Recommend a new camera

what about a used D90 ?

I went from a D60 to a D90 and its been a great move
 
potter said:
Is it possible to get one for £400? Would rather from a shop / online retailer not eBay
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I doubt it but you did say you would consider 2nd hand

what about selling the D40 to increase your budget?
 
You might get a D80 but it is older than the superb D90 and doesn't rate quite so well.

You could go for a D5000 or D5100 although the latter might bust the budget. However, imho niether really give you the options and flexibilty of a D80/D90 and ability to autofocus some older lenses (e.g. AF-D lenses).
 
DrRusty said:
You might get a D80 but it is older than the superb D90 and doesn't rate quite so well.

You could go for a D5000 or D5100 although the latter might bust the budget. However, imho niether really give you the options and flexibilty of a D80/D90 and ability to autofocus some older lenses (e.g. AF-D lenses).
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Thanks for the advice. Have had a look on the above site, quite a few in my budget.

I really have no idea about the best things to look out for whilst looking. Is something like a cheap d2x something to consider if in budget?
 
potter said:
Maybe worth me pointing out I mainly shoot portrait stuff and I'll hopefully start doing some sort of architectural bits as well
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If you're into portraiture what about a Fuji S5 Pro, in case you didn't know its a D200 body so all your Nikon lenses will fit

They crop up on here from time to time for sale and I think fall within your budget

heres a link http://www.kenrockwell.com/fuji/s5.htm
 
mrgas said:
If you're into portraiture what about a Fuji S5 Pro, in case you didn't know its a D200 body so all your Nikon lenses will fit

They crop up on here from time to time for sale and I think fall within your budget

heres a link http://www.kenrockwell.com/fuji/s5.htm
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Cheers, just got to work so will have a proper look later on.
 
I have a S5 Pro with grip for sale in the classifieds at the moment.

Within your budget.
 
Adam,

Personally I think that a used D90 is the best way to go from the D40 with your stated budget. I would avoid the D80 as it's low light capabilities is no better than your D40 and if you get into doing natural light portaiture you'll certainly notice the difference.

I'm also a fan of the Fuji S5Pro and have been considering buying one for some time. Although it is technically a D200 it has a different sensor that utilised two types of photosite, which increases the dynamic range of the overall sensor. This is seen in richer colours and increased detail in highlights - again of interest if you're taken with high key portraits. AFAIK, any accessory that works with the D200 will work with the Fuji.

Hope that's of some help and good luck with your decision.
 
I have used a variety of triggers and the SB900 on mine with no problem.
 
Bristolian said:
Adam,

Personally I think that a used D90 is the best way to go from the D40 with your stated budget. I would avoid the D80 as it's low light capabilities is no better than your D40 and if you get into doing natural light portaiture you'll certainly notice the difference.

I'm also a fan of the Fuji S5Pro and have been considering buying one for some time. Although it is technically a D200 it has a different sensor that utilised two types of photosite, which increases the dynamic range of the overall sensor. This is seen in richer colours and increased detail in highlights - again of interest if you're taken with high key portraits. AFAIK, any accessory that works with the D200 will work with the Fuji.

Hope that's of some help and good luck with your decision.
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Thanks for the input. I went to Jessops yesterday and has a feel of the d90 but they didn't have a d200 or fuji there to compare to
 
potter said:
Thanks for the input. I went to Jessops yesterday and has a feel of the d90 but they didn't have a d200 or fuji there to compare to
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im yet to find somewhere with a d200 or s5 pro.. is anyone able to explain the body feel / size difference between the D90 and the above? The D90 felt very comfortable

Not sure if it makes a difference but I like to shoot in RAW
From what I have read the S5 pro can be fairly slow - Although I mainly shoot portrait stuff at the moment, I also like to dabble with creative stuff such as waterdrops - Should I let this effect my choice?
 
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Hi,

If you are close to or work in london, might be worth popping to grays of westminster? I think they have used equipment, you may be able to compare the d90 to the d200... and d2x.

I have a d300 and I can say its well worth it upgrading... d200 was the previous model but if you can a d2x would give great results too plus its a pro model (albight older).

You really need to handle them though to see whether you get on with the weight/size etc. d90/d200/d2x will all be better than your d40 and you'll like them :)
 
potter said:
im yet to find somewhere with a d200 or s5 pro.. is anyone able to explain the body feel / size difference between the D90 and the above? The D90 felt very comfortable

Not sure if it makes a difference but I like to shoot in RAW
From what I have read the S5 pro can be fairly slow - Although I mainly shoot portrait stuff at the moment, I also like to dabble with creative stuff such as waterdrops - Should I let this effect my choice?
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MPB have both an S5 Pro and D200's advertised.

http://www.mpbphotographic.co.uk/us...s/used-nikon-digital-slr-cameras/fuji-s5-pro/

They're also great to deal with in my experience.
 
potter said:
Found somewhere with a d2x today, felt alright. Just need the d200 to try now
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If you have the option of a D2X for that sort of money, you should go for it. Superb things, I'd have another in heart beat.
 
gad-westy said:
If you have the option of a D2X for that sort of money, you should go for it. Superb things, I'd have another in heart beat.
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I've found several for around 400-500 quid, so I'm still considering it. I like the idea of a body like that, but don't know enough to figure out if it's to out-dated
 
potter said:
I've found several for around 400-500 quid, so I'm still considering it. I like the idea of a body like that, but don't know enough to figure out if it's to out-dated
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It's no more out dated than the D200 or Fuji S5, only difference being that the the D2X once cost over £3,000 which makes it look a bit of a bargain next to the other two. I think the main thing that dates it these days is the auto focus system and the low light, high iso performance but generally it's a joy to use.

