Digital camera

[Shanling]

What about this package?  D-70


JJ

At first glance, the price is very good. But, they are not giving you any information on the lenses. Are they D, E, or G lenses? What is the speed? The speed of the lenses effects what ASA you are going to have to shoot at. Higher the ASA (Shutter speed to make it easy), the more grain or noise in the picture. Once you buy a good camera body, your real investment is in the lenses. I am not a fan of these "Package deals" as I know what I want and what I will use. The G lenses are basically crap (plastic optics) and your pictures will show it. They are priced accordingly. They are Nikkor's way of bringing entry level people in who will upgrade within 6-12 months.

One of the first things you will need is a spare battery and you never see those in the package deals. I do a lot of sporting events and use a bessler battery pack for those. The pack will last as long as four batteries and I don't have to switch out but I am carrying a sling over my shoulder the entire time. For general picture taking, vacations, kids, etc, I use the normal camera batteries and carry two. One in the camera and a spare. Nothing worse than losing battery power and not having a backup.

If you are going to invest in quality equipment, do it piece at a time and do it right. One thing that most amatuers don't do is ALWAYS use a flash. You need to invest in a good flash and you cannot beat the Nikon Speedlites. A flash should be used in every environment, period. Unless you are trying to achieve some kind of desired errie effect, a good flash is a must have. Even the models that come with a built in flash, I would upgrade by purchasing a Speedlite.

People talk about buying memory cards. Do not buy used! A memory card is only good for so many writes and then they fail. And they fail without warning. I carry two 2G cards. I use one all of the time and when it fails, I have the back up that has never been used. I am currently on my 3rd card if that tells you anything.

Hope this helps. The real keys to enjoying photography and taking good pictures are 1) A good body (camera), 2) Good lenses, 3) A good flash (not the built in ones), 4) A spare (charged) battery, & 5) A spare (not used until needed) memory card. Oh and least I forget, you still need a steady hand. Both hands on the camera body and elbows tucked in for best results. Nothing worse than "Camera Shake".

 

[captain]

For a camera which is better, compact flash or a microdrive?

 

[Shanling]

Hate to admit this but Canon has this tiger by the tail. Hopefully Nikon will catch up.

I dissagree. Years back, Canon launched a brilliant marketing program. Canon invested heavily in TV and Print advertising to capture the general public and amatuer photographer. They had a decent product that was being sold at a price point below Nikon and carried in the "Big Box" retailers. You could never have found Nikon at K-Mart yet, there was Canon being sold to the everyday "Joe" of the world.

For years, the general public saw professional photographers (Photo Journalists) using nothing but Nikon cameras and Nikon Nikkor lenses. You would see these guys on the sidelines at sporting events with cameras on monopods with these massive foot long black lenses on them. Everyone knew they were using Nikon stuff. Canon decided that it was time to get into the professional market so they developed their own line of high end lenses except they made their stuff light colored or white. Distinctly different from Nikkor and everyone else. They wanted their foot longs to stand out amoungst the crowd. They put good quality glass optics in their lenses but were they better than Nikkor? Not really, but they were probably just as good. But what they did do in the beginning was to start giving this stuff to the bigger newspaper and magazine guys just so that they would give it a try.

I am not saying that Canon is not good stuff, because they have some good stuff out there. What I AM saying is that Canon is much better marketed than Nikon so the perception is that they are better. This perception is driven by better marketing rather than a better product.

Nikon is working on catching up in the marketing and has also greatly diversified their line. Meaning, they now have cheaper stuff out there that competes with the likes of Canon, Sony, Fuji, etc.

I am not saying that Canon's high end is not as good as Nikon's pro stuff so don't get that impression. I am just saying that Canon has taken the lead because of better marketing. Back in my film days, I had a Canon Rebel prior to moving up to a Nikon F100 and eventually the F5.

 

[Shanling]

For a camera which is better, compact flash or a microdrive?

What do you want? Do you want more storage at a lesser cost or a faster write time? CF gives you a much faster write time. For me, it is CF but I do a lot of action photography where I am snapping 3 shots per second and I can't afford to wait for 30 seconds while the camera writes to a microdrive. That is the trade off. Until they improve the write speed on a microdrive, I think they are useless. But, that's just because of the type of photography that I do. I think your real question should be "For my type of picture taking, which is better?" And I have never heard anyone who was happy with a Microdrive once they saw the difference in write times. Let's face it, the real purchase with a digital SLR is "Shutter lag". The time that it takes for the shutter to activate from the time you pushed the button. The faster, the more expensive the camera becomes. Compare that to CF vs microdrive. I think it's just as important as shutter lag.

