I think I'm gonna go with the Nikon D80. I'd love the D200 but I just don't have the moolah to fork out.

This leads to my first question:

Have any of you ever ordered from B&H photo and video (bhphotovideo.com)? I know its a little more expensive than some sites, but I've heard good things about their reliability of service and product quality. I'd also like to get a new camera...but how are your experiences with purchasing used?

Second question:

What lenses do you recommend? The Nikon website had a trillion categories with a trillion different lenses to choose from. This will be my first SLR, so I don't really know where to start.

I'll be using the camera in both low-light and full sun, action (wildlife) and stills/portraits/landscapes. I'm most concerned about stopping motion...I figure most cameras can take a "good" still.

(1) What lenses would you recommend if I could only purchase 2 or 3 right now, and (2) what lenses would you recommend down the road as I am able to afford them.

What about filters?

Any good books you recommend?

I'm sure I'll come up with other questions as we go

10/26/2007 5:38:17 PM

Ummm... Tech Talk?

And also, many threads on DSLRs already exist in Tech Talk. Search for the following terms:

Nikon
Camera
SLR
DSLR

10/26/2007 5:50:58 PM

my bad...move to tech talk, por favor

10/26/2007 6:47:52 PM

B&H is awesome. Great prices, very good customer service, quick shipping. The 18-70 Nikon is very good, the 18-135 is a very good lens for the money. The important thing here is that a total budget is needed because some very good lenses (50mm f1.8) can be very cheap and others can be very expensive.

10/26/2007 7:24:12 PM

the D80s a good choice for an entry level SLR. It's built tougher than the D40/D40x and it has it's own AF motor, so it can take 3rd party lenes.

^what he said about total budget. There's soo many options. If you could afford it, the 18-200mm VR lens would be a great all-purpose lens. Whatever lens you get, be sure to always get a UV filter for it simply for protection.

Oh, and B&H is the shit.

If you wanna go the Canon route, for a few hundred more $ you could get the 40D, which takes 6.5 frames per second (vs. 3), if you're really planning on getting into taking action shots. They'll have just as many options for your lenses as Nikon.

10/26/2007 9:04:32 PM

B&H is awesome

10/26/2007 9:07:43 PM

B&H is awesome, I have a Canon Digital Rebel XT and love it, but it's getting to be a older technology now.

10/27/2007 11:45:19 PM

the D80 is pretty nice. as photorob said the 18-200mm VR lense is a great all purpose lense. other things to think about is if you want to get indoor shots, you should get a flash also. the SB-600 should be good. Also if you are planning on editing pictures in raw format you can get adobe lightroom. if you're still in school you can get a student license which is cheaper.

10/28/2007 10:46:30 AM

lightroom isn't worth it, to me. it lacks any real retouching options and Nikon Capture DOES produce better images from raw files. I use Adobe Bridge + ACR when editing because if I have hundreds of photos it's much quicker than Capture, but I still may go back to capture to make edits on individual images for printing. Lightroom is a glorified Bridge.

10/28/2007 12:17:50 PM

I ordered my D80 this past winter from B&H with no problems and I absolutely love it. I got a package deal with a lense and an 2 gig memory card from B&H with the 18-135mm Nikon lense. So far, like stowaway said, it's been a really good all around lense for the money. I've take in around Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, and family holidays and have been really pleased with it.
I would just go with one lense, get some practice with it and see what you wish you could accomplish more with a different lense, and then spring for another one or two. No sense buying a bunch of expensive lenses without really getting a good feel for your camera if it's your first SLR (especially if money is a concern).

10/28/2007 12:25:45 PM

I also recommend the 18-200VR. Its pricey but it is worth it in my opinion since it replaces alot of other lenses. It will be great for landscapes and wildlife. The VR will help in low light and when you are zoomed in. ie wildlife photography. I would also second the 50mm 1.8 pretty good portrait lens and great in low light conditions. For less than 100 bucks this is a definite must have lens.