If you need mod cons, then for £400 it would need to be something like a D90 or D5100 though you're trading pro features for modern tech. Perhaps also worth looking at the D300 (though you'd have to buy privately to get one under £500) as it may offer the best compromise of modernish performance and pro body.
 
gad-westy said:
It's no more out dated than the D200 or Fuji S5, only difference being that the the D2X once cost over £3,000 which makes it look a bit of a bargain next to the other two. I think the main thing that dates it these days is the auto focus system and the low light, high iso performance but generally it's a joy to use.

If you need mod cons, then for £400 it would need to be something like a D90 or D5100 though you're trading pro features for modern tech. Perhaps also worth looking at the D300 (though you'd have to buy privately to get one under £500) as it may offer the best compromise of modernish performance and pro body.
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Can I ask, what made you want to change from the D2x?

Modern Tech isnt something im to fused about, just not sure if the D2x or D20 would be outdated - having read a lot of stuff over the last day, it doesnt sound like it matters to much

Think im more swayed to a D2x or D200 at the moment - Slowly getting there
 
potter said:
Can I ask, what made you want to change from the D2x?

Modern Tech isnt something im to fused about, just not sure if the D2x or D20 would be outdated - having read a lot of stuff over the last day, it doesnt sound like it matters to much

Think im more swayed to a D2x or D200 at the moment - Slowly getting there
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I think it depends what you'll use it for. The D2x is horrible at low light/high ISO by modern standards. But at low ISO, there are people who still say it's the best Nikon. The AF system is uses is very, very good - better in some ways than the D300/700/3 AF (cross type point distribution) worse in others (tracking performance).

And it's a brick.

But if you're a portrait person and will be using natural and artificial light, and you like the way the D2x feels, going for that sounds good.

http://bythom.com/d2xreview.htm is a very good D2x review.

http://bythom.com/nikond300review.htm is a D300 review. Linked that because the D300 (not s) is around the same price as a D2x, but in the D200 style body and is probably the best way to see what going for the pro body over the modern one will gain and lose.

http://bythom.com/upgradepath.htm last link is an upgrade path piece - distils which upgrades could make sense and why, another thing that might be useful.

Hope it helps.
 
ausemmao said:
I think it depends what you'll use it for. The D2x is horrible at low light/high ISO by modern standards. But at low ISO, there are people who still say it's the best Nikon. The AF system is uses is very, very good - better in some ways than the D300/700/3 AF (cross type point distribution) worse in others (tracking performance).

And it's a brick.

But if you're a portrait person and will be using natural and artificial light, and you like the way the D2x feels, going for that sounds good.

http://bythom.com/d2xreview.htm is a very good D2x review.

http://bythom.com/nikond300review.htm is a D300 review. Linked that because the D300 (not s) is around the same price as a D2x, but in the D200 style body and is probably the best way to see what going for the pro body over the modern one will gain and lose.

http://bythom.com/upgradepath.htm last link is an upgrade path piece - distils which upgrades could make sense and why, another thing that might be useful.

Hope it helps.
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Thanks for the links. Will have a proper look through those after work.

The downside with the cheap d2x I have found is that it's very well used with over 100k photos taken
 
potter said:
Thanks for the links. Will have a proper look through those after work.

The downside with the cheap d2x I have found is that it's very well used with over 100k photos taken
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The camera I get would mainly be used to portrait but I want to start to do architectural stuff as well, along with some creative stuff.
 
I'm another that went from a D40 to a D90, seemed like the natural progression and I loved my D90, had just the right amount of control needed after moving on from the basic D40. Unfortunately caught the full frame bug and moved on to a D700 but would happily still use a D90 as a second body :)
 
potter said:
Can I ask, what made you want to change from the D2x?

Modern Tech isnt something im to fused about, just not sure if the D2x or D20 would be outdated - having read a lot of stuff over the last day, it doesnt sound like it matters to much

Think im more swayed to a D2x or D200 at the moment - Slowly getting there
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I bought the D2XS (basically the same as D2x) on a bit of a whim. A guy local to me was selling all his studio gear including lenses and a D2xs for a decent price and I took a punt even though I didn't need another body as I already had two. I loved using the D2xs, particularly indoors with flash but I never ended up taking it out anywhere as the D700 was always going to offer more flexibility and is smaller which is both a good and a bad thing. I'd have liked to have kept it but I'm no pro and it was a lot of money to me to own it as a total luxury.

For what it's worth, I did a few side by side tests of the D2xs vs. the D700. Of course at high iso's the D700 is miles ahead, in fact I think the D2xs only went to 1600 but even there the images were pretty noisy, probably at least two stops behind the D700 maybe a stop or so behind the D300.

Where the D2xs excelled is at low iso 'controlled' condition shots. I felt the base iso 100 shots were noticeably better than the D700's base iso 200 shots. For studio work it would be perfect. I've heard similar said about the D200 and Fuji.

The gripped bodies are a joy to hold and use and the fps is mad.

Downsides, no modern features like live view or video. The auto focus system works quickly but if you're used to 50 odd focussing points, it'll seem pretty old hat. No big deal in my opinion.
 
Thanks for the comparison.
I'm not to fussed about the video and live view features as I don't think I would use it.

The natural progression seems to go to the d90, but purely because it's the newer one.
The only real difference I can see is the higher Iso, but I don't shoot to much stuff in the dark and cant see me doing so as I use a flash most of the time
 
potter said:
Thanks for the comparison.
I'm not to fussed about the video and live view features as I don't think I would use it.

The natural progression seems to go to the d90, but purely because it's the newer one.
The only real difference I can see is the higher Iso, but I don't shoot to much stuff in the dark and cant see me doing so as I use a flash most of the time
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I think D90 would probably the wiser choice, for your money you would get a newer , lighter use example than if you spent it on a pro body
 
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