Well I did it!

Stef

I took the dSLR leap! My husband came home from work the other night after we had talked, and handed me a box. Inside that box was the Nikon D50.

After using my Sony 828, which I thought was fast... the Nikon is like night and day! Holy fast camera batman!

I still haven't played around with it too much, since it is dark when I get off work, but I will try this weekend. I know most people here are Canon users, but I have seen a few Nikon users here. I may ask a few questions along the way, since the whole lens thing has me all confused. :scratch

I am a happy camer tho! Woohoo! I like it!

pathfinder

Congrats Stef, Nikon users are cool!! And welcome here too!! We just love to tease them a tiny little bit is all :

Stef

pathfinder wrote:

Congrats Stef, Nikon users are cool!! And welcome here too!! We just love to tease them a tiny little bit is all :

Yes, I have noticed that! But I see it's all in fun. For the most part everyone here is pretty friendly with each other.

Harryb

Stef wrote:

I took the dSLR leap! My husband came home from work the other night after we had talked, and handed me a box. Inside that box was the Nikon D50.

After using my Sony 828, which I thought was fast... the Nikon is like night and day! Holy fast camera batman!

I still haven't played around with it too much, since it is dark when I get off work, but I will try this weekend. I know most people here are Canon users, but I have seen a few Nikon users here. I may ask a few questions along the way, since the whole lens thing has me all confused.

I am a happy camer tho! Woohoo! I like it!

Congrats Stef. I had the same experience when I went from my 717 to the Nikon D100.

Here's a link to a great web site with good info on Nikon cameras and lenses
www.bythom.com .

If you have any questions there are lots of Nikon users here who can give you the answers.

tom e

obviously you will enjoy it enormously. congratulations. i'm a canon shooter, but nikons are great. check out their new DX VR 18-200mm lens, what a great range. maybe i'll switch to nikon! one lens may be all a person needs.

ian408

Congrats on the leap!

I'm sure you'll enjoy taking many fine photos with it.

Ian

Stef

Harryb wrote:

Congrats Stef. I had the same experience when I went from my 717 to the Nikon D100.

Here's a link to a great web site with good info on Nikon cameras and lenses
www.bythom.com .

If you have any questions there are lots of Nikon users here who can give you the answers.

Thanks for that link. I just spent way too much time reading things. I know I will refer to that often!

Sam

Stef wrote:

I took the dSLR leap! My husband came home from work the other night after we had talked, and handed me a box. Inside that box was the Nikon D50.

After using my Sony 828, which I thought was fast... the Nikon is like night and day! Holy fast camera batman!

I still haven't played around with it too much, since it is dark when I get off work, but I will try this weekend. I know most people here are Canon users, but I have seen a few Nikon users here. I may ask a few questions along the way, since the whole lens thing has me all confused.

I am a happy camer tho! Woohoo! I like it!

Congratulations!

Welcome to the world of DLSR, and say goodby to whatever disposable income you thought you had. :

For anyone to get serious about the Canon / Nikon issue is beyond silly. Can you imagine anyone looking up at the chapel ceiling and yelling, hey you, Michael stop what your doing, we need to know what brand paints and brushes your using?

Just keep reading and have fun with your new camera, and the lens thing will become clear.

Sam

Jnichols

Sam wrote:

Congratulations!

Welcome to the world of DLSR, and say goodby to whatever disposable income you thought you had. :

For anyone to get serious about the Canon / Nikon issue is beyond silly. Can you imagine anyone looking up at the chapel ceiling and yelling, hey you, Michael stop what your doing, we need to know what brand paints and brushes your using?

Just keep reading and have fun with your new camera, and the lens thing will become clear.

Sam

Isn't that the truth? What's disposable income? I FINALLY bought a D70s and since then I've had my eye on a few different lenses... I have an uncontrollable urge and pull towards some expensive glass it's a sickness. :uhoh

leebase

Oh Stef....I had such higher hopes for you.

Kidding...as a Canon shooter I heartily welcome you to the wonderful world of the DSLR. Get yourself a nice fast lens like the 50mm f1.8 for about $100. It's with fast glass that you REALLY start to enjoy the benefits of an SLR -- IMHO.

Lee

Stef

leebase wrote:

Oh Stef....I had such higher hopes for you.

Kidding...as a Canon shooter I heartily welcome you to the wonderful world of the DSLR. Get yourself a nice fast lens like the 50mm f1.8 for about $100. It's with fast glass that you REALLY start to enjoy the benefits of an SLR -- IMHO.

Lee

That is #1 on my wish list @ B & H. I should just order it... but I have to talk myself into it first... ughhh

kini62

Congrats as well! I recently made the move from an 828, although I went for an Olympus E-300. So if you think Nikon is out numbered here, try being an Oly user

I too noticed a HUGE difference in speed. But now I want even more! Maybe some faster glass will help.

Good luck with your new "toy".

Gene

Stef

leebase wrote:

Oh Stef....I had such higher hopes for you.

Kidding...as a Canon shooter I heartily welcome you to the wonderful world of the DSLR. Get yourself a nice fast lens like the 50mm f1.8 for about $100. It's with fast glass that you REALLY start to enjoy the benefits of an SLR -- IMHO.

Lee

Thanks! You talked me into it. I just ordered from B & H!
I think this camera is going to cost me some money, and I think I may have figured out the pricing of the lenses. Hmmm why is it that the good ones cost so much??

