D90 or D300 plus lenses

d3adm0nk3y

d3adm0nk3y

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Alex
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Two things happened this weekend.

I realised I had outgrown my D40 & my wife caught the photography bug. :D

I borrowed my brothers D80 and it felt good, so my wife got the opportunity to have a really good play with my D40.

So I have been given the go ahead to buy myself a new body and lenses, the only proviso being a £2000 budget and I need to buy a macro lens for her.

I currently own a D40, 18-55mm kit lens, a nifty fifty, tripod and monopod.
Her subject matter will be mainly macro and motorsport.
Mine will be people, motorsport and sport.

So which route would you take?

#1
D90 body
18-105mm VR lens
AF-S VR 70-300mm lens
AF-S VR 105mm 2.8 micro lens
+ £500 for accesories

Or #2
D300 body
18-105mm VR lens
AF-S VR 70-300mm lens
AF-S VR 105mm 2.8 micro lens
+ £100 for accesories

Thanks,
Alex
 
None of your choices gives me the warm fuzzies for various reasons.

Can you tell me how you have arrived at your short list first?
 
Well to start off with I thought about getting a nice fast 70-200mm f2.8 lens with the D300 with the intention of adding a 300mm f4 lens at a later stage.
But that came to rather alot, plus I needed to add a macro lens in for the wife.

So lots of looking in the back of magazines I whitled it down to the two lists.

Would it be better to get a D90 + the 70-200mm f2.8 lens?
 
Well I was thinking you should get a 70-200 f/2.8 as well.

I'd pick up a used D200 though, its much nicer than the D90. Its faster for sport (5 fps and CF card write speeds are much better than SHDC).
 
i would say get the lenses you want first then upgrade the body later. that way you can spend what you like on lenses and get used to them then take the plunge with a new body
 
puddleduck said:
Well I was thinking you should get a 70-200 f/2.8 as well.

I'd pick up a used D200 though, its much nicer than the D90. Its faster for sport (5 fps and CF card write speeds are much better than SHDC).
Click to expand...

Thanks puddleduck, that's certainly food for thought.

whitey said:
i would say get the lenses you want first then upgrade the body later. that way you can spend what you like on lenses and get used to them then take the plunge with a new body
Click to expand...

Thanks whitey, I want a new body so that my wife can have the D40 which I find small and fiddly after playing with the D80, loved not having to go through hoops to change my settings.

Alex
 
I moved from a Pentax K100D to a D300 a few months ago under similar circumstances. My missus got the Pentax and I got a D300, 18-70 AF-s DX and a 70-300 AF-s VR all for £1500 delivered and a 4gig CF card too. The D90 to me we too gimmicky and after a lot of advice and help from on here and a friend that works in LCE I decided on the above kit.

Here's the post here,

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=80350
 
D200 is an amazing camera, do not discount that option .. even at 2nd hand it is a fantastic camera.

Get this, if I were in your shoes ..

For yourself, get the D200 at £420
A new 70-200VR at £1,150
A new Tamron 17-50/2.5 at £270

For your wife, get her the Sigma 150/2.8 - mint 2nd hand here - going for £275

That goes just over your £2,000 budget... but what an outstanding kit you'd have :shrug:
 
Wail said:
D200 is an amazing camera, do not discount that option .. even at 2nd hand it is a fantastic camera.

Get this, if I were in your shoes ..

For yourself, get the D200 at £420
A new 70-200VR at £1,150
A new Tamron 17-50/2.5 at £270

For your wife, get her the Sigma 150/2.8 - mint 2nd hand here - going for £275

That goes just over your £2,000 budget... but what an outstanding kit you'd have :shrug:
Click to expand...

:agree:
 
I`d go with Wails recommendations, the 70-200vr is superb, but check the weight and size first to see if it will fit in with your style of photography. You might need a new bag too! Lowepro do a good toploader (75AW about £47) that will accomodate a D80/200/300 ( and probably a D3) with a 70-200 f2.8 fitted.
Otherwise a 70-300vr is very good and about half the size.
Allan
 
Please, no matter what the excuse is, do not worry about the weight of the 70-200VR; unless you are physically incapable of holding it! Take that from someone who's sold his copy, because I couldn't hand-hold it, and haven't spent a day without regretting it!

You can practice to hand-hold it, a little bit of effort will get you to get outstanding results from it ... the f2.8 and speed of this lens make it a must have and there is no excuse not to get it. Once you've had an experience of it, nothing will come close.

Everytime I now use my 70-300VR (which I got because I wanted lighter lens) I feel the regret in every cell of my body .. every time I have to increase my ISO to compensate for light, I feel the regret ... everytime I need faster acquisition of moving objects / creatures, I feel the regret. Basically, everyday I am shooting I feel the regret.

Again, this is one lens you don't want to exclude.
 
without question i would buy a d700 and then a secound hand lens to go with it from someone like ffordes

if you try the d700 you will see what i mean

failing that a d300
 
a quick look at grays where mine came from its now cheaper £1,625 [£75 less than i paid]

they had a mint one for £1,500 recently

they also have some good lens s/h you could probaly get a deal with

have a look at ffordes here as well

https://secure.ffordes.com/shop/Store/index.htm

a 50mm on the d700 is a joy as are all of the lens i now have
 
ditchdigger said:
without question i would buy a d700 and then a secound hand lens to go with it from someone like ffordes

if you try the d700 you will see what i mean

failing that a d300
Click to expand...

