I am a newbie..HELP!

kyeezie

Hello all. I am a new to the photography world. I am trying to learn about equipment and stuff that I should have. I do not consider myslef a professional photographer but would like to give it a try:wink I am young with minimum amount of money to spend on my new habbit and right now my budget called for a Nikon D40. I am trying to figure out what lenses I can get to extend my range. Other than have the same size, what else would I need to look for? And does anyone have any good advice for any inexpensive products, let me know. Thanks to all of you for your help. I read more than post but you guys take great pictures and are very helpful.:bow

Harryb

The first bit of help is to move this thread to the cameras forum.

BPerron

If you are on a budget, I would not get the nikon d40...due to you needing to purchase lenses that have the focusing in the lens itself, which is a fairly new thing for nikon, so lenses are very expensive. If you went with a d50 body used you have many, many more options for lenses both Nikon made and made by other companies. I have seen nikon d50 bodies go for 300-350.

As for other equipment, it really depends on what you want to do...

eyusuf

does it have to be nikon?
if you just started, canon rebel 300D is sufficient. you can get it used for 200-250 range. the 18-55 lens is also cheap, around 60 bucks. if you need telephoto then you can get sigma 70-300 APO for less than 150 now.
great pics are not determined on what gear you are using although in some circumstances it is impossible to get a good shot with a crappy point and shoot camera.

Raphy

BPerron wrote:

If you are on a budget, I would not get the nikon d40...due to you needing to purchase lenses that have the focusing in the lens itself, which is a fairly new thing for nikon, so lenses are very expensive. If you went with a d50 body used you have many, many more options for lenses both Nikon made and made by other companies. I have seen nikon d50 bodies go for 300-350.

As for other equipment, it really depends on what you want to do...

Agreed, however the D40 will take old manual focus (even non-AI) lenses and those can be had for VERY cheap... some really awsome old glass out there. However, using this method will not allow you to meter or autofocus. I did find it a great way to learn using my camera in full manual... so it's a choice you have to make. Keep in mind the D40 kit lens is actually quite good and a 55-200 VR is cheap so that should give you a good place to start and figure out what you like shooting. GOod luck !

kyeezie

Thanks for everyones help! Including moving the thread. I should have made myself more clear, I already have a D40 kit and an external flash and have had it for about a year now and just wanted more lenses to add to my collection for learning and such. So, I could take lenses, but will not auto focus? Anyone have any suggestions on used lenses that might work? I really like shooting everything right now, I'm still in the, i want to shoot everything stage. I just had foot surgery so I can't really walk around and take pictures except of my couch and tv set, but I would like something new when I am able to get out there.

Raphy

kyeezie wrote:

So, I could take lenses, but will not auto focus? Anyone have any suggestions on used lenses that might work?

Basically only AF-S and AF-I lenses will autofocus on the D40...as well as SIgma HSM lenses (they have the internal motor drive IN the lens)

AF lenses will only meter, but not autofocus.

If you want to manually focus and not be able to meter (not a big deal to me, persoanlly).. any F-mount lens from 1959 onwards will work on the D40.

Some great lenses to look out for are:

50mm 1.8 D (will meter) or Al, or series E
55mm 3.5 micro-nikkor (this is a non-Al lens but is one of the sharpest lenses ever)
Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f3.5

...and a bunch more !!!

You can refer to this chart found halfway down this page :http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d40/d40-performance.htm#lenses

BPerron

I really like my 18-200mm VR...people complain about some of its softness and issues, but most will not notice it at all and you can always sharpen it up. but it covers such a broad range of things that it is such a great lens to have. I have seen them go used for about 550.00 so really not to bad of a price. This will allow you to just go everywhere and not lug a bunch of lenses with you.

But for more specific things,


you could get a wide angle sigma 10-20mm lens which is great for alot of nature stuff and can make some cool and creative portriat shots. It is a comparable lens to the 12-24mm but goes wider and is alot cheaper.

A good low light lens is nikon 17-55mm f2.8, super pricey but great, great glass and an awesome lens.

There are lots of others, but I really like to keep the af-s function on the camera...I just think it is a great convience to pay extra for.

TwistedJ

I bought a Canon S3 IS 8 months ago. Since I have purchased the tele-converter lens, closeup lens, wide angle lens, a Rayonex super macro lens and an HD Fish Eye lens to play with. So far I've really enjoyed my camera outfit and for a hobby it has served my purpose well. I didn't want to dive into the expense of the high dollar stuff when I still have so much to learn about photography in general.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons3is/