about £200 to spend. what new kit? tripod, printer, filters
Discussion
hey all,
i have recently been given a bit of money and told to spend it on something that will make me happy so i am thinking about what new kit to get now before i slowly drink it all away.
i currently have:
D70s
18-70 kit lens
sigma 75-300 4.5 lens
a basic monopod (dont really use it for anything)
a 40Gb portable hard drive
a basic jessops tripod (i dislike it so much that i left it at my house in france and didnt notice for a few days)
a basic suction clamp
and that is pretty much it.
kit i think i should be thinking about getting:
a good tripod (i am being drawn towards the slik pro700dx for about £100, is it too heavy at 3.2kg?)
a photo printer (no idea about this area)
filters (what do i need?)
a better flash than the pop-up one on the D70 (again, no idea)
a graphics tablet (just a £40ish one)
now my 3 questions are these:
is there any essential kit that you think i should have that doesnt feature on either list?
have you had any experience of any area above which may be useful?
if you had roughly £200 to spend on some of the above items, where would your money go?
cheers
chris
i have recently been given a bit of money and told to spend it on something that will make me happy so i am thinking about what new kit to get now before i slowly drink it all away.
i currently have:
D70s
18-70 kit lens
sigma 75-300 4.5 lens
a basic monopod (dont really use it for anything)
a 40Gb portable hard drive
a basic jessops tripod (i dislike it so much that i left it at my house in france and didnt notice for a few days)
a basic suction clamp
and that is pretty much it.
kit i think i should be thinking about getting:
a good tripod (i am being drawn towards the slik pro700dx for about £100, is it too heavy at 3.2kg?)
a photo printer (no idea about this area)
filters (what do i need?)
a better flash than the pop-up one on the D70 (again, no idea)
a graphics tablet (just a £40ish one)
now my 3 questions are these:
is there any essential kit that you think i should have that doesnt feature on either list?
have you had any experience of any area above which may be useful?
if you had roughly £200 to spend on some of the above items, where would your money go?
cheers
chris
Andy M said:
I'd take it one step at a time. Buying a lot of gear at the same time is likely to mean you won't get the best out of each item.
If I were in your situation I'd probably buy a 50mm prime lens. How's that for deviating?
If I were in your situation I'd probably buy a 50mm prime lens. How's that for deviating?
i completely understand about not buying too many different bits of kit at one time.
why would you buy a prime lens? what advantages would it have over the 18-70?
speedychrissie said:
mr noble said:
You've got enough kit mate.
Just spend it on beer.
Just spend it on beer.
is that your way of saying "your photos arent good enough to warrant getting more kit"?
Not at all! Just thinking that you have a pretty good set up right now.
The flash does seem like a good option.
SB600 or go the whole hog and get an SB800. I would not bother with anything else as they won't fully sync up with all that your D70 can offer.
I have an SB800 and I don't use it that much. I recently bought an SC-1? lead that allows me to fire it off the camera so you can play around with holding it somewhere away from the lens etc.
The benifit of getting something like a 50mm f1.8 is the 1.8 apature. It allows you to get some great and natural effects using the super shallow depth of field.
ie. a shot of 10 people all at differet distances from the lens, but only one of whom's face is in focus.
Comprenez vous?
HTH
Greg
yo Chris, I'd add that I had almost exactly the same kit as you, and when I'd saved some pennies I bought an SB-600 and 50mm f/1.8 prime. Both have stayed whilst the D70 is now gone.
The flash is very useful, in far more circumstances than I thought it would be. The 50mm is good because
a.) it's very sharp and very cheap.
b.) It makes you think much more about your photogpraphy, both because at f/1.8 the DOF is pretty minimal, and because you have to think more about framing and composition due to the fixed focal length.
It's also great at parties as you can crank up the ISO and avoid using flash if you want to stay discreet.
I still have the crappy £15 tripod I bought very early on. It isn't even strong enough to hold the weight of my current kit, so I haven't used it since ugprading - and I haven't missed it at all.
The flash is very useful, in far more circumstances than I thought it would be. The 50mm is good because
a.) it's very sharp and very cheap.
b.) It makes you think much more about your photogpraphy, both because at f/1.8 the DOF is pretty minimal, and because you have to think more about framing and composition due to the fixed focal length.
It's also great at parties as you can crank up the ISO and avoid using flash if you want to stay discreet.
I still have the crappy £15 tripod I bought very early on. It isn't even strong enough to hold the weight of my current kit, so I haven't used it since ugprading - and I haven't missed it at all.
