then too.
 
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