 

[Shanling]

You only need a 70mm max zoom for individual shots/portraits.

It's been quite a while since I was interested in phototography, but I remember that the correct portrait lens was a 90mm or a 105mm.

Actually, the 135mm lens is known as "the" portrait lens.

 

[captain]

OK so I take my wife, father in law and mother in law out for lunch because it's my mother in laws birthday. We sit down to eat and my wife tells me that she wants to go buy the camera after we eat, I'm thinking "right on momma". We finish and go to the camera store and we pull the Nikon D200 with a 18 - 70 lense... We talk about it for a few minutes and she says you need a bag... We go pick out a bag, the sales guy says you need a memory card and he reccomends the 1 gig, she says get two of the 2 gig.. I told the sales guy I thought we were done and the wife says " I want close up pictures of the boys.... Sooooo I walked out with

Nikon D200
18-70 lense
70-300 lense
2 2gig flash cards
Bag
Lense covers
A big cowboy smile ....

I got the best wifey around.....

 

[nitrousjunkie]

 

[ks-waterbug]

OK so I take my wife, father in law and mother in law out for lunch because it's my mother in laws birthday. We sit down to eat and my wife tells me that she wants to go buy the camera after we eat, I'm thinking "right on momma". We finish and go to the camera store and we pull the Nikon D200 with a 18 - 70 lense... We talk about it for a few minutes and she says you need a bag... We go pick out a bag, the sales guy says you need a memory card and he reccomends the 1 gig, she says get two of the 2 gig.. I told the sales guy I thought we were done and the wife says " I want close up pictures of the boys.... Sooooo I walked out with

Nikon D200
18-70 lense
70-300 lense
2 2gig flash cards
Bag
Lense covers
A big cowboy smile ....

I got the best wifey around.....

Sweeeeet... You won't be disappointed!

 

[Shanling]

OK so I take my wife, father in law and mother in law out for lunch because it's my mother in laws birthday. We sit down to eat and my wife tells me that she wants to go buy the camera after we eat, I'm thinking "right on momma". We finish and go to the camera store and we pull the Nikon D200 with a 18 - 70 lense... We talk about it for a few minutes and she says you need a bag... We go pick out a bag, the sales guy says you need a memory card and he reccomends the 1 gig, she says get two of the 2 gig.. I told the sales guy I thought we were done and the wife says " I want close up pictures of the boys.... Sooooo I walked out with

Nikon D200
18-70 lense
70-300 lense
2 2gig flash cards
Bag
Lense covers
A big cowboy smile ....

I got the best wifey around.....

Congrats Cap!

You will love that camera body! I can't comment on the lenses only because you gave me focal lengths and nothing else. Are they D, E, or Gs? What is the speed?

Man, there is no feeling like those first few pictures snapped with a new camera. You HAVE to invest in a Nikon Speedlite! Trust me on this one. Also, use the one memory card only. The second one is your back up for when the first one fails. Typically, the card should be good for 10,000 writes so you shouldn't have a failure for at least a year. I'll average 500 writes (pictures) at a typical event and that won't come close to filling a 2Gig card. Now I am shooting in JPG too. I do some RAW stuff but have found that it is easier to just go ahead with JPG.

If you are going to have stuff printed and you will, I have a business account with a local Walgreens store. Recently, Walgreens upgraded all of their processing equipment nationwide to the latest Fuji machines. That Fuji processing equipment rocks! Better equipment then you will find at some of the camera stores and less costly too! I get 4x6 glossy's at 29 cents each less my business discount. I sell the 4x6 for $1.25 each subject to a $5.00 min.

Congrats and I can't wait to see you post some pics!!!

 

[captain]

I took a few pics in the office, I just couldnt stand it... Some are really bad because I am in a low light condition and I couldnt turn the flash on for fear of giving my secret away... " Hey did I just see lightning come from Dougs Office?"

Anyway the ones that did come out WOWWWWWWIIIIEEEEE I have a Dell 30" LCD computer monitor and man you wouldnt believe the pics I took...

Now a whole weekend to play.

 

[Projekt]

Get the SB-800 speedlight. Try Cameta Camera ebay store... This is the only one to get, you can find them in the mid-$200 to low-$300 range depending on accessories. Use the big diffuser indoors with a slow-rear flash setting if you have background illumination..