Well give his budget is £2k, and he's into motorsport and macro (neither of which a D700 would be my first choice) and the camera will eat into the majority of his funds, no matter how good the D700 (and its lovely) its not the best choice in this case.
 
when i worked for the local newspaper i covered everything including motor sport...
with a 28mm,50mm and a 105mm m/f

admittedly i nearly got run over by a sidecar at grasstrack using a 28mm on the inside track.the pics do have some urgency about them mind....:bonk::lol:

the longest lens i have now is a 70-210 f4 from doug. i think it was around £200.

all my lens are S/H for close up i have a few to use including the 28-105 a superb lens

the d700 is so good i can make up for the length by the quality and cropping..

surely in the old days i would chose lens first as on a fa,fe or 301 i could get the same results as a pro with a f3,but now the camera is proportionately more important.

my contention is once he has the d700 and a good lens or 2 he can add if needs be

when i started with the d300 i had one 35-70 zoom and used my 28mm mf as well

now i have by carefully shopping around and selling my belongings i dont need
9 good lens and a camera that can make full use of them

ime glad i started with the d300 but would find it hard to go back
 
Thanks for the replies, but my head is really starting to hurt.
I've decided that I shall invest in the 70-200mm 2.8 lens, now it's just the rest.
The D200 does sound tempting but I am worried about buying 2nd hand (no warranty) and also it's performance in low light, how does it compare to the D300 & D90.
A new one is tempting at only £40 more than the D90, but I don't want to trading up again for at least 3yrs.
Is it likely that the D300 will come down in price after Christmas or do you believe it has now settled?

Lot's of questions I know, but this is really a once in a blue moon opportunity for me and I don't want to regret it.

Thanks for your suggestion ditchdigger, but I wouldn't feel comfortable spending that much on a body (unless it was for enhancements to Mrs M0nk3y's one:nuts:)
Alex
 
D200 High ISO performance is quite poor IMO.

Personally i think you may want to go over budget.

Get the D300 and the 18-70 Kit lens for £1000

Get the 70-200 VR, and then the macro.

Jessops do a buy now pay later interest free, so you could put the D300 body on that.

Alot of people place alot of emphasis on glass, and whilst i cant disagree good glass is a must, the body is also a key factor in getting the results you want.
 
Thanks guys,
I've decided to go for the D300 plus the 70-200mm f2.8 lens.
It takes me slightly over budget and I need to ask for money for my birthday and Christmas so I can buy my wife her macro lens, but I think it's going to be worth it.
Didn't realise this forum was soooo expensive ;)
Alex
 
Good choice, going with the 70-200VR.

On the rest issue, for the Ms. look for a thread here with a Sigma 150/2.8 going for one hell of a bargain (I think it's on offer for £275 .. which is a huge saving from a new one that's close to £500!).

As for a body for you .. you may be able to find a refurbished D200 / D300 that fits your remaining budget while leaving a bit more for an ordinary everyday lens akin to the 18-70 :thinking:
 
OK, I should learn to type faster.

Your choice for the D300 can't be falwed ... a wonderful camera which you will get to love. Keep in mind it is a huge jump from the D40 in many terms, weight, features, and ego-booster :p
 
i heard the 80-200 was no where near as good as the 70-200 for sports.

The AF on the 70-200 is supposedly instant, and it has VR too.

It is a good lens for the money though.
 
80-200/2.8 are very sharp, but the acquisition speed of the 70-200 is just something else all together.
 
Wail said:
On the rest issue, for the Ms. look for a thread here with a Sigma 150/2.8 going for one hell of a bargain (I think it's on offer for £275 .. which is a huge saving from a new one that's close to £500!).
Click to expand...

I've seen the thread and a PM has been sent thanks. Fingers crossed.

DoubleT said:
have you thought about the 80-200 f2.8? awsome lens and half the price as the 70-200 vr
Click to expand...

I did look at the 80-200 f2.8, but I decided that I wanted to go for the best that I could afford/squeeze to.

Alex
 
D300 and Nikkor 70-200 2.8....

Its the way to go mate!

I've spent a long time looking for a top notch motorsport tool and this is it...

You'll love it!
 
:agree: If the 70-200 blows the budget then the 80-200 is a cracking lens (and real,honest to goodness bargain if you can get one for £500 or less), but the lack of AF makes it a bit slower in use than the 70-200, not a lot, but enough to become an irritation if you do a lot of motorsport shooting.

It really depends if the AF-S and VR on the 70-200 are worth £600 to you......
 
d3adm0nk3y said:
I've seen the thread and a PM has been sent thanks. Fingers crossed.



Alex
Click to expand...

Alex
I bought Wack61's Sigma 70-200mm and would recommend dealing with him, the lens is exactly as described and was delivered well packed.

I would concur with your intentions regarding the D300....... I would as I own one. Personally I couldn't justify the £1200 for the Nikon 70-200 which is why I went for the Sigma from Wack61. I also have the Nikon 17-55 F2.8 and would very much recommend the better lenses, having used Nikon 18-70 and the 70-300VR, the better lenses are definitely value for money IMO. In this case you get what you pay for.

Kev
 
I think you will be very pleased with the D300 and 70-200 vr.
Tamrons 17-55 f2.8 is an excellent lens too if you cant afford the Nikon equivalent
Allan
 
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