D90 > D300s - Worth the upgrade ?

[ironsidephoto]

I have a D300s. Love it. (I also have the 105mm 2.8)

That said, spend your money on lenses.

Lens or Camera: A Guide for the Budget Minded

 

[F1RacerRR]

So unless I throw caution to the wind it looks like I'll forego the D300s and invest in the lenses I want.

I have also looked at it this way... If I sell my D90 at a decent price with its kit lens (18-105mm), then I have no camera. So what is a great DX camera to buy?...hmmm D300s looks tasty.
Thats just my weird logic to justify it, hehe. It will only end up costing me another £500 extra if I sell my D90 at what I want for it as I would be buying a new all rounder lens like the 18-200 anyway.

My idea was to sell the D90 with the kit lens and then get:-

D300s + 18-200mmVR
105mm macro VR2
12-24mm or 10-20mm wide-angle lens.

Also as I want to do macro a lot, a ring flash might be an idea also.


Anyway, at least now I know which way is the sensible way to go. I'm not so much on a budget though but I don't want to go nuts at the same time.
A D3x would be nuts for example (for me anyway)

 

[D-B-J]

Another thing to think of is secondhand equip. I picked up my first dslr, a nikon d200, with an 18-135mm lens about 6 months ago. Before, i was looking at getting the d5000, which is not half the camera of the D200. And i am lovin it. I also got a used 105m 2.8D micro and i love that lens too. Definately can't complain about used camera gear. Just make sure you know where it is coming from.

 

[D-B-J]

Also, i have read from kenrockwell and other reviewers that the tokina 11-16mm is one of the BEST wide-angle lenses you can get for a nikon body. Even better than some of nikons for dx bodies.

 

[F1RacerRR]

OK so I went shopping today and bought a couple of things.

Of course I was very tempted to go the 'Holy Trinity' route and just grab the 14-24mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm VR2 lenses along with my 105mm macro.

But I think I would have questioned my own sanity and common sense if I'd jumped in that far.

So I settled on the 105mm f2.8/G IF-ED VR II macro and the 70-200mm f2.8/G ED VR II.

That set me back the price of a 2nd hand car but I know that lenses hold their value well should I ever decided to sell them on. Needless to say, both lenses are super impressive and the 70-200 isn't one you carry around on your camera all day, thats a fairly heavy one!

I was almost going to grab the 16-35mm wide angle lens too but at the last moment decided not to as I didn't want to go too nuts in one day.

Anyway I guess I'm good to go for now so thanks to everyone who helped out and I guess I saved a bit too for not getting the D300s body and get the lenses instead.
Good thing is if I ever do move up to full frame, these lenses will all fully function there too.

Now lets see if I can enjoy these enough to justify the price tags

 

[ghache]

OK so I went shopping today and bought a couple of things.

Of course I was very tempted to go the 'Holy Trinity' route and just grab the 14-24mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm VR2 lenses along with my 105mm macro.

But I think I would have questioned my own sanity and common sense if I'd jumped in that far.

So I settled on the 105mm f2.8/G IF-ED VR II macro and the 70-200mm f2.8/G ED VR II.

That set me back the price of a 2nd hand car but I know that lenses hold their value well should I ever decided to sell them on. Needless to say, both lenses are super impressive and the 70-200 isn't one you carry around on your camera all day, thats a fairly heavy one!

I was almost going to grab the 16-35mm wide angle lens too but at the last moment decided not to as I didn't want to go too nuts in one day.

Anyway I guess I'm good to go for now so thanks to everyone who helped out and I guess I saved a bit too for not getting the D300s body and get the lenses instead.
Good thing is if I ever do move up to full frame, these lenses will all fully function there too.

Now lets see if I can enjoy these enough to justify the price tags

omg, i wish i had the money to do that. oh well,

 

[IgsEMT]

Enjoy the gear

 

[Josh220]

You are brave to go pay full retail at a store. I'm guilty of going to stores to feel the lens in person, then going home and buying from Amazon and B&H. It saves a few hundred dollars per lens; after a couple lenses you can buy another one with the money you saved.

How do you like the 70-200? I will be getting mine in the next few weeks hopefully. The 105 is on my list after the 70-200 and 24-70. I look forward to hearing your impressions!

 

[F1RacerRR]

Josh, actually I got the lens from the shop cheaper than it was on Amazon and I got a decent discount as I shop there for all my camera gear.

As soon as I get some good use out of it I`ll let you know how I get on.

 

[Josh220]

Josh, actually I got the lens from the shop cheaper than it was on Amazon and I got a decent discount as I shop there for all my camera gear.

As soon as I get some good use out of it I`ll let you know how I get on.

I wish the places near me would do that. They have a "Buy it at full retail or get out" attitude about their prices.

