My Nikon buying fest!

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AliB

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Having made the decision to sell up and buy new Nikon gear I had a shopping mission on my hands. (That's something I'm quite good at ;))

I decided on the kit and then went hunting for the best prices I could get on everything. I did manage to get one of my chosen lenses second hand from the lovely Ryan so with a 14-24mm on the way I had some serious ordering to do.

I did website price comparisons on Calumet, Jessops, Jacobs, Warehouse Express and Digital Depot while also checking out Ffordes and Mifsuds. Put together a spreadsheet so the comparisons could be done with ease. Then I contacted them all and basically said "If I buy this lot, what's your best price?" :D Being Scottish, I am fiscally prudent, or tight. :razz:

Then I spotted someone mention our very own Kerso.....and Nikon..... so I thought "Might as well ask the question"

Despite the apology for not being so competitive on Nikon, Kerso managed to shave a cool £1000 off the best UK price I could find. It made buying all this new kit a reality because until then it was very touch and go on affordability.

So if you are in the market for some Nikon kit, don't forget Kerso!!

There are items where he just matches the UK price but there are others where he simply beats them hands down. I'm ordering my D700's for as much as I've seen second hand ones fetch on ebay for goodness sake! The 70-200 VRII was at least £100 under the best UK price and £300 under some of the major retailers. It all added up to a saving of £1K for me and added to the saving on buying the 14-24mm from Ryan it meant I was now £1200 under the very first pricing I got.

Now that's good value. :thumbs:

I finally decided on:
2x D700's with 14-24, 24-70, 70-200, 50mm f1.4 and 105mm macro with 2 SB900's

I did waver on the macro, whether I really need a true macro and whether I should get the 60mm since it is cheaper. I decided on the more expensive 105mm for two reasons. One is that it is, in it's own right a cracking portrait lens and I have used my 100mm Canon for just that and loved it. Also, it provided a little extra cover in the range of focal lengths. If I can't use a 24-70 then the 50mm prime can cover in an emergency. if I can't use the 70-200mm then the 105mm is at least in that focal range. The 60mm was way to close to the 50mm to provide any kind of backup.

Now I just need to clear the table at home. I have some boxes arriving, hopefully next week :)
 
good choices Ali, now we can share some stupid questions :D
 
I looked at Kerso's thread but he says he isn't competitive for Nikon. Glad to know that has changed and have contacted him for a D700 price. Thanks, and lucky you with all that new kit on the way :)
 
lol @ stupid questions! I've bought a book but I'll still end up asking them ;)
 
cool set up, the only thing I may of changed would be to swap the 14-24 for an 85 1.4, but thats just my set up
 
yeah, I know you sold yours Hugh but I like wide angle stuff. I like landscapes even though I'm rubbish at it and I love my architecture and I really do need it for that :)

That's my excuse anyway :)
 
BouncyMelons said:
yeah, I know you sold yours Hugh but I like wide angle stuff. I like landscapes even though I'm rubbish at it and I love my architecture and I really do need it for that :)

That's my excuse anyway :)
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I thought that might be the excuse :D and they are a stunning lens
 
Ali,

what made you decide on the D700 over the 5D MKII ?

I keep thinking about upgrading my 5D to mkII and every now and again a D700 pops up and tempts me :eek:
 
Ooo Ali. Whot a lot u got. Love that why-dangle :love: Just ordered a 5D2 and a few Ls from Kerso. Can't beat his prices ;)
 
I haven't sold any yet! (Gulp!) but will do once the Nikon kit is complete.

I decided agaisnt the 5DII for a few reasons Scott. The auto ISO on the 5D II does not suit the way I shoot. It works on the focal length and gives you a shutter speed to match the focal length so at 200mm it will give you 1/200 sec. Sorry but I don't actually want it to do that! In a church I may only want 1/100 so I get some nice ambient light and I don't need the ISO bumped higher than necessary to give me a shutter speed I don't need. The Nikon simply allows me to choose the minimum.

Then there is the AF system. 11 point in the 5D is a slug and that's what is in the 5DII against a super quick 51 point AF in the Nikon. Tried them against each other in the real world and the Nikon wins hands down.

If I had gone 5D to 5DII I would have had 51 point AF in the 1Ds and high ISO in the 5DII but not both in one body which is what I get with the Nikon. I also have all new kit and two identical cameras.

Then there was CLS flash and the Nikon is just in a different league with a built in flash commender and a flash that automatically changes the WB on your camera when you attach a gel. It's really clever stuff. I know the SB900 has a thermal cut out that can be a bit of a pest but that's the only real downside I could find to any of it. Except the bill! ;)
 
mmmmmmmm the Nikon Holy Trinity.... you will like those lenses and the Nikon flash system is very good and can nail it nearly every time, plus the SB900 is a beast and then some.

My top tip for you though, don't expect too much from CLS outside or anywhere with sun streaming in etc. Works like a charm indoors!
 