_dobbo_ said:
yo Chris, I'd add that I had almost exactly the same kit as you, and when I'd saved some pennies I bought an SB-600 and 50mm f/1.8 prime. Both have stayed whilst the D70 is now gone.
The flash is very useful, in far more circumstances than I thought it would be. The 50mm is good because
a.) it's very sharp and very cheap.
b.) It makes you think much more about your photogpraphy, both because at f/1.8 the DOF is pretty minimal, and because you have to think more about framing and composition due to the fixed focal length.
It's also great at parties as you can crank up the ISO and avoid using flash if you want to stay discreet.
I still have the crappy £15 tripod I bought very early on. It isn't even strong enough to hold the weight of my current kit, so I haven't used it since ugprading - and I haven't missed it at all.
The flash is very useful, in far more circumstances than I thought it would be. The 50mm is good because
a.) it's very sharp and very cheap.
b.) It makes you think much more about your photogpraphy, both because at f/1.8 the DOF is pretty minimal, and because you have to think more about framing and composition due to the fixed focal length.
It's also great at parties as you can crank up the ISO and avoid using flash if you want to stay discreet.
I still have the crappy £15 tripod I bought very early on. It isn't even strong enough to hold the weight of my current kit, so I haven't used it since ugprading - and I haven't missed it at all.
I think Dobbo's answered the question better than I could
I would definitely be heading down the 50mm route, but would probably splurge on a 1.4 instead of 1.8
Gemm said:
I know everyone goes on about 50mmm lens. But am I the only one who had very little use of it? It made a great paper-weight though. 
I used my all the time back when I only had the 18-70mm kit lens. I couldn't get the results I wanted from the kit lens but the 50mm was reliable and I loved the depth of field and bokeh at f/1.8
I don't use it much now, as I've got a slightly more expensive zoom that is a lot better in virtually all respects other than "only" being f/2.8
I keep the 50mm because I've got a real soft spot for it, and know I will use it again when the need arises.
I'm surprised I'm alone here, but I would say definitely get the tripod. I take mine whenever I physically can carry it (even if it means strapping it to my backpack for a few days at a time), and it is the one thing that ensures any sort of consistency in my photography.
Like you too, I had a cheap Jessops tripod that I used a couple of times, and then just left at home because it was too useless. Then one day I bought a Manfrotto, and never looked back.
If you like playing with light and contrast in your compositions, get one. If you love doing landscapes, get one. If you want to do macro or animals, get one. If you want to do motorsport, get one.
80% of the photos I've taken that I'm even marginally been proud of have been the ones taken on a tripod.
Like you too, I had a cheap Jessops tripod that I used a couple of times, and then just left at home because it was too useless. Then one day I bought a Manfrotto, and never looked back.
If you like playing with light and contrast in your compositions, get one. If you love doing landscapes, get one. If you want to do macro or animals, get one. If you want to do motorsport, get one.
80% of the photos I've taken that I'm even marginally been proud of have been the ones taken on a tripod.
Sorry to add to the confusion...... but if it were me I'd get myself a couple of filters, at least an ND grad if nothing else (especially if you take any landscapes) for relatively little outlay - if you bought Cokin. Lee on the the hand are a "bit" more pricey..... Once you've got the lens holder you can add other lenses (polariser etc) in the future.
I also recently got a decent Manfrotto tripod. Don't use it much but it's great when I do.
With filter and / or a tripod you'd get improved pic's from the kit you've got already.
Longers
I also recently got a decent Manfrotto tripod. Don't use it much but it's great when I do.
With filter and / or a tripod you'd get improved pic's from the kit you've got already.
Longers
longers said:
...at least an ND grad if nothing else...
Correct me if I'm wrong (quite probable), but the only filter which changes the image in a way that you cannot in Photoshop is a polarizer - everything else, ND grad included, is a nice-to-have (as opposed to a must or should-have) in the digital age, because we can "fix" photos and reproduce the filter almost to perfection.
I know it's better to get it right at the first exposure, but with limited funds, I'd go for the essentials first. And in my book, a good tripod is an essential.
Actually, this "essentials" thing can be a bit arbitrary. I'm tempted to go for a set of Lee ND Grads, but that would eat in to the budget for a D200 and delay the purchase, so I'm not so sure now. I already have a camera body, but my heart classes a better body (oo er) as an essential over a set of filters.
I think I'm sad.
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