Equipment choice, D3000..

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Oscar24

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Hello everyone, new here :)
Have been interested in photography a fair while now, and have been shooting with a D3000 for atleast 12+ months, so feel comfortable with the basics/intermediates of photography and principles. Currently on 12k actuations. I own the kit 18-55 F3.5-5.6 kit lens, but also purchased the 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED AF-S DX VR for those longer distance shots, which i like, and also focuses a bit faster, and quieter that the kit lens. Recently have been looking at purchasing a Flash, as i shoot a lot of low light photos and blur a fair amount :(. Was looking at the SB600 however this is a fairly old, however i can get the SB700 flash which is more modern still being produced from work(JohnLewis) for £205. I was also looking at a new lens to go with my flash, such as a Nikkor AF-S DX 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR I also feel it is time to upgrade my body to something more intermediate..? I would like something more bulky, that i can get my hands around, and with more functions, that i can use/learn to use in the future, and with new lighting like the SB700 :D. I was looking at the D90, and the D300s, the D90 being cheaper, and also i feel more suited, and with it having the feature of being able to attach a grip to. What is everyones views on what im tthinking, and what order to go, Body first, then flash and lens, or Flash lens body?

Cheers :thumbs:
 
Think you will like the D90, my dad has one which I borrow occasionally and it's a good step up from the D3000.

Can't see a lot of advantage in getting the 18-105mm, have you considered getting a 35mm or 50mm prime? Depends what you shot but you might get away without a flash if you have a nice prime that goes down to f1.8?
 
It would be nice to go down a few f stops yet to play with anything below f4.5
So you would say the d90 is a good choice. Have you a link to any of these lenses? Also what do you think regarding a flash?
Thanks.
 
I'd forget about the 18-105, it's no faster, sharper and you have that focal length covered with your other lenses.

What I'd do is pick up a d90 which will be a nice step up for you. I upgraded from a d40 to a d90 and never looked back. It has more external controls so you don't have to menu surf as much. It also handles high iso pretty well for an old girl, so will be a big step up for low light photography. Plus it has the auto focus motor, so you can use older Nikon lenses as well.

I'd get a sb600 speedlight instead of the sb700, you can pick them up second hand for under £150. More that enough flash to get you started and can be used off camera with the d90's cls system.

If you still want a lens, what about the Nikon 35mm 1.8. Paired with the d90 good iso capability you will be all set for low light.
 
With regards to the lenses what focal length do you regularly shoot at because i would consider getting a 35 1.8 or 50 1.8 as the other lens you mentioned is similar to the kit lens.

I highly recommend looking at a Yongnuo flash as they are really cheap and I have found my yn560 powerful and reliable, the only thing is they are fully manual.. If you buy it from them direct it comes with a year warrantee. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yongnuo-Upgraded...ories_CameraFlashUnits_JN&hash=item2a19bed191

It doesn't matter that the D3000 isn't in the title as it is not ttl
 
surfg1mp said:
I'd forget about the 18-105, it's no faster, sharper and you have that focal length covered with your other lenses.

What I'd do is pick up a d90 which will be a nice step up for you. I upgraded from a d40 to a d90 and never looked back. It has more external controls so you don't have to menu surf as much. It also handles high iso pretty well for an old girl, so will be a big step up for low light photography. Plus it has the auto focus motor, so you can use older Nikon lenses as well.

I'd get a sb600 speedlight instead of the sb700, you can pick them up second hand for under £150. More that enough flash to get you started and can be used off camera with the d90's cls system.

If you still want a lens, what about the Nikon 35mm 1.8. Paired with the d90 good iso capability you will be all set for low light.
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Agree with all of this. If you wanted to save a little more money on the flash, you could look at the Nissin Di622 MK2. It's very easy to use and will work with Nikon wireless TTL.
 
I have both a D90 and a D300 (not the "s" version as I don't care for the video feature) and can't really see any difference in image quality between the two. This isn't really surprising seeing as they share so much hardware/firmware :) I would be surprised if you were disappointed with either.

