Help: Whats the best pics to take with the equipment?

[Eddie666]

Hello all,

I am a complete noob and have this equipment: -

D40x with 18-55mm AND 55-200mm lens

What would you suggest are the best pics to take with these lenses and camera and also some settings tips would be greatly appreciated!

I have spent time getting used to the camera and am thinking of getting a tri-pod as some pictures I want to take have long shutter speeds so need to keep it still but any help will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks all in advance!

 

[Mav]

anything you want.

 

[Eddie666]

anything you want.

Thanks lol.

What I meant was that I'd like to take detailed pictures of aanimals but with the equipment I have, it is difficult to get such a good close up of them (they run away if you get too close)

Also extreme zoomed pictures interest me but I can't afford a decent macro lense at the mo. So Wondering what would be best. Although, you do make a lot of sense

 

[CRman]

You dont need a macro... you need a telephoto. By a 2X converter (nikon maybe 1.7X) for your 55-200. Good place to start.There are some singma lenses that does 50-400 for about $1K. Not to bad and if you had a converter... your getting even closer. If you dont want to pring for a new lenses a converter is the only way to go. Also check into a used lens. Not a bad route if from a reputable board or store.

 

[dpolston]

I'm going to have to second the "anything you want" comment. Shooting animals can be tricky and you do need patients. Getting lenses that are used for wildlife photography can be very, very expencive (I just looked at B&H for a decent 600mm zoom - 7,000 dollars. And that's the cheap one!).

I would say just shoot those lenses and work your way up eventually. But this really didn't answer your question so; I would think that (if it were me) I would start with a lens somewhere in the 70-200, 2.8 range. I bought mine for around $1,000. If you want the VR (to help reduce camera shake) you can tack on around 500. The 2.8 allows more light in the lens for better quality images. Then, I would consider possibly a converter to double your lens range (it'll convert that 200 to a 400) and you can get these for the 200-300 dollar range.

This little hobby you've happened upon can be expencive. Good luck to you. But shoot whatever you want too.

 

[Mav]

Thanks lol.

What I meant was that I'd like to take detailed pictures of aanimals but with the equipment I have, it is difficult to get such a good close up of them (they run away if you get too close)

Also extreme zoomed pictures interest me but I can't afford a decent macro lense at the mo. So Wondering what would be best. Although, you do make a lot of sense

200mm isn't a whole lot for most animals unless they're pets and know you and of course let you get close. The extra reach from the 70-300mm VR lens (which is also AF-S and thus will auto-focus on the D40) would probably help a lot. I wouldn't recommend a tele-converter for the 55-200. It'd be too slow and the camera might not autofocus properly due to the f/5.6 maximum aperture at the long end. Generally you need f/4 or faster aperture lenses to use tele-converters. The auto-focusing system isn't designed to work (well) with apertures smaller than f/5.6 although you can get away with it in good light. If you want extra reach, you could sell your 55-200, pass on the teleconverter, and you're already most of the way to a 70-300 VR. I have one of these and it's a great lens. As dpolston alluded to, even 300mm still isn't a lot for wildlife photography, but it's about the best you can do before you have to start spending truly serious amounts of money (like a $5000 200-400mm zoom, or 300, 400mm or longer primes, all of which are big bucks).

For macro, the 18-55 is the closest focusing lens that Nikon makes besides their dedicated 1:1 macro lenses. If you want to get even closer, look for used 55 or 60mm f/2.8 micro lenses. I've seen these on KEH.com and they're pretty affordable. Another one I've heard lots of good things about is the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro. You'll have to manually focus with most of these lenses on the D40/x, but that's not a big deal and actually pretty common for macro photography.