which camera is the one to buy?

[KKJUN]

Hi guys and girls,

I'm looking for a nice beginner camera to do skateboarding-photgraphy. It should be able to produce nice pictures at night, too. I'm planning to, as I said, use it mostly for skateboarding photography, but I also want to try other things. My budget is about 100€ - 250€.

I thought about getting a used Nikon D50, as this is the one I shooted with until now (which belongs to my dad). Is this a good idea? Or is there a high risk of getting a worn-out camera when buying used?

(my attempts so far can be found here: Flickr: Darius Kromoser's Photostream)

 

[KmH]

To shoot at night you need good ISO performance and a lens that can open to a nice wide aperture. The lens winds up being more important than the camera body. You can probably find a good used kit, camera and lens, for $600-$700 USD. That's what, about $400 €?

 

[KKJUN]

Yeah, that's about 400€. I just searched for Nikon d50's on ebay, and I found out that they are about 150$, including a 18-55mm lens. So, if I get that one and buy a nice lens afterwards, will my camera work good at night?

 

[IgsEMT]

will my camera work good at night?

Used to own it - great camera.
It'll work fine but WITH A FLASH. Going above ISO400 is risky b/c of noise.

 

[RRRoger]

The Nikon D5000 is the cheapest camera with High ISO performance. The sensor is same as D90 and D300s. It can give you very good images at ISO 3200.
The cheapest low light lens would be the Nikkor 50 f/1.8.
If it is light enough to ScateBoard, this combo should work well.

You will also like the tilt screen for D-movies if you can get the camera away from your dad.

 

[IgsEMT]

The sensor is same as D90 and D300s. It can give you very good images at ISO 3200.

IF you aren't running noise reduction like Noise Ninja:thumbup: or Nik's Dfine:thumbup:, 3200 is pretty ugly. On my d90 and d300, shooting at 2000 is already :greenpbl:

 

[Village Idiot]

The Nikon D5000 is the cheapest camera with High ISO performance. The sensor is same as D90 and D300s. It can give you very good images at ISO 3200.
The cheapest low light lens would be the Nikkor 50 f/1.8.
If it is light enough to ScateBoard, this combo should work well.

You will also like the tilt screen for D-movies if you can get the camera away from your dad.

Will the D5000 AF with the 50 f/1.8? If not, then that's a turn off.

OP - Stay away from CCD sensors if you need high ISO performance. Any way you look at it though, lighting is going to be the most important part about what you want to accomplish. You're probably never going to get shutter speeds fast enough without it, unless you're already shooting under some pretty powerful lights.

 

[RRRoger]

The sensor is same as D90 and D300s. It can give you very good images at ISO 3200.

IF you aren't running noise reduction like Noise Ninja:thumbup: or Nik's Dfine:thumbup:, 3200 is pretty ugly. On my d90 and d300, shooting at 2000 is already :greenpbl:

I will upload some D90 ISO 3200 photos to my gallery.
They my be "UGLY" for "Fine Art", but certainly good enough for Skateboarder's and the test is that customers have bought these pictures without post-processing.
http://www.thephotoforum.com/photos/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=48466

 

[RRRoger]

Link:
Nikon | Imaging Products | Nikon D5000

Only AFS and AFI will auto focus.
You can add the AFS 35f/1.8,
18-200 , 24-70, 70-200 or

http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/digitalcamera/slr/d90/index.htm

I would spend the extra $ and get a used D90.
I think it is the best camera made for the money.
I have used it successfully for a D3 backup

 

[KmH]

Yeah, that's about 400€. I just searched for Nikon d50's on ebay, and I found out that they are about 150$, including a 18-55mm lens. So, if I get that one and buy a nice lens afterwards, will my camera work good at night?

The D50 is a several year old design and doesn't have the ISO performance of newer models.

For only $400 € you will have trouble finding used gear that will be up to the task. As mentioned your only hope would be to use supplimental lighting.

Nikon's D5000 has pretty good ISO performance but is a recently released camera, meaning the used market for them is very slim. It's bigger brother, the D90 has been out for about a year now but is sought after on the used market keeping it's price up.

I think you would do best, on a cost to performance basis, by looking for a Nikon D80 or D200 and an AF 50mm f/1.8D lens, unless you can wait a bit longer and accumulate more savings so you could persue a D90 and AF 50mm f/1.8D.

 

[KKJUN]

Yeah, I noticed that too. But the night-photography-thing was more of a bomus. I won't be shooting at night all the time, for the few days I'll shoot at total darkness. Buying a 400€ camera isn't really worth it for me.

Edit: I just looked for d80's on ebay. I'll just save some more money and will probably get one of those. Looks like a good compromise between a d200 and a d50.