1st DSLR - Nikon D90 + Tamaron 18-270 Lens

[grafxman]

Where do you get these deals from?? I live in a small town with not much here...do you get them online???

You have to dig, dig, dig and search, search, search. For example, I've been watching the price of the Sigma 150-500mm lens for my Canon 50D. Every place I looked wanted $999. Eventually I discovered photo4less.com that carried it for $864.95. At first I thought it was a rip off joint so I checked resellerratings.com and is rated at 8.57 out of 10 which is quite high.

Used gear can be found on ebay, fredmiranda, keh, craigslist, here, etc. You can use google to search all the craigslist listings in the USA to a certain extent by putting stuff in quotes.

I live in Florida and about a year ago I bought a Sigma 170-500mm from a guy in Maine for $300. Those lens routinely sell for twice that. I just transferred the money into his PayPal account and once he verified it was there, he shipped me the lens. I specified in the comments section on the PayPal transfer what the money was for. It's risky but I verified the guy was a photographer and had a lot of images for sale on his web site. It other words he wasn't some guy who was a rip off artist. Google is your friend.

 

[photograham]

Thanks for the good tips grafxman

 

[slasprafir]

I have bought and sold quite a few lenses and have never lost money on them.

 

[PatrickHMS]

You can use google to search all the craigslist listings in the USA to a certain extent by putting stuff in quotes.

This is even better than what you are referring to ~

Ever hear of CraigsPal ??? It is free shareware from the Craigslist people.

A search engine where you can specify any (one or all or in between)
Craigslist site or sites you want to search (I search every CL site in the entire USA at one time, in one search), you can use keywords you want to include and exclude, and pick high and low prices or not, photos or not, etc. Plenty of options there.

Will search all sites you choose in just a few minutes, giving you a list you can use even while program is running.

There is also a paid upgraded version of it that will continually look for what you are searching for even when you are not logged on, and will notify you when new item like you are searching for has been listed anywhere in search area you have specified.

Thought that everyone knew about CraigsPal, should I post about this in an entirely new thread to make folks aware of it?

 

[dyyylan]

Nikon | D90 SLR Digital Camera Kit with Nikon 18-105mm | 25448

That is a positively horrible price. From what you save from somebody like B&H, buying the kit lens, you could pick up a *decent* 70-300, and come out with more glass and same body.

That being said, there is lots of great advice in here about glass vs bodies. With a lens, what you see is what you get. If you're not going to scratch the surface of the D90's capabilities, why spend way too much money for things that you will not use?

I just got that same kit from amazon for almost $1100 on the nose, with free 2 day shipping ^^

 

[benhasajeep]

The body is a very good choice. It opens up more lens possibilities than the lower level bodies do (can af and use more used lenses).

As for the lens, its a decent jack of all type lens. Not really great at any single thing. But due to its long range very usefull. It will have its optical problems just due to its very large range. But nothing absolutely horrable. For travel and snapshots its a very useable lens. If you want perfect wide angles and perfect long telephoto's. You need to buy 2 much much more expensive lenses. For the price it's realy a good deal (normal price of lens).

As for your local price. That's not too bad for a local shop. I am guessing since the salesman didn't know the real stats of the body its most likely a department or electronics store though. Which I would take what they suggest with a grain of salt.

But online you should be able to do a little bit better. Especially since there is a rebate on that lens right now. Think its $70?? It may not be elligible for rebate from a department store if thats where your shopping.

Adorama, B and H photo video, Amazon are good to deal with online retailers. Cameta is on Amazon as a seller and on ebay. I have purchased half a dozen things from them. As well as from Adorama and B and H. All good stores to deal with.

 

[IgsEMT]

D90 is a GREAT camera.
Tamron: - I used to own 18-200 Tamron. Although the focal length was great, the lens took forever to focus especially in moderate to low light environment. I was glad to get rid of it. kit 18-105 Nikon is good, a bit soft in default settings though --> boost the sharpness us in-camera and you should be happy with the results.