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Supervast650

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Hi, theoretical question for Nikon users and I apologise for it in advance.

I am hopefully going to get enough money to get a DSLR again. Previously I have used Canon 1Dmk2's, Mk3, 5Dmk2 and 7D with L lenses. However I sold all my Canon kit around 12 months ago to get out of a financial hole and should get a modest budget to get another DSLR.

I will mostly be shooting the kids, dogs (both showring and out at the beach stuff) maybe some second shooter stuff but again I get the kit supplied for that.

so with a budget of around £1500 what would you get? I also would consider Canon again but not sure what to get?

If it were Nikon I thought:
D7000 -
Tokina 16-50
Sigma 70-200mm or the 80-200mm 2 touch. But I have no experience or knowledge of older nikon lenses and their performance.
with enough left for a flash or grip.

If Canon
Canon 1dmk 2/mk2s/ or a 50D (never used a 50D so don't know what its like)
Sigma 24-70 or again Tokina 16-50
Canon 70-200F4L
Flash.

Obviously it would be all secondhand but that's not an issue as I'd stick to the likes of Ffordes, MPB, Fixation or Aperture.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly welcomed as I've burst my head.
 
Maybe change the Tokina for the Tamron 17-50. It gets very good reviews. I havent heard much of the tokina .

Out of the siggy and the Nikon, the Nikon 80-200 is fantastic, no doubt about it, but I just love my sigma, and wouldnt part with it, not even for a nikon 70-200 VR.

You can get great deals on a sigma, I paid £350 for my HSM macro 1 version. You wont find a two touch 80-200 for anywhere near that.

Maybe throw in a 35mm 1.8 for kids portraits too if budget allows?
 
If I had £1500 and took shots as you mentioned above, I would buy:

Sigma 70-200mm OS (£600 used) - a stabilised long, fast lens would be my priority for what you have mentioned. I wouldn't mind the sigma HSM 2 but for me there would be plenty of time where I need to be handheld and lower shutter speed than 1/320th or so...so has to be the above for me :)

Nikon 18-55mm VR (£60 used) - stunning quality at every aperture and the benefit of VR is very nice.

Nikon 35mm f1.8 (£130 new) - for those times when I need a fast lens but not as long as the Sigma.

Nikon D7000 (£550 used).

After market grip from ebay! (£40)

Jessops 360 flash (£50 used)

spend the leftovers on a bag to keep the above in :)
 
Phil Young said:
If I had £1500 and took shots as you mentioned above, I would buy:

Sigma 70-200mm OS (£600 used) - a stabilised long, fast lens would be my priority for what you have mentioned. I wouldn't mind the sigma HSM 2 but for me there would be plenty of time where I need to be handheld and lower shutter speed than 1/320th or so...so has to be the above for me :)

Nikon 18-55mm VR (£60 used) - stunning quality at every aperture and the benefit of VR is very nice.

Nikon 35mm f1.8 (£130 new) - for those times when I need a fast lens but not as long as the Sigma.

Nikon D7000 (£550 used).

After market grip from ebay! (£40)

Jessops 360 flash (£50 used)

spend the leftovers on a bag to keep the above in :)
Click to expand...

I changed my mind - I'd get a used D90 instead of the D7000 (£300) and instead spend the excess on a tokina 12-24mm f4
 
I would get the D7000, the tamron 17-50 2.8, the Nikon 80-200 [both used if you can] a yongnuo 560, cheap grip and a good bag. Basically the equipment I had up to a few months back. Though I had a D90 in place of the D7000
 
Thanks for the replies so far.

Any Canon users with alternative suggestion to balance the scores.:D
 
I had a Canon 60D until recently and it was a very good performer. I swapped it for a 7D and some cash, but IMHO the files SOOC on the 60D are better than those of the 7D.

So a 60D, Canon 50 f1.8, Sigma 24-70 f2.8 HSM, Canon 70-200 f4 IS and a decent flash and all second hand should be within your budget of £1500 and would give you a great setup.
 
modchild said:
I had a Canon 60D until recently and it was a very good performer. I swapped it for a 7D and some cash, but IMHO the files SOOC on the 60D are better than those of the 7D.

So a 60D, Canon 50 f1.8, Sigma 24-70 f2.8 HSM, Canon 70-200 f4 IS and a decent flash and all second hand should be within your budget of £1500 and would give you a great setup.
Click to expand...

How did you find the autofocus on the 60d? I was worried about it and tracking say a dog running (well gaiting) or a child. The 5dMK2 was ok at tracking (centre point only, any other point was carp) and the buffer filled really quick.