10/28/2007 5:28:41 PM

i got my d80 from bh. i ordered it as the combo with the 18-135 lens and im happy with it, if i had the money i would definitely have a few other lenses though,( a micro, a telephoto, wide angle, and something w a good zoom, maybe 400mm.)

my dad also has a d80 (he takes pictures as a side prject for that magazine Endurance, they are free and you can pick them up on campus and at various restaurants and newspaper stands, and a few different websites). he has the Nikon 18-200MM f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens (approx $750) and the Sigma Lens Nikon APO 100-300mm F4 EX DG HSM Telephoto Lens (about. $900) and hes really happy with his set too.

all of our stuff has come from BH so we can account first hand that they are legit.

10/28/2007 6:14:28 PM

awesome...thank you soooo much everyone!!!

10/30/2007 8:59:40 PM

B&H is awesome. i have ordered from them a few times and every thing was easy and reliable.

if you are not sure about wanting to really get into photography you might want to drop down to a D50 or D40.

i would also buy some lesser expensive glass if you are not familiar with techniques and are just getting into understanding things like aperture, lighting, shutter speeds etc.

i own only one nikkor lens (50mm) and i have two very inexpensive quantaray lens while im learning.

i get excellent pictures with my 2 quantaray lenses and i shoot on a D50
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamncsu

10/31/2007 8:33:10 AM

don't get the D40(x) unless you REALLY know what the limitations on lenses are, and you're ok with it. It doesn't autofocus with screw drive lenses, which means you can only use AF-S lenses from Nikon and have it work properly.

10/31/2007 10:37:31 AM

How does this sound...for starters (all prob from B&H, unless I can get back to the Wolf Cam in Cary and they can come up with a better deal):

-D80 body
-Nikkor 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 VR
-Also considered the Sigma 15-50 f/2.8 although I'm open to other/better suggestions (price, within reason)
-SanDisk Extreme III 4 GB SD card (I read somewhere that you should go with no less than a 4GB card when using a 10MP cam)

Being that I can't afford both lenses right now, I figured I'd stick with the Nikkor 18-200, and just deal with the lack of clarity at closer ranges and the supposed softening of edges when zoomed. Then I could focus on getting a faster lens (gosh I wish this Nikkor was faster...can't afford the pro lens tho!!) and something to do macro work with in the future. And maybe one day I can grab the Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR....drool. At some point. Hopefully. Dang its $$$ though.

Also, I've read conflicting reports on the use of an "everyday" filter. I was thinking I'd want one for protection, at least (UV?) though I've read in some cases that it might be better to go without. What are your thoughts?

10/31/2007 10:53:58 AM

i have a fluorescent, uv and bright sun [dont know the name] filter ... but its tinted for shooting in really bright sun light

and if you want a true macro lens then be prepared to spend $$

10/31/2007 11:09:38 AM

do you mean the sigma 18-50? I don't think it's worth it to overlap focal lengths like that. You won't be noticing soft corners or anything like that unless you are pixel peeping or making 16x20 prints on a regular basis. One advantage with the Nikon is the Vibration Reduction feature which will let you use slower shutter speeds in low light to avoid blur caused by camera shake.

I would REALLY recommend getting the 50mm f1.8 for $115. It will let you take very good pictures in low light without flash, and for that price it's hard to beat.

I get about 425-450 RAW shots on the D200 with a 4GB card. Sandisk extreme 3 cards are VERY good.

Get a spare Nikon branded battery. You will definitely want to keep it charged and in the bag when you are out shooting because nothing will ruin a day more than a dead battery.

Get a UV filter for the 18-200. The 50mm doesn't need one but it would be nice to have it on there if you go out during salty weather (our famous nor easters) just to keep the salt from getting on the glass. You don't need other filters because you should be adjusting for indoor light with your white balance setting on the camera, or in your raw editing software.

