Next kit steps - advice please

[SimonTALM]

Give me some advice people.

A chap at work is selling his D200 + grip for £575 both in good condition with boxes and has offered it to me (with some wiggle room - e.g. £550) and I don't know whether I should go for it.

I'm all confused as I've just bought some decent glass (Nikon f2.8's) which was in the plan but the opportunity came up sooner than I expected so I've just parted with a wodge of cash. A second body has always been in the plan after the decent glass but I don't know if it's the right time or the right camera. In my head I was thinking S/H D300 in 12-18 months time, however, if I get the D200 now it will give me the option to sell the D80 to part fund the D300 and still have a 2 body setup.

To really confuse things I was thinking of getting a couple of SB-800s or a SB-800 and a SB-600 (via Kerso) so I could beter exploit the wireless flash capabilities that I've got now. I was thinking simple and quick studio stuff with TTL which would also give me a 2nd flash when the time came for the 2nd body.

So the options are

1) Do nothing save your money and clear your credit cards(you know you should)
2) D200 now & Flash Later
3a) Flash now (2xSB800's) & D300 Later
3b) Flash now (1xSB800 + 1xSB-600) & D300 Later
3c) Flash now (1xSB-800) & D300 later
4) **** it and get the D200 and 2xSB-800s now - it's only money


If it helps you answer - at the moment I shoot mostly landscapes (as you can see from my flickr pages) but I am wanting to move more in to the people side of things with the aim of trying some social stuff later this year (if I can find a willing local pro to let me tog along), plus I have the plan to go paping for a day this summer to see what crops up.

 

[Baz007]

4) Although i doubt i'd take my own advice!

 

[Bolerus]

I think the thing to ask yourself is.

if you say thanks but no thanks, willyou regret it later.

or

if you say, yeah go on then, will you regret it when your credit card bill comes?

and thirdly, how much would you be asking for you d80 to go towards the cost

 

[SimonTALM]

I think the thing to ask yourself is.

if you say thanks but no thanks, willyou regret it later.

or

if you say, yeah go on then, will you regret it when your credit card bill comes?

and thirdly, how much would you be asking for you d80 to go towards the cost

Good questions - that's what I'm trying to figure out, I am thinking that the D200 is a good deal from a reliable source so it would be stupid to pass it up as it really does represent an upgrade 5 FPS and weather sealing and I can then lend the D80 to the GF when I don't need the 2 bodies to see if she likes the sport.

But I would have to pay the chap with cash so the CC issue isn't really there (except I supose it's money I should be using to pay them off).

As for what I'll sell the D80 for when the time comes who knows? I suppose it should net a couple of hundred - about the same the D70s are going for at the moment. That's of course if I get the D200 now and actually have 2 bodies in 18 months time when I look seriously at the D300 (or FF semi-pro option that should be available then).