Help me not to buy poorly.

B

BobBaldo

Suspended / Banned
Messages
12
Name
Stephen
Edit My Images
Yes
Firstly, I couldn't decide if that headline is correct use of English.

Anyway.

I have bought myself a second hand(But in very good condition) Nikon D40x. I'm doing lots of reading and learning slowly.

I now want to buy a better than on board flash and some software to edit photos.

I know off camera lighting is better than anything I can mount on the camera but while I am concentrating on learning on how to actually take a photo I want something that isn't going to cost the earth(maybe second hand) but is going to throw some decent light and take a diffuser of some sort. What ca you suggest?

As for the software, I have never used anything other than the most basic of editing software and really don't know where to start. I know PC World will quite happily sell me photoshop for £80 but is that really the way to go or is there something better for me out there or someone selling legal copies at a far better price.

Well that's my first post. Hopefully you can help me.

Cheers.

Bob.
 
Hi Stephen, and welcome to the forum, first off it will help if you tell us the budget you have for a flashgun, and software, i'm guessing PC world isn't the best place to buy software, as i'm fairly sure you could get a better deal elsewhere, what version are they charging £80 for ? give us some more info and we can help you some more, Tel :)
 
Hi Bob, Photoshop Elements 8 is probably £80 at PC World, It's £34 at Morgancomputers on the web and many of my clients have bought them.

Do you really need a flash yet? Unless you have a specific need for one I would hold off for a while and learn primarily with daylight.
 
Try Flash in the Pan on here, he is in the forum advertisers section for Yong Nuo flash guns he sell loads.
 
i think photoshop elements 8 is £54 at amazon, alternatively buy an old copy of cs2/cs3 for a bit more money and have more flexibility. flashgun wise i have a jessops 360af which is a brilliant flash for the money and at £79 its hardly breaking the bank.
 
Yeah it was Elements 8 that they were charging that for.

The problem is that I don't really have a budget. I know that sounds silly but I don't wan to say I only want to spend X when ten quid more would get me so much better.

Maybe if I say that I spent £200 on the D40. Yes second hand but you can hardly tell and it came with 6 months warranty. In the two weeks after that I bought a Sigma 70-300 lens new for £130, square ND Grad filter and holder, spare battery and card.

Guess what I am saying is that I have more than pence to play with but don't want to be spending £300 on a flash or software for a £200 quid body. Don't know what to pay to get me going.

Will have a look at the ideas given so far. They sound good. Thanks folks.
 
your flashgun will last you longer than the body anyway, if say you got an sb600 (around £200 atm i think) then later on if you start upgrading everything and buy a better flashgun aswell, then the sb600 is still gonna be of use to you through using multiple flashes etc. I agree with phototuition though, theres a lot to learn getting comfy with all the different aspects of your SLR, flash gun maybe the last thing you need atm especially if its gonna be staying onboard your camera anyway. But of course, depends on what your taking photos of, things at long distances, then yeah you'll need the extra power, close range objects, not so much.
 
you can get PhotoPlus X3 for £29 at PC World online for pickup at store

get a SB400 to start + an off-camera TTL cord from Flash-in-the-Pan...an advertiser here..

it will be very easy to sell if you upgrade later
 
Yardbent said:
you can get PhotoPlus X3 for £29 at PC World online for pickup at store

get a SB400 to start + an off-camera TTL cord from Flash-in-the-Pan...an advertiser here..

it will be very easy to sell if you upgrade later
Click to expand...

for the same price of the sb400 you could get a jessops 360af which is has more features.
 
Lots to think about. Will do some more reading on both the software and flash suggested.

Thanks folks.
 
Just my 2 pence worth, but have you tried playing with gimp? Its is a free software that does quite a lot of photoshop does, I started out with that 1st to see how I got on!
 
Gimp seems awkward in that you have to download the source and then find something to compile it. Don't really know what I'm doing with that.
 
BobBaldo said:
Gimp seems awkward in that you have to download the source and then find something to compile it. Don't really know what I'm doing with that.
Click to expand...

Here is a windows Installer that should stop you needing to compile from source on Windows:

http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

Gimp really is good for a starter package. See how you get on with it before spending money on a commercial package.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top