Help me spend £250 for nikon dx

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joncro

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Jon
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Hi guys
I will be getting roughly £ 200-250 soon to spend on camera equiment and would like some help spending it!
My current equiment is a
D5100 which I'm happy with except for the small body size (big hands).
18-55 kit lens
35mm f1.8 prime
55-300 afs lens
After reading lots of advice from the forum I'm considering buying a battery grip and investing the rest in glass. I mainly take pictures of my 2 year old daughter. Would the tamron 17-50 f2.8 be the natural choice for my budget?
I like the idea of a prime for portraits and trying macro out, but worried I wouldn't use the lens enough.
Thanks
Jon
 
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Hi Joe
Main reason for the grip would be to increase the size of the body, I find my ring & little finger sit underneath the camera body rather than on the grip.
Thanks for the link, will take a look at the tamron and read some reviews.
 
joncro said:
Hi Joe
Main reason for the grip would be to increase the size of the body, I find my ring & little finger sit underneath the camera body rather than on the grip.
Thanks for the link, will take a look at the tamron and read some reviews.
Click to expand...

In that case then I would get a grip as it is practical for your use, and the Tamron 28-75mm is also a good lens as if you upgrade body's in the future it still works on a FX Body perfectly
 
Although some people here will suggest against 3rd party grips, for that budget I'd suggest looking at a non-Nikon branded grip and spending the rest on the lens you suggested. It's a nice improvement on the kit lens particularly for low light/indoors stuff. Keep in mind if you buy 2nd hand (for a decent price) you can normally resell a lens without too much/any loss, so if you end up buying the wrong lens it's not the end of the world!

In terms of affordable macro lenses for the D5100 I'd maybe look at the Tamron 90mm 2.8.
 
A Meike grip for about £35 will do the D5100 just fine, you could then get the Tamron 28-75mm as well all for £250, with a extra battery

Job done

H
 
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seen some grips on amazon for £21 + £15 for a battery seems quite reasonable, does the 28-75 suffer from any major problems regarding softness or focus hunting? I take it the actual focal length on my d5100 will be 42mm - 112m which does fall into a nice portrait range for my requirements.
Thanks
 
Thanks will look at the 90mm Tamron as well, all very useful replies, thanks!
 
joncro said:
seen some grips on amazon for £21 + £15 for a battery seems quite reasonable, does the 28-75 suffer from any major problems regarding softness or focus hunting? I take it the actual focal length on my d5100 will be 42mm - 112m which does fall into a nice portrait range for my requirements.
Thanks
Click to expand...

I had one once great little lens,but the VR did act a bit odd when switch on there was a sort of jerk as it kicked in :)
 
joncro said:
seen some grips on amazon for £21 + £15 for a battery seems quite reasonable, does the 28-75 suffer from any major problems regarding softness or focus hunting? I take it the actual focal length on my d5100 will be 42mm - 112m which does fall into a nice portrait range for my requirements.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Not that I heard about, The focus is spot on if you get a nice copy which is more than likely, I would also agree with Helen and get the Meike Battery grip as there pretty well made and robust, you don't want some cheap piece of junk and I read the Meike's are far better made than the cheap £20 Jobs
 
The 17-50 f2.8 is a great lens, sometimes more reach would be good.

If you want to try macro, what about a raynox dcr250 ? They're about £40 and a great way to get into macro cheaply. There's examples in my flickr below. You might want to consider a cheap flash too - there's an sb400 in the classifieds for £50 I think which is what I use and does the job well enough
 
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damianmkv said:
The 17-50 f2.8 is a great lens, sometimes more reach would be good.

If you want to try macro, what about a raynox dcr250 ? They're about £40 and a great way to get into macro cheaply. There's examples in my flickr below. You might want to consider a cheap flash too - there's an sb400 in the classifieds for £50 I think which is what I use and does the job well enough
Click to expand...

Cheers, never considered a cheap macro, am I correct in thinking that manual focusing is the way to go for macro?
I've got a cheap Jessops 360ad flash although I think the ttl feature has broke so only works in manual... I think!
I Cant access the classifieds unfortunately, probably due to my low post count!
Will take a look at your Flickr later tonight.
 
Joeturner11 said:
Not that I heard about, The focus is spot on if you get a nice copy which is more than likely, I would also agree with Helen and get the Meike Battery grip as there pretty well made and robust, you don't want some cheap piece of junk and I read the Meike's are far better made than the cheap £20 Jobs
Click to expand...

Will keep my eye out for a Meike version then Joe.
 
simonblue said:
I had one once great little lens,but the VR did act a bit odd when switch on there was a sort of jerk as it kicked in :)
Click to expand...
The Tamron 28-75 does not have vr,
 
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Just ordered the grip and will check out some reviews on the lenses mentioned above.
 
I use the Meike grip on my 5100 as I have biggish hands, also balances the camera better with a longer lens. You won't regret it.
 
="DalyanJC, post: 5963838, member: 46285"]I use the Meike grip on my 5100 as I have biggish hands, also balances the camera better with a longer lens. You won't regret it.[/quote]

That's good to know. Do you have to use two batteries with the grip?
 
Do you have a decent bag to put it all in already? You don't mention one in your gear list. IMHO, the bag that holds the gear is just as important. Also, you don't mention a flash unit? How about a good bag, and a yongnuo flash?
 
Cagey75 said:
Do you have a decent bag to put it all in already? You don't mention one in your gear list. IMHO, the bag that holds the gear is just as important. Also, you don't mention a flash unit? How about a good bag, and a yongnuo flash?
Click to expand...

I have a bag that holds everything yes, regarding the flash, I purchased a cheap jessops 360AFD off ebay but I think the ttl feature is broke, so can only be used in manual mode. which TTL yongnuo flash represents the best value for money for the Nikon d5100?
 
You can use just one battery in the grip, i always have both in though.
 
Thanks, atleast I don't need to an extra battery right away.
 
Can't stop singing the praises of the Sigma 17-70mm C lens. You can find it around the £300. It's f2.8-4 so it's quick. It's sharp really well built and not as bulking as the Tamron 17-50, which I sold to buy it.
It has macro capability too, not true macro but I 've been very impressed with the macro performance. More than good enough if you only shoot macro occasionally. Little extra reach with 70mm too....I love it.
 
Ive been reading good things about the Nikon AFS 85f1.8, anybody on here with actual experience with the lens?
 
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