Flash, Lens or Tripod?

FemFugler

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If you could choose one to get which would it be?

Obviously eventually I'll get them all, but for now which would you get if you could only get one?
I need to limit myself to one thing for now until i get a job because i have pets and school stuff to pay for and I'm unemployed right now.

So which would you get? I basically only have what the camera(Nikon D3000) so could use all of them but it's not in my budget at the moment.

My dad *says* he has a tripod in the basement that apparently is quite high end and has rarely been used but the only problem is it's probably 20+ years old.... it was from when he did photography with film cameras. I don't know if it will fit my camera(or if it makes a difference.... im not too familiar with tripods) and also i have never once seen it so he may have sold it and forgotten about it. I have no idea but basically the tripod i *may* already have....
 
I would use the lens that you have now, try to use your dad's tripod y buy the flash. You'll have it all!
 
yeah ^ what kind of pictures are you taking? that will make a huge difference.
 
I would use dad's tripod. You have a kit lens, so get a flash.

Like gpardo64 said... you will have it all then.

After you get a job you can add to that.
 
tripods all mount the same, whether they be brand new or 20 years old. just do yourslef a favour and get a quick release plate for it from manfrotto.

get a flash, it will open up so many other possibilities
 
^^ yeah but if he shoots scenery and landscape a new wide angle lense might be better.

but yes for an average person just getting into it, a flash would probably be a good choice if he will use it.
 
The tripod should work on your camera without problems, far as I know the thread size for mounting a camera on a tripod has remained fairly static for a long long time. So the tripod in the basement should not be a problem - might need a clean up and might not be quite as good a some modern materials and setups can achive - but should work perfectly fine with what you have (even those ultra cheap $15 tripods can make a noticable difference).

As for which to get overall - sit down and work out what it is you like to shoot and if your current setup lets you shoot that as you want. If you start finding areas where you are having problems or limitations then its time to start considering what items might help you overcome those limits.

Another consideration is the level at which you want to get into this - ie the actual amount of money you have. A new cheap lens might not be a good a long term choice as a flash for the same cost - or even a tripod for the same cost. However you might not wish to be making big investments in you gear so some more budget options might be what you are intending
 
Thanks.

Regarding what i want to be taking pictures of, that's part of the reason why i haven't gotten another flash(originally i was set on getting a new lens when i got my camera) at first i wanted a telephoto to take pics of like wildlife and stuff but now i kind of want a macro instead.... I mean eventually i wi get both but i don't know i'm sort of thinking of getting a macro lens for my first lens(aside from the one it came with/kit lens). Basically i've just been taking pictures of just about everything to get a feel of what i like the best and while i really enjoy the landscape and scenic pictures, i think i like the macro/close up pictures better. Partly because the landscape pics are hard to do, i know it's a bad excuse but to be honest I've always loved close ups of really random things such as guitar strings are whatever so i think i'm leaning towards macro....

As for how much i want to invest in photography, i don't want to make it my full time job, just sort of a side hobby. I don't plan on making any money or business out of it. Maybe the odd site to showcase my stuff but nothing more. Sooo i probably won't be upgrading to the top of the line camera, but at the same time in the future i would love to upgrade to a D90 or something equivalent when the time comes. However not for a bit as i just got my D3000 a few months ago and i still have a lot to learn and master about it.

If i could afford a flash AND a tripod but i want to limit myself to one thing right now. I know it may not make much sense but i'm a shopaholic(seriously) and if i'm trying to limit myself here. I mean i could actually get all of them BUT i would be near broke by the end of it and that's not how i want to leave my bank account!

As for a flash, doe it make a difference what time of year it is? Like for instance if it's the summer you wouldn't need it as much? Summer is nearing so would it be more wise to go with a lens ( or tripod)? Or can you benefit from a flash all year round.... sorry if that was a completely stupid question.....

Tomorrow i will take a look downstairs to see if i can find the tripod and to see what shape it's in and all that.

Thanks for all your help and patience.
 
Realistically, if you want to shoot macro, you will most likely need all three...I know that doesn't help you at this point. It's pretty much all a matter of where you think you will be shooting the most. If you are going to be outside shooting the wildlife and landscapes, tripod definitely. You can get some great results even from kit lenses. If you are planning on doing a lot of inside shooting/macro stuff, I would probably start with a flash and hope that the tripod is downstairs. Good luck!
 
Limiting yourself is no bad thing and does help one to focus on learning to use the new gear correctly rather than having way too much stuff all at once and going mad ;)

As for flash I find I use it in winter as much as summer - for whilst you have more light in summer the sun is higher in the sky for a lot more of the day and its often a little more intense. So what you get is harsh lighting and strong shadows - flash can help counter this by giving a little boost to lighting (called fillflash and is generally the way flash works when in auto modes) and thus you can expose more for those brighter highlights on the subject - whislt the flash lifts up the rest of the subject. You don't (always) want to remove the shadows, but you do want to make them a little less strong.


Anyway you were talking about macro stuffs right not flash :)
First off you say get another flash - do you mean you have a current flashgun or are you refering to the popup flash that is on your camera? Flash is a big help and is often used in a lot of macro photography because of the small apertures (big f numbers) that are needed since the depth of field becomes very very small. For handheld macro flash is almost an essential part (though advances in image stabalisation and high ISO supporting camera bodies is slowly changing this); whilst if you have a static subject and camera (eg on a tripod) you can afford to use a slower shutter speed without problems and thus flash is less needed.

Budget and subject are also key considerations as there are high and low cost macro options which - optically speaking - will give you very similar results, but which offer a lot of differences in other features that they support. In addition if you are just shooting guitar strings you won't (nessessarily) need as long a distances between the lens and the subject; whilst if you are taking photographs of insects you do tend to do better if you have a longer distance to work with. This is important because the focal length of the lens corresponds to the distance you have to work with - longer focal length means more distance to work with.
 
Sorry, yes i was referring to the pop up flash. I think i'm going to go check downstairs to see if i can find the tripod and then at least i know what i have to work with, whether i need to buy a whole new one or jut a few parts or nothing. Then i will see what i need next.

Thank you all. I think if the tripod is n good shape i will get a flash(maybe) and if it's not I'll get a tripod.
 

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