Investing in better glass before upgrading body.. right?

pantherous · Feb 20, 2011

I'm still relatively (6 mos) new to photography, and I have a D90 with 16-85VR lens (lens is still on the way, just upgraded from 18-105, but read on)

Anyway, I managed to find a really good deal on a D7000 for $700. no lie.. 800 clicks, mint condition. Anyway, I am debating whether to sell the D7000 for $1000-1200 for a quick 300-500 profit, and then put it towards a 70-200 or 80-200, or something. Alternatively, I could sell my D90 body for about $700 (i have aftermarket grip on it) and basically get a quick free upgrade from d90-d7000. Right now i have 16-85vr, 35mm f/1.8, and a tamron 200-500 di ld, all the lenses work on d90 and d7000 just fine.

i'm not trying to get into being a gear junkie, i just found this deal and knew someone else would snatch it up to re sell it if i didn't, so im debating keeping the profit for better glass/plane ticket to rainforest or something, but the upgrade for free would be sick.

what do you guys/gals think?

Davor · Feb 20, 2011

well honestly id take the d7000 seeing your spending no extra money on it, you already have a good collection of lenses but if you need a lens then make the profit and buy new glass. Good deal on the d7000 though

Josh66 · Feb 20, 2011

Well, if you can upgrade the body for free, it's a no-brainer. Why are you wasting time asking us? Do it before someone else buys it.

pantherous · Feb 20, 2011

no sorry.. hah.. i already bought the d7000.. i have it.

i either sell d90 and i'm even, or sell d7000 and put about $400 towards a 70-200

Josh66 · Feb 20, 2011

Ah. I was thinking you found it for sale, but couldn't decide if you should buy it or not... :lol:

OK, so I guess what I would be asking is 'Do I really miss that $700?'

Do you need the money to put back in your bank or whatever, or was it just saved up money for camera stuff?

I mean, if you don't 'need' it to cover the cost of the new body, I would sell the old body and use the whole $700 for a new lens or two for the new body.

That way you get a camera upgrade, and a lens upgrade.

Davor · Feb 20, 2011

id say keep the d7000 and sell the d90

pantherous · Feb 20, 2011

O|||||||O said:
Ah. I was thinking you found it for sale, but couldn't decide if you should buy it or not...

OK, so I guess what I would be asking is 'Do I really miss that $700?'

Do you need the money to put back in your bank or whatever, or was it just saved up money for camera stuff?

I mean, if you don't 'need' it to cover the cost of the new body, I would sell the old body and use the whole $700 for a new lens or two for the new body.

That way you get a camera upgrade, and a lens upgrade.

well i definitely need to put the 700 back in the bank. if i sold d7k id have 1100 so 400 left over.. so its either 400 towards new lens or keep d7k sell d90 to cover

pantherous · Feb 20, 2011

O|||||||O said:
Ah. I was thinking you found it for sale, but couldn't decide if you should buy it or not...

OK, so I guess what I would be asking is 'Do I really miss that $700?'

Do you need the money to put back in your bank or whatever, or was it just saved up money for camera stuff?

I mean, if you don't 'need' it to cover the cost of the new body, I would sell the old body and use the whole $700 for a new lens or two for the new body.

That way you get a camera upgrade, and a lens upgrade.

and no i saw it for sale and snatched it up right away.. he told me i was first out of 22 emails, and i live in a very small craigslist market lol

pantherous · Feb 20, 2011

my whole thing is i dont know if i NEED the upgrade.. i'd love the ability to shoot in 3200 iso and have it comparable to my d90's 800 iso! but i definitely would not utilize the 6fps vs 4.5fps, or the dual memory card slots.. i'm not 'pushing the limits' of my d90, so i dont know if it's worth $400 to me to upgrade just for ISO noise

Josh66 · Feb 20, 2011

pantherous said:
well i definitely need to put the 700 back in the bank. if i sold d7k id have 1100 so 400 left over.. so its either 400 towards new lens or keep d7k sell d90 to cover

In that case, I personally would sell the old body and keep the new one. I know people do it all the time, but buying something just to turn around and sell it for more seems a little wrong to me...

I would just keep the new body and be happy that you got an awesome deal on it.

GooniesNeverSayDie11 · Feb 20, 2011

Yeah, keep the d7000 and sell the d90.....easy decision, assuming you have had ample time to test all features on the D7000 and make sure it has no issues. A screwed up D7000 is certainly not better than a nice D90.

Josh66 · Feb 20, 2011

pantherous said:
my whole thing is i dont know if i NEED the upgrade.. i'd love the ability to shoot in 3200 iso and have it comparable to my d90's 800 iso! but i definitely would not utilize the 6fps vs 4.5fps, or the dual memory card slots.. i'm not 'pushing the limits' of my d90, so i dont know if it's worth $400 to me to upgrade just for ISO noise

There's more to an upgrade than just camera specs. I shoot Canon, so I don't know much about those specific bodies, but generally - higher end cameras are much easier to work with. It might not make your pictures better, but it will make your life easier, which in turn, ought to make your pictures better. :lol:

I would expect a better viewfinder and better AF too... But, again, I don't know much about those bodies so that may not apply.

SupNY · Feb 20, 2011

O|||||||O said:
pantherous said:

my whole thing is i dont know if i NEED the upgrade.. i'd love the ability to shoot in 3200 iso and have it comparable to my d90's 800 iso! but i definitely would not utilize the 6fps vs 4.5fps, or the dual memory card slots.. i'm not 'pushing the limits' of my d90, so i dont know if it's worth $400 to me to upgrade just for ISO noise

Click to expand...

There's more to an upgrade than just camera specs. I shoot Canon, so I don't know much about those specific bodies, but generally - higher end cameras are much easier to work with. It might not make your pictures better, but it will make