 

[Shanling]

Get the SB-800 speedlight. Try Cameta Camera ebay store... This is the only one to get, you can find them in the mid-$200 to low-$300 range depending on accessories.  Use the big diffuser indoors with a slow-rear flash setting if you have background illumination..

Cameta is very proud of their stuff. There are a lot of better deals to be had out there. I agree on the SB-800. That is a good Strobe! Be patient and watch eBay and you can save some big bucks on good equipment there. Also, stay away from Roberts. They are here in Indy and put a lot of used and abused stuff on eBay. Mainly stuff that they can't sell in their showroom/store.

 

[SoBad]

Cool Cap glad you got yours, im hoping to pull the trigger on one this weekend. As much as I would love to get the D200 I don't think the mrs will agree to that. You are a lucky man. Congrats!

 

[ks-waterbug]

+3 on the SB-800
Same one the wife uses....

 

[Shanling]

Cap...I just got to thinking. If you run across an SB-28DX, you might want to snatch that up. They sold new for $300.00 plus and you can get them pretty reasonable on eBay now. The SB-800 is the next generation but your not picking up enough cost/features/benefit to spend the extra monies IMHO.



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[Projekt]

Forget that!!! Spend, spend, spend, get that cool NEW gear. You'll feel so exhilarated when the UPS man rings your doorbell. This is a consumer society, by buying new you are helping employ another highly skilled Nikon assembly worker...

Hey Shanling,
Would happen to know a good place to get a 2.8 ED/+VR lens combo?
Jose



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[PaNDeM1C]

What about this package? D-70


JJ

For the money, now... D70 blows! Period. Thanks!!!! It's a nice cam for amateurs..... and will take nice shots, though. But for the money, now, go UP and get a D100.

 

[PaNDeM1C]

Listen up (to any potential buyers):

I've used pretty much every digital camera system on the market. I SWEAR by Nikon. If you want a great pro camera for under 1k (including a lens) I completely suggest a Nikon D100! It is very reliable and will do the job... any job. If you want to move UP... go for a D200. Yes, the body alone will cost you over 1300 but it's worth it if you think you're above the D100... or just want to spend more cash! IF you really want to go for broke get a D2H and then you can really brag to your friends about how much your photos cost you to take (even though they might suck because you ain't a pro photographer...!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!)... so consider these points.

High end cams require skill/know-how to use them right... same as high-end bikes...

A skilled/pro photographer (me) can take a better shot using an older Nikon (d100) than some idiot rich asswipe who just spend a ton on a new D200 model...... fact!

SO.... pm me or projekt before buying an uber-cam! Or disregard anything I said here and just blow your money on a super system that you don't know how to use.....

 

[PaNDeM1C]

NOTE: hammered as #(%& while typing this out!!!!!

 

[Shanling]

Forget that!!! Spend, spend, spend, get that cool NEW gear. You'll feel so exhilarated when the UPS man rings your doorbell. This is a consumer society, by buying new you are helping employ another highly skilled Nikon assembly worker...

Hey Shanling,
Would happen to know a good place to get a 2.8 ED/+VR lens combo?
Jose

Jose,

I am one of those guys that now swears by eBay. I used to be a B&H Photo guy but as their popularity has grown, so have their prices. IMHO they are pricing themselves out of the market. I have been to their store in NYC on several occasions. I saw this auction on eBay. Is this what you are looking for?

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/NIKON-TELEPHOTO-70-200MM-F2-8D-VR-ZOOM-AUTOFOCUS-LENS_W0QQitemZ200018490725QQihZ010QQcateg
oryZ3343QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.com/NIKON-T....iewItem</a>

I have not ventured into the VR realm but could see where they would be helpful to a "newbie" especially with panning shots. If you get one, let me know how you like it. I went to zoom lenses about 6-7 years ago when I went from film to digital. Prior to that I was an old school, fixed focus guy that carried 3 bodies at all times. Had an F5 as primary with two F100's as secondaries. Actually sold one of my F100 bodies to a Pulitizer Prize winning Photographer who was transitioning back from Digital to film.

JJ - On your D-70 thoughts. I am a published photographer who has been doing this for over 35 years. (Yes, I am old and even a Grandparent) The D-70 is an excellent camera body and has more features then I would ever even use. So if you think you would like it, then buy it. My D1X has more features than I would ever use. The biggest thing for me is the continous shooting mode as I do so much sports photography and that one shot your looking for is normally found in a series of 5-10 shot in a row. So I will keep one and delete the other 9. But if your just doing general photography, you will be more than happy with the D-70. Plus, if you don't like it, they are easy to sell on eBay!