First Set-up and Goals

damndandan

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Hello all,
New here so forgive me if I'm a little clueless. I'm really looking into getting a DSLR, Canon was recommended to me by a friend. My goal is to do portraits, boudoir, and some fashion shots. I am having a hard time sifting through everything and I don't have much experience looking through reviews, and finding what will work best. I have been following Jessica Kobeissi on Youtube for a while now and I really enjoy how her shots come out, even before editing. I've been looking for a bundle on Amazon so I can really get started with shooting, but I'm open to suggestions. Looking into getting photoshop and a Wacom tablet for editing, though I assume I'll accumulate those over a few months. If you need any additional info, please don't hesitate to ask. I really appreciate it yall!
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.
I´d guess most of us would say more important than a camera are the lenses. I´ve had a quick look at Jessica's website and she seems to be shooting a lot with big apertures (low aperture numbers). For that, you usually need prime lenses. Remember that you are investing in a system rather than into a camera.
Some questions to answer would be: how much money do you have available? Full frame or crop sensor camera (for professional work I´d recommend full frame)? Are you going to use natural light only, or do you need to invest a part of your budget into lights/reflectors?
I´m a Canon DSLR / Sony mirrorless photographer, but if I was to start new with mainly studio work, I´d go for Nikon DSLRs. If you shoot mainly available light I´d go for Sony mirrorless. With the latter, some clients will look rather surprised when you turn up with a comparatively small camera, but if people hire you for your portfolio rather than for your camera, that´s a non-issue ;).
Edit: btw: for camera reviews my go-to source is www.dpreview.com
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.
I´d guess most of us would say more important than a camera are the lenses. I´ve had a quick look at Jessica's website and she seems to be shooting a lot with big apertures (low aperture numbers). For that, you usually need prime lenses. Remember that you are investing in a system rather than into a camera.
Some questions to answer would be: how much money do you have available? Full frame or crop sensor camera (for professional work I´d recommend full frame)? Are you going to use natural light only, or do you need to invest a part of your budget into lights/reflectors?
I´m a Canon DSLR / Sony mirrorless photographer, but if I was to start new with mainly studio work, I´d go for Nikon DSLRs. If you shoot mainly available light I´d go for Sony mirrorless. With the latter, some clients will look rather surprised when you turn up with a comparatively small camera, but if people hire you for your portfolio rather than for your camera, that´s a non-issue ;).
Edit: btw: for camera reviews my go-to source is www.dpreview.com

Oh of course, I guess I'm just not sure where to start, and what I will be able to build off of in the future.
I suppose full frame. I'd like to start with natural light and I would hope its possible to invest in lighting/reflectors in the future. I'd like to keep my initial budget (Camera body, a few lenses, and any essential parts) between $600-1000 absolute max, but hopefully to get started, not the full budget so I have room to find my avenue before spending on equipment I'm not going to enjoy.
 
Yes damndandan, if you give an approximate budget it will help in advising a setup. Also are you happy to go second hand, or would you prefer new
 
Yes damndandan, if you give an approximate budget it will help in advising a setup. Also are you happy to go second hand, or would you prefer new

I suppose if there is a second hand option that is reliable, I would be willing to see what my options are. For initial startup, almost as if as a bundle, I would pay up to $1000 but would prefer getting a small variety of lenses to experiment with. Hoping to stay between $600 and $1000
 
Thanks for the quick budget reply ;). Well, that isn´t an awful lot. A friend of mine also started with boudoir. She bought a used Canon 5D (the first one) which is full frame and a 50mm f1.8 to start with. She took some great images and in time upgraded. But I must say that was 4-5 years ago. Nowadays from my Canon knowledge, I´d try to find a used 5D Mark II. I don´t know what the equivalent Nikon would be, but back in those days when this camera was new, I´d say Canon was in the lead so in the used market that´s the camera to look for IMO considering your budget.
 
I looked through b and h and there are some options.

Firstly it probably be better to stick with Nikon or canon simply because it's easier to get bits and pieces for them such as third party flashes etc.

You'll be probably sticking with a crop sensor with your budget.

There are some new, second hand and refurbished Nikon d5200 in there for ok money. If you bought one with its 18-55 kit lens for the right price it be a good imager with an ok autofocus. The viewfinder is a little small but you can't have everything when money talks. I think there's a kit there for about 340 dollars.
Add to that a 50mm f1.8g and you have quite a fast lens that is nice for portraits.

Look at Amazon for a yongnuo TTL flash that works with Nikon, a yongnuo yn 568 is one, a manual flash also will come in handy, a yn 560 for example.

If you can add in a set of cheapish stands that go 8 ft high and a softbox from someone like neewer on Amazon you'd have a good setup to start

If you could find a Nikon d7100 or d7200 instead of the d5200 cheap it would add to the handling experience
 
Canon 6D and 85mm f1.4 L. Should be able to get it for $3400 ish.

Minimum for a new Canon I'd say 77D or an 80D and a 50mm f1.8 aka the nifty fifty.
 
Right now (Today 11/11, from 11 am ET to 10pm). You can buy a Refurbished Nikon D7200 from Nikon for $700! That is a very good price for a very good camera! It is really one of their better crop sensor cameras. It also has a body focus motor so you can buy the older lenses that don't have AF motors in them (still some made new, and used ones of course). They also will have Refurbished D7100 body for $499 during the sale. I would spend the extra $200 for the D7200. But the D7100 would be a very good first body though if you wanted to spend more on lenses, or just keep the budget lower.

Refurbished DSLR Cameras and Lenses | Nikon

You can then add 1-2 lenses to start with.

Refurbished D7200 - $700
Refurbished 18-55 VR lens - $90
Refurbished 55-200 VR lens - $116
Refurbished 50mm 1.8D lens - $90

Total not including shipping $996. During the sale!

So that would give you a very good camera body, both kit lenses, and a faster prime lens.

Today only for these prices. But I suspect as the holidays get closer they will be on sale again if the items are in stock.

I chose the D7200 as it sounds like you want to do the photo's as a career and not just taking pictures for yourself. The D7200 is an advanced body and built better than the less expensive models. It would last you a long time.

There is a less expensive option with a Refurbished D5500 as well. $500 sale price with 1 lens. So with same items above but D5500 instead of D7200. Would be about $300 less. D7100 option with same lens choices would be $200 less.
 
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Canon and Nikon will do the job quite nicely, I think Nikon will be a little more recommended as it has superior sensors with better low light performance, better dynamic range and with the proper lenses give you cleaner images as it has the AA removed while Canon still has it.

For your needs I would recommend Nikon D5300 or D5500 with Sigma 17-50mm 2.8, Nikon 50mm 1.8G and add a Yongnuo flash with TTL and HSS.
If you get the lenses used you should be well in your budget (I bought almost all my lenses used)
 
Thank you all so much for your help! I will be looking into all your suggestions this week and hopefully get something within the next month!
 
If you want to experiment with lenses... rent them, don’t buy them. Buy the lenses you think you’d use.
 

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