Add in an SB-600 (preferably the SB800) if you plan to do any indoor photography or any portrait stuff. Indoor you obviously need the light to, well, make light. And outdoor you need it to fill in shadows. The onboard flash is only good for about 10ft in a best case scenario. An SB-800 can fill up a whole room with light if you bounce it off the ceiling.

10/31/2007 1:09:30 PM

I for one would recommend the 50mm 1.8.. it's really cheap (120 or less) and it's definitely the sharpest lens for the money.
It's good for portraits, and low light shots, and small DOF..
another tip, you can go to flickr.com and choose explore.
you can then choose camera types, and then type in a lens to search for people with a certain camera who have tagged photos with lens data.
that can help you choose if the lens suits your style of photography.

10/31/2007 2:47:18 PM

great idea! I'll check that out now

10/31/2007 3:11:56 PM

Quote :

"the D80s a good choice for an entry level SLR. It's built tougher than the D40/D40x and it has it's own AF motor, so it can take 3rd party lenes."

honestly, i turn off the auto-focus. it isn't any better than what i can eyeball by turning it manually. the camera usually isn't psychic enough to know what i want to focus on... yes, i know you can tell it a region that the thing is in, but that's still, in the time you could tell the camera where the object is, you could just focus the lense. also, AF causes a delay in shutter, which is one of the biggest benefits i enjoy with SLRs versus $150 consumer cameras.

the things that are important to me are weight, durability, and maximum CCD light sensitivity (i.e. the highest film speed setting). the last is pretty much the most important thing for taking astronomical pictures.

10/31/2007 3:46:47 PM

One of my friends knows a guy (professional photographer) who is upgrading from his D200 to a D3. This guy told my friend that he'd sell his D200 to "the right person" for $700-800 (I'm gonna assume here it'll be closer to 800...which is still about half of its retail price, new). I personally have always been wary of purchasing anything used. And I don't know this guy, but I trust that he won't try to pull one over on my friend. At least I'd hope not.

Anyway, I've been spending so much time focusing on the D80 that I'm going into info overload...

I know the D80 is better for action (more fps) but I suspect it isn't as user friendly as the D80. Should I stick with the D80 or would it be worth looking into this opportunity? (or is it one?)

10/31/2007 3:51:27 PM

if you can get a D200 for that price, grab it. It is a GREAT camera. I too am looking at getting a D3 to replace a D200 as my main camera. The D200 does 5fps, whereas the D80 can only do 3fps. You may feel a little overwhelmed at first, but there's always that chance that you'll be able to use those better features down the road. If you are going to stay with jpg files, a D80 is a better choice. If you go with RAW files, the output will be virtually identical.

Yes, manually focussing is nice but there are still times where autofocus is still very much needed. D200-level autofocus systems are actually MUCH better than those on a D50/70, and worlds better than point and shoots. The delay caused by the autofocus is minimal these days with better cameras, and throw on an AF-S lens it's even better.

[Edited on October 31, 2007 at 4:59 PM. Reason : ]

10/31/2007 4:57:00 PM

I'd go with the D200 over the D80 any day.

10/31/2007 5:09:56 PM

the owner lives in Gboro...maybe I can meet him this weekend or something to take a look at the D200. Anything I should look for, aside from scratches/dents on the body/sensor?

10/31/2007 5:24:27 PM

Ask how many shutter actuations it has. If he doesn't know, you can find out by using a program like IExif by Opanda. Once installed, you can right click on an image and go to "view exif" and it'll give you all of the info you could ever want in terms of what camera was used, what lens, focal length, aperture, shutter speed, etc. On nikon's, one of the last things on the summary tab is shutter clicks. anything under 20k shutter clicks is still pretty new, and I wouldn't be concerned if it were up to 50k so long as the body looked to be in good shape.

10/31/2007 5:37:36 PM

I think he does wedding photography, and purchased the cam after it had just been released...

I bet he's taken a loooooot of pics....

10/31/2007 5:39:12 PM