I'll be in one of them tomorrow comparing the 70-200 and 24-70 so maybe I will have better luck with the economy. Let's hope they're desperate

 

[flea77]

• Metal body (D90 is all plastic, don't drop it or hang heavy lens es on it (AF 80-200 f/2.8D), they rip the screws right out of the plastic: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...views/195718-broken-nikon-d90-lens-mount.html)

Hmmm, done both of those (dropped it, lug it around all the time with an 80-200 2.8D two ring or a 24-70 2.8) and never had a problem. Ditto with my D80. Bet that guy in your link dropped, tossed or did something with his backpack (he is a college student you know) with the camera in it, but that is just my guess. Wasn't he the guy who blamed his mother or something like that?

Allan

 

[jeff000]

My post is kinda moot at this point but I still want to add my 2 bits, lol.

So unless I throw caution to the wind it looks like I'll forego the D300s and invest in the lenses I want.

D300s + 18-200mmVR

Also as I want to do macro a lot, a ring flash might be an idea also.

I went from a D90 to D300s, and for me it was perfect, the weather seal alone was worth it really, but for what I do the D300 is a better camera.

Don't go the 18-200 road though, its a nice tourist lens, but after using the lenses you bought the 18-200 would be a real let down. Its a great carry lens, and I thought it was a great all around lens, then I got my nikon 17-55 f2.8 and all of a sudden the 18-200 seemed to only produce images akin to my cell phone. My mom now uses that lens on my D90 body and loves it, but she uses it as a point and shoot for the most part.


For macro I wouldn't go ring flash, ring flash is more suited to model/studio type work imo.
The nikon R1C1 system is unbelievable for macro work, and even for product photography as long as its not to big. I used to use a 3 head system. I am almost all model shooting now and use a ring flash a lot in the studio for them.
I like my SB-900 with 5 SB-600's for macro too, and for on location shoots. But the price is up there a fair amount more then the R1C1 system.

 

[F1RacerRR]

jef000, Yeah I read about the 18-200mm not being all that which is why I settled on the 70-200mm instead as I read nothing but good things about it.

Maybe today or tomorrow I will get a chance to go out and try this lens out proper. I have messed around with the macro already with my SB-600 and its fine, although that R1C1 is the thing to have. It's something I need to justify first though.
Last night, indoors with my 105mm macro, I shot some grains of sugar, salt, did a coin etc. Probably the usual stuff Hard to nail that spot on focus though and even once when I use F/45 and F/57 the entire shot was not in focus. Practice practice. The coin came out well as did a Dremel wire brush that I had a go at.
Gotta get me some bugs now I've seen some stacked macro shots on here that just blew my mind. I know I need a rail system for that though. Maybe later

D300s isn't off the cards totally but I want to recoup some of the money I spent yesterday before thinking about that. It just seemed that if big money was going to be spent, it was wiser to do it on value-holding lenses rather than another camera body. As someone said, its the lenses that make the photo way more than the body does and that's the advice I went with.

 

[jeff000]

You are going to be very happy with your lenses. I only have the 80-200 f2.8 ED, but love the lens, I only ever use it in studio or outside in the sun at pretty fast shutter speeds so the VR wouldn't have been much use. But thats just my justification to myself to make myself feel like the $800 CDN I saved was a good choice, lol. And I really do know that for me the money was better spend on other things, but still can't help but admire the 70-200 VR.

I found that used deals on the D300 can be had all over the place. Around here anyways the used D300's seem to all be under 5000 shutter actuations. So really still brand new.
But half the retail cost. The poor economy has forced some great deals to be had by people that need to move their stuff fast.


PS. for bugs try putting them in the freezer first, this depends on the bug but most look the same after freezing but won't run away on you while you take 50 different shots to figure things out. lol.

Post up some of your favorites though as you learn.

 

[F1RacerRR]

OK guys here are a selection from the first batch of shots that I took with my Nikon 105mm vr2 macro and a couple with the Nikon 70-200mm vr2.

DavidJW's photosets on Flickr

On this day I did use the macro lens far more I have to say The 70-200mm is not the lightest thing in the world to be lugging around on your camera.

I did not have my tripod with me and with most of these shots I probably would have missed the opportunities by the time I had set it up.

So I shot handheld (resulting in many retakes to nail that focus point which is so narrow on the macro lens), using narrow apertures (one time at F57 !) and relying on the VR which I know doesn't kick in that much on macro stuff.

Ok so its all in my 'macro' set on Flickr plus the 2 bird shots in the Nature (Animal or Insect) set.

C+C welcome (or even leave a comment on my flickr if you are so inclined) but not too harsh eh ? :hug::

Again, thanks to all for the invaluable feedback on this thread.