Frenzied Dwarf said:
Also if i remeber correctly you can turn off the thermal overide in the 900s :D
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you can - if you'd want to is another matter. I thought they'd fixed this with firmware update, although it only seemed to be a problem for some copies anyway
 
CLS will work outdoors mind, I've managed about 8-10m from it. Just get that sensor pointing the right way :)

Did pick up a mahoosive ttl cord the other day that I prefer now. Sling it behind your head and hold the flash out with 1 arm, no blinkies with the preflash from the on board


Can't wait to see a shot of all those golden boxes 8)
 
Angelic my **** Yv ;)

Not worried about the range of CLS outdoors either guys, still got enough pocketwizards to run three flashes so got all the bases covered with that. It will probably take me several weeks to find out how to run an SB900 though. I downloaded the manual........................yeah right, like that makes sense! I will work through it with the flash once I get it and I have invested in a couple of books covering the D700 and CLS.

I found that really useful with the 5D. I bought the field guide and worked through it, I learned far more and a lot quicker than if I had just relied on the manual I'd recommend it to anyone buying a new camera, get your head in the books and keep at it every few months. Learn the basics, get comfortable and then go back through it again and you pick up a lot more, keep doing it till the book falls apart :)
 
We'll be watching for some fantastic pictures in the weeks ahead - you've now got fabulous kit - great choices!
 
Thanks Andrew, I've learned enough in the last three and a half years with the Canon kit that I knew pretty much exactly what I wanted. The only real decision being the macro focal length.

I'm sure next year I might just have recovered enough to get that 85mm that Hugh mentioned or I could just sell a kidney.

The 1Ds went off for a service today so when I do come to sell the Canon kit it will all be in top notch condition. I remember Dod's for sale thread and I think I might have to split mine up into about three threads to get it all in there! lol

As for getting good images, it might take a fair bit of time to do that, what, with me being a beginner again ;)
 
Make sure you get a receipt off Kerso (I had problems - nearly had to resort to Trading Standards)) or you may find some difficulty if within the guarantee period or with your insurance company.
Dave
 
nikonuser said:
Make sure you get a receipt off Kerso (I had problems - nearly had to resort to Trading Standards)) or you may find some difficulty if within the guarantee period or with your insurance company.
Dave
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hmmm
In mine experience, Kerso always provides you with an invoice...
 
Happy Days Ali :)

The 14-24 will be on your table Thursday. I've just boxed it all up for you.

Can't wait to see the results of all this expenditure :)

Ryan
 
Hi Ali

Nice to see you got your deal in the end :thumbs:

If you get fed up of it in a week or so just post it up here ;)

Im sure I can find a use for it :)

Enjoy

Tom
 
I have used Kerso in the past for flashes Ali and he was very good with his prices. What put me off about buying bodies was that I thought they were grey imports from the USA. Can we still register and have full warranty with gear from the USA?

Anyway, great gear Ali. I have not used Canon gear but have always been really happy with my Nikon stuff. Your house must be like a mini version of WHE at the moment!

Chris :)

Kerso has always provided me with an invoice also. And we found him to be great at customer service.
 
BouncyMelons said:
. It will probably take me several weeks to find out how to run an SB900 though. I downloaded the manual........................yeah right, like that makes sense! I will work through it with the flash once I get it and I have invested in a couple of books covering the D700 and CLS.
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Although the flash system really does work well, I can't say it's as intuitive or easy to use as the Canon set up. And the manual really is a nightmare to work through :cuckoo:
 
Ali, I have a copy of "The hotshoe diaries" by Joe McNally you can borrow if you so wish. I am sure you know he is an avid nikon shooterand goes into some detail of the kit he uses and why along loads of set up info for the shoots In the book. Just let me know.
 
No need for any of my buyers to worry whether an invoice gets missed out or not, I will honour anything I sell for the time I state when you buy. Regards Ian.

nikonuser said:
Make sure you get a receipt off Kerso (I had problems - nearly had to resort to Trading Standards)) or you may find some difficulty if within the guarantee period or with your insurance company.
Dave
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WOW thanks folks!

Got my copy of the hot shoe diaries for Christmas and it WILL be getting read again though I don't fancy trying to light a plane I may manage an Elf ;)

Just got off the phone with Ian. I have bought from him before and have had no hesitiation about doing this amount of business with him. We did have a slight hitch with one of his suppliers but all resolved amicably and I'm still getting a much better deal than purchasing here in the UK.

The lenses all have international warranties and the bodies one year. That's fine by me because every business transaction carries an element of risk and you weigh the risk against the price. I'd estimate that if anything is going to go wrong it will go wrong almost straight away and after that, I've saved enough to have several repairs!

So once again a huge thanks from me to Ian, now where's my boxes? ;)
 
I can't imagine you'll find the SB900 tricky to use, as long as you know what it is you want to do (and I assume so from what you've said about your previous experience) you'll soon work it out.

The display/menu thing is pretty simple - well, I can't say I've had to ever pull the manual out so far!
 
dod said:
Although the flash system really does work well, I can't say it's as intuitive or easy to use as the Canon set up. And the manual really is a nightmare to work through :cuckoo:
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If the manual for the 900 is anything like the 600, bin it! I couldn't make head nor tail of it, especially for the cls/ocf stuff. Figured it out with some help from here and some googling. ;)
 
Yv said:
If the manual for the 900 is anything like the 600, bin it! I couldn't make head nor tail of it, especially for the cls/ocf stuff. Figured it out with some help from here and some googling. ;)
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:$ clicky
 
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