A battery grip on the D90 makes it a more manageable camera if you have large hands or want to use a long lens and there are plenty of good quality 3rd party ones available. I also have a grip on the D300 but that makes it a very heavy camera and I don't always use it. It is essential though if you want to increase the frame rate for sports, etc., but then you also need either the AA battery tray or an en-el4 battery which adds a bit of cost to the set up.

As far as the 18-55 vs 18-105 goes, again I have both and don't really see any difference in IQ. The 18-105 focusses a bit quicker (or at least appears to but the difference is certainly less than a second so I might be imagining it). The only benefit I see with the 18-105 is that I don't need to be changing lenses quite as often as when using the 18-55.

Hope that helps :)
 
All depends how much money you have to spend and what you want to photograph. The D90 is a good camera however it's been out for a good while now. I'm personally saving for a D7000, just depends what your budget is.

I don't have any links to the lens as I'm only looking at this on my phone. However the 35mm f1.8 AF-S isn't particularly expensive, about £150 I think? It is very popular due to the quality of shots you can get out of it for the price, I think you would notice a big difference is sharpness over your current lens. The ability to play with shallow depth of field will teach you a lot.

As for the flash, it all depends, I've never got into it much. I occasionally borrow my dads SB-600 but have only ever used it on camera with the setting in auto. If you take a lot of pictures in dark places it's certainly worth looking into, it's just not something I do.

I know you won't have access to the classifieds section yet but when you do there is always loads of well cared for second had gear listed at reasonable prices.
 
Tunbridge said:
I don't have any links to the lens as I'm only looking at this on my phone. However the 35mm f1.8 AF-S isn't particularly expensive, about £150 I think? It is very popular due to the quality of shots you can get out of it for the price, I think you would notice a big difference is sharpness over your current lens. The ability to play with shallow depth of field will teach you a lot.
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Highly recommend this lens for landscape and just as a walk around lens....
 
Tunbridge said:
As for the flash, .... If you take a lot of pictures in dark places it's certainly worth looking into, it's just not something I do.
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Also very useful on sunny days too for fill flash when shooting into the sun :thumbs:
 
I too have both the d90 and a d300. They share the same sensor, but I'm convinced and reviews suggest the d90 handles high iso slightly better.

I love both cameras and they do different jobs for me. The d90 is more compact, although still heavy with the lenses I use it is still a good portable camera to go walkabout with.

The d300 I tend to use in the studio or for shooting landscapes. It also has a far superior auto focus system, more focus points and a faster frame rate so is great for action/sports.

As for the flash, personally I wouldn't go for a manual flash for my first flash, been there done that. Through experience I'd go for a ttl flash that will work in auto/manual and work in cls mode. Then if you want to start using manual triggers you can buy a second manual flash.
 
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surfg1mp said:
As for the flash, personally I wouldn't go for a manual flash for my first flash, been there done that. Through experience I'd go for a ttl flash that will work in auto/manual and work in cls mode. Then if you want to start using manual triggers you can buy a second manual flash.
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Just in case there is any confusion here. If this is a reference to the Nissin flash that I suggested, it is full auto on Nikon including CLS, works in a similar way to my SB700 except the controls are far simpler. I only say this as I can't see any other mention of a manual flash on the thread.
 
gad-westy said:
Just in case there is any confusion here. If this is a reference to the Nissin flash that I suggested, it is full auto on Nikon including CLS, works in a similar way to my SB700 except the controls are far simpler. I only say this as I can't see any other mention of a manual flash on the thread.
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I highly recommend looking at a Yongnuo flash as they are really cheap and I have found my yn560 powerful and reliable, the only thing is they are fully manual.. If you buy it from them direct it comes with a year warrantee. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yongnuo-Up...item2a19bed191
 
Do yongnuo do any TTL flashes as they look to be fairly good. Struggling to find many Di622. What price would I expect to pay for a used 622 mk1 And 2 and their differences are only thr controls correct?

Also have my 35mm 1.8 and I Love t. Will get some pictures up later.
 
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