Beginner looking for some help...

[Malemmy]

Hi All, I am looking to upgrade my point and shoot (Canon Powershot SX10 IS) to a DSLR (yay!) I just bought and have started watching Learn and Master Photography (Learn Photography at Home | Photography Lessons on DVD) and I love it. I have always loved photography and I am ready to take the next step with a DSLR and really do a lot of learning to get better at it. My question is... I think I have decided I want to purchase a Nikon D7000. Would that be too hard to learn on for a beginner? I dont know much about lenses yet, so I would just get a kit and then expand from there. I love to take pictures of my little girl, nature, food, macro photg, basically everything. I really want to be able to take really good portrait pics. Any and all advise would be apperciated. Budget would be under $2000 I would say. Thanks in advance!

 

[Designer]

The neat thing about the D7000 is that it will enable you to take pictures without a lot of "fussing". Just read the manual, get started, and you'll get fairly good pictures. A common kit lens will be the 55-200 zoom VR, which will be a fairly good portrait lens. Another common kit lens is the 18-55mm zoom VR. I got both with my kit. While neither of these are "fast" lenses, they will nevertheless enable you to get started learning about composition, etc. before you spend a lot of money on high-end glass.

Another aspect of the D7000 is that you can later learn the finer points of photography using the same camera in modes other than auto. As you grow in experience, you will find yourself re-reading the manual concerning the other modes. You don't have to start out using the more advanced features, but you will welcome the ability of this camera to "grow with you".

 

[Malemmy]

Thanks so much!!

 

[KmH]

The D7000 is an entry-level DSLR, and very suitable for someone new to DSLR cameras. In fact, the D7000 is the most capable of Nikon's current, 6 entry-level DSLR offerings - D3000, D3100, D3200, D5100, D90, D7000.

Any camera body can only be as good as the lens that is mounted on it.

Nikon makes 3 grade levels of lens: consumer grade, prosumer grade, and professional grade.

The basics are that consumer grade lenses have smaller maximum apertures (f/3.5 is a smaller aperture than f/2.8 is), and a somewhat lower build quality than the prosumer and professional grade lenses. Smaller maximum apertures hinder shooting in low light situations, and make it a bit more difficult to use selective focus techniques that make a background blurry. (Note: The smaller the maximum aperture, the less light it can let into the camera.)

To keep the costs lower, consumer zoom lenses have a variable maximum aperture. A typical kit lens is an 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens. Those number mean that the maximum aperture when the lens is set to the 18 mm focal length, f/3.5 is the maximum aperture you can use. as the lens is zoomed towards 55 mm the maximum aperture you can use gradually gets smaller until it is f/5.6 just before you get zoomed all the way out to 55 mm for the focal length.

The prosumer and pro grade zoom lenses usually have a more expensive to make, constant aperture like a 24-70 mm f/2.8 designation. If the lens is set to f/2.8 at 24 mm and then zoomed towards 70 mm the lens aperture does not vary and stays at f/2.8 through the entire zoom range.

Consumer grade, variable aperture zoom kit lenses - ($450):
Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens
Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR [Vibration Reduction] Nikkor Zoom Lens
Or - ($399)
Nikon 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR ED Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Nikon budget trinity of constant and variable aperture zoom lenses - ($2880):
Nikon 12-24mm f/4G ED IF Autofocus DX Nikkor Zoom Lens
Nikon 24-85mm f/2.8-4.0D IF AF Zoom Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8D ED AF Zoom Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Nikon Professional Trinity of constant aperture zoom lenses - ($6300)
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Nikkor Wide Angle Zoom Lens
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Nikkor Wide Angle Zoom Lens
Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II AF-S Nikkor Zoom Lens For Nikon Digital SLR Cameras