Nikolai

Congrats and welcome to the Dark Side!
As a former 828 user I can totally understand your excitement.:-) It's a totally new feeling and zone. It's a more demanding world, too. You're playing with the big boys now. No more excuses about the fixed lenses:-) And yes, you can kiss those remodeling plans good buy - you're now a humble subject of Her Majesty merciless Lens Lust..

I must frankly say: the shots I took during the first few weeks were much WORSE than what I thought I would do with 828. OOF, improperly exposed, blurred.. However, once I got accustomed to the camera (and especially after I spent another load of cash and got some nice USM IS lenses:-) the situation drastically improved. It also caused me to sacrifice my beloved 828 to the Lens Lust mentioned above :-).

Initially I was shooting jpegs (you remember the RAW mode on 828? brrrr). However, nowadays (only three months after crossing the Styx:-) I'm shooting almost exclusively in RAW (or in RAW+small jpg). It adds so much flexibility to the whole process...

One additional catch - with my Sony shots I quite often could upload them just straight from the camera. With dSLR there almost always is a need for some sort of post processing. Quite often (especially if I'm shooting high school football game at a rate of 300 images per night:-) it can be as little as checking the wb, exposure and basic sharpening/noise reduction in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw), but still - some PP must be done. Maybe it's me, but I heard others describing similar work flow..

Anyways - good luck and, once again, welcome to the Dark Side!

Cheers!

GraphyFotoz

I know how ya feel!
I too just took the leap from a 828!
But then again I'm not new to lenses seeing as I did 35mm for 15yrs prior to digital. Yes I went to Canon....I had a Canon 35mm I loved so it was back to a brand I know.
The prosumer 828 is a great camera but was real frustrating not being able to get past that dang 135mm!
Also had sharp focusing problems and Purple Fringing on light subjects.
I do a lotta nature photography and always have and that limit bugged the poop outta me!

Any way this 10D I have is a DSLR equivalent to my old Canon A1 I used to have so I'm back in the swing of things.
As long as the "L" glass monster don't get me!
I used to built 1:25 model cars and we just moved into a home with no space for that. Thus I have been weeding off my 5yr collection of stuff on ebay......turning it into DSLR cash.
Yeah I hafta go with 2nd hand stuff but most of the time it's just like new.
(My 10D had 3200 pics taken with it and I hear they are good for 50,000+)
My camera is very similar to your D50 cept mine is 6.3mp and has 7 point metering.

Nothing wrong at all with Nikon....just personal preference.
From what I see there is 1/3 more Canon users than Nikon so getting 2nd hand goodies is not a problem.
I don't make a lotta $$$ so I'm on a semi budget.
Doubt I 'll ever get the point where I can spend $500+ for lenses!:uhoh
The only expensive lenses I want is Tamron SP (Super Performance)90mm for portraits and macro stuff. It's about a $500 lens but well worth it for me.

I sell photo's now and then and if I can sell enough I MIGHT be able to get enough $$ for some GOOD lenses. Till then I'm happy where I'm at.

You'll love DSLR.....the flexibility is a definite plus. I missed it a lot!!
Just shoot some frames every chance you get. Practice makes perfect.:D
You'll get to know your camera and learn better and better photography.

Stef

GraphyFotoz wrote:

I too just took the leap from a 828!
But then again I'm not new to lenses seeing as I did 35mm for 15yrs prior to digital. Yes I went to Canon....I had a Canon 35mm I loved so it was back to a brand I know.
The prosumer 828 is a great camera but was real frustrating not being able to get past that dang 135mm!
Also had sharp focusing problems and Purple Fringing on light subjects.
I do a lotta nature photography and always have and that limit bugged the poop outta me!

I still love my 828 and it will be staying with me. I guess I just got really lucky with my camera, because I never have had focusing problems, or PF to the extent that others slammed the camera for. I can honestly say that of the 5000 or so pictures I took with the camera, there was less than 25 of them where the PF was noticible. Granted, I don't take pics to make money and quality may not be my #1 area, but if I would say that the rest of the pictures were acceptable in the PF and focus area.

As far as the dSLR. I'm glad I switched. I know eventually I was going to outgrow the 828's abilities, and better to start learning a new camera now instead of waiting!

leebase

Stef wrote:

Thanks! You talked me into it. I just ordered from B & H!
I think this camera is going to cost me some money, and I think I may have figured out the pricing of the lenses. Hmmm why is it that the good ones cost so much??

(smile) You'll thank me. The good lenses do cost a LOT more than "consumer grade" lenses. Over time, you'll spend far more on the lenses. And don't be surprised when you buy a lens that costs more than your camera. The quality of the lens is very important.

Keep in mind that bodies will come and go, but the lenses will last many many years.

The 50mm f1.8 is a great and relatively inexpensive lens. You just zoom with your feet or zoom by cropping the photos in post processing.

And you can get great photos with the cheaper lenses -- if you shoot to their strengths. If you are shooting wide open at f5.6 on the farthest zoom of your consumer lens, in dim light, shooting action subject....then yeah...your glass will be limiting you.

Shooting at f8 in nice outdoor light....even consumer glass can be used to get great photos.

And you'll have your 50mm for when you really need to shoot in low light, or you want narrow DOF. On a 1.5x cropped body, it's a decent portrait lens as well.

Lee