Hi all, I have been a member now for a while mostly just reading and looking, I will be getting my camera next week, either Nikon D300 or D90, (or any recommendations) but my lens choice is a limited, I would really like to have a go at star trails, astro stuff but also use the lens for portraits and even a bit of landscape, I am toying with the idea of a manual focus? something maybe like the Samyang 85mm f1.4? is this a little adventurous? or is there anything that will fall into that bracket, budget £200 up to £300. Any help would be gratefully received.
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Beginner 1 lens-different subjects.
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- Stewart
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I'd suggest that trying to do all those things with one lens may be a bit misguided.
85mm is a very good focal length for portraits, though modern DSLRs aren't really designed for focusing manually and you might struggle to get the focus critically right, especially if your subject is moving.
But 85mm is very restrictive for landscapes. Of course you can use any lens for landscapes - don't listen to those people who say you *must* use a wide angle - but generally speaking wide angle lenses are definitely more useful for landscapes.
As for star trails - 85mm really isn't appropriate. You won't see many stars in your narrow field of view and it will be very difficult to achieve a pleasing composition with some foreground interest.
85mm is a very good focal length for portraits, though modern DSLRs aren't really designed for focusing manually and you might struggle to get the focus critically right, especially if your subject is moving.
But 85mm is very restrictive for landscapes. Of course you can use any lens for landscapes - don't listen to those people who say you *must* use a wide angle - but generally speaking wide angle lenses are definitely more useful for landscapes.
As for star trails - 85mm really isn't appropriate. You won't see many stars in your narrow field of view and it will be very difficult to achieve a pleasing composition with some foreground interest.
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Hi Paul. If you're limited to one lens then how about going for an 'all rounder' such as the Nikon 18-200 VR? That would give you adequate scope for a bit of everything and cover all bases for a while until you could splurge a bit more cash to add to your stable. It should be well within your budget if you go for a used example. It will also suffice for portraiture too. Some of my favourite portrait pics were taken with a bog standard Tamron 55-200 lens.
As for the camera, here's a quick comparison of them on snapsort but it is far from the be all and end all so do as much research into them as you can. The D90 can be had cheap now and even the D7000 has come down to around £350 body only.
As for the camera, here's a quick comparison of them on snapsort but it is far from the be all and end all so do as much research into them as you can. The D90 can be had cheap now and even the D7000 has come down to around £350 body only.
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You've had some great advice on this thread, but being a newbie myself I recently upgraded from a D40 (which I loved and really got my interest started) to a D90. I chose the D90 as it fitted my budget, was a step up from the D40 in many ways and because it also had the built in motor allowing me to buy some of the older (and normally much cheaper) lenses.
I know everyone bangs on about buy the best lens you can afford as it makes all the difference which I do agree with, however when your starting out you don't really know yet what type of photography you want to focus on as such, so buying some cheap lens, playing around will give you a much better idea on where to spend the cash.
I know everyone bangs on about buy the best lens you can afford as it makes all the difference which I do agree with, however when your starting out you don't really know yet what type of photography you want to focus on as such, so buying some cheap lens, playing around will give you a much better idea on where to spend the cash.
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Both excellent cameras. A D300 will let you register the apertures and focal lengths of older AIS Nikkors and other makes of non-microchipped manual-focus lenses, so that the camera recognises their parameters for metering. You still in such cases have to 'tell' the camera which lens from the list you've mounted though. Both bodies will focus with older AF Nikkors etc.
Yes! It's a bit long on an APS-C (Nikon DX) body. A general purpose lens might be 35mm and would equate to 50mm on full frame. Alternatively you might get a cheapish used 'kit zoom' to play with and see what focal lengths in its range you're most drawn to in use. It'll be limited in aperture, though.
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Nod
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Looking at a Mifsuds ad in AP, I see that a D300 and an 18-200 (VR I) would come in just under budget, so a similar rig would be a similar price from most dealers. Buying second hand will a) cost less in the first place and (possibly more importantly) b) mean your overall loss when upgrading will be considerably less (you should get close to what you paid for the kit when you feel the need to get better kit).
IMO, a D300 would probably be a better bet than a D90, mainly because it'll probably take you longer to want/need to upgrade.
Whatever you end up with, enjoy!
IMO, a D300 would probably be a better bet than a D90, mainly because it'll probably take you longer to want/need to upgrade.
Whatever you end up with, enjoy!
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i have a canon 60d - 18 - 135mm lens.. i want to start doing interviews/ music videos.. im new to this so dont be HARSH !
we all got to start somewhere.
we all got to start somewhere.