Have around $1000 for a body and glass for beginner...what should I try?

[Solarflare]

Well, hmm. So thats a 1000$ budget, video ... well that would be a Canon or Nikon entry DSLR. My vote for the D5200, too. Though just because I have not much of a clue about Canon, they probably have great video as well, most likely even better video.

ps: There is one more advantage to the flip screen that I never hear mentioned. When packing your camera in a bag, (i.e. any old carry-on) flip the back over so the screen is better protected from harmful abrasions, punctures, etc. For cameras without that feature, you have to use a compartmentalized and padded specialty camera bag, costing well, way more than I want to pay.

I specifix THAT advantage all the time ... thats one of the main reasons I dont understand why flipscreens arent more popular. You can just flip it around and its GONE ! You dont NEED this thing 95% of the time ! And the rest of the time its better than a tiltscreen (that only has advantages if you want extra stealthy shooting from the hip) and of course much better than a fixed screen.

 

[daimbert]

Sorry I have not been able to reply to everyone but its been busy.

I actually decided to go with robbins.photo and went ahead and brought the 5200 over the 3200 hundred. I liked the flip screen and the liked to just close it completely. Been fooling around with it the last week and its great. Already took 300 photoswhich is amazing to me. I am shooting in raw over jpeg and been post processing using lightroom. I do want to spend the rest of the money I have left but cannot decide whether a speed light would be a better buy or get another lens. To be honest right now I have been taking mostly indoor picture and not very happy with the photos. I have to bump up the iso a lot and use 2 to three stops of exposure compensation to make it look the way I want. Would the flash unit make this better and is it really necessary to spend 300 on a flash unit? Wouldn't a yonguno unit be enough for a fraction of the price?

So what you think a lens of a flash unit first? If a lens which one? A prime or a another telezoom?


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[hirejn]

You can get what you need for about $500. This article explains.

 

[robbins.photo]

Sorry I have not been able to reply to everyone but its been busy.

I actually decided to go with robbins.photo and went ahead and brought the 5200 over the 3200 hundred. I liked the flip screen and the liked to just close it completely. Been fooling around with it the last week and its great. Already took 300 photoswhich is amazing to me. I am shooting in raw over jpeg and been post processing using lightroom. I do want to spend the rest of the money I have left but cannot decide whether a speed light would be a better buy or get another lens. To be honest right now I have been taking mostly indoor picture and not very happy with the photos. I have to bump up the iso a lot and use 2 to three stops of exposure compensation to make it look the way I want. Would the flash unit make this better and is it really necessary to spend 300 on a flash unit? Wouldn't a yonguno unit be enough for a fraction of the price?

So what you think a lens of a flash unit first? If a lens which one? A prime or a another telezoom?


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Well you can buy a pretty much as expensive a flash as you want, me I really like the Yongnuo 565 EX I have, it ran about $100 new and it does a really great job - it has a built in bounce card but I splurged and spent an extra 5 bucks on one that was a bit bigger:

Opteka BC-10 Universal Double-Sided 7.5" X 4" Bounce Card for External Camera Flashes

Works like a charm even when the ceiling is too high or the wrong color to get a decent bounce out of it.