I'll do a search though for some of your 60D photos unless you have any links handy :D

Cheers again for the info.
 
pentax k30 body new £320
tamron 17-50 non vc new £270
sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 non os used £300-£400
sigma 30mm f1.4 new £300
Yongnuo yn-465 flashgun £50

No need for a grip they take AA batteries if you are caught out low on juice!
 
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If you could scrape £1600-£1700

7D, Tamron 17-50mm, 135L, kenko 1.4x, 430EX
 
jacob12_1993 said:
£1500 I would go:

D7000
Tokina 12-24 f4
Nikon 80-200 f2.8
Nikon 50mm f1.4

it may be a little over budget so which ever combo of these works for you first before adding a third lens. For me this set-up works excellently for most subjects.
Click to expand...
Have you got the kit lens with this setup? If not, it might work for you but its less than ideal. You have nothing in the 30-35mm range?
 
rjbell said:
Have you got the kit lens with this setup? If not, it might work for you but its less than ideal. You have nothing in the 30-35mm range?
Click to expand...

I have no need for any lenses between 24-50 it's just not a focal length I use for any of my travel, humanitarian or documentary work. My set-up is as close to a 17-55, 85, 70-200 FF set-up as I can get whilst keeping the compact crop size to save myself a lot of weight.

The kit lens really would do nothing for me, the build quality would not last in some places I have used my gear (speaking from experience). Also the image quality is good for the money but its weak on higher quality bodies like the D7000. Lastly the aperture is just not going to cut it for me, I struggle half the time with f2.8 on my zooms at 6400ISO+
 
Thanks for that Phil. Just to remind people what focal lengths I would like to cover and why:

  1. 24-70 (or equivelant), for shooting indoors (flash assisted at times) of my kids. Possibly some second shooting also.
  2. 70-200mm, as its a good length for taking candid photos of the dog and kids.

Anything outside of this is not going to be essential but a nicety. I had a canon nifty fifty but found I barely used it. So it's a purchase that will most likely be made later on.

Once again thanks for the replies and has still got me thinking further on what to do. When it comes together I'll do another thread to say what I ended up with (will be after xmas and new year I suspect). I will be getting a loan of a 5dmkII, 24-105L and 580Ex for a couple of months so will get some practice before purchasing anything :D
 
New 7D from HDEW for £755
New Tamron 17-50 for £279 from WEX
Canon 70-200 F4 second hand for £370
Sandisk Extreme 16GB card for £40 from Amazon
Canon 430 EX second hand for about £100

For kids and dogs I would want the best autofocus I could afford, so I think its worth spending extra on the 7D over a 50D or 60D
 
Supervast650 said:
Thanks for that Phil. Just to remind people what focal lengths I would like to cover and why:

  1. 24-70 (or equivelant), for shooting indoors (flash assisted at times) of my kids. Possibly some second shooting also.
  2. 70-200mm, as its a good length for taking candid photos of the dog and kids.
Click to expand...

With this info, my suggestion would now be:

Tamron 17-50 (standard walkabout)
Nikon 50mm f1.4 (beautiful portrait lens on crop)
Nikon 80-200 f2.8 (sports etc)
Nikon D7000 (Best all round DX body for price)
 
OP, I see you have a "Minolta Film Thing" listed as your current camera - is it an AF SLR or a compact? If it's an AF SLR, why not consider a Sony body? Add whichever lenses are needed to complete your wanted line up (I spotted that you're not averse to Sigmas etc - but beware of the Sony/Sigma cog stripping issue).

Pretty sure there are very few lemons in the DSLR world, so if possible, visit a good 2nd hand kit stockist (not sure how far you are from Ffordes) and see/feel which feels best in your hands.
 
Hi,

The Minolta is just a lowly 5000AF with just a sigma 28-70 from 1986. So going the Sony route is out.

I do think looking at the 7D and a combination of lenses to fit around the remaining budget may be the way to go. Or then as suggested the D7000 and the lenses suggested.

Again how is the 80-200mm autofocus speed in the real world?

Thanks for the updates and suggestions!
 
Supervast650 said:
Hi,

The Minolta is just a lowly 5000AF with just a sigma 28-70 from 1986. So going the Sony route is out.

I do think looking at the 7D and a combination of lenses to fit around the remaining budget may be the way to go. Or then as suggested the D7000 and the lenses suggested.

Again how is the 80-200mm autofocus speed in the real world?

Thanks for the updates and suggestions!
Click to expand...

Not as fast as the 70-200 but fast enough for most things, my cousin has the same lens and shoots football etc with no problems if sport is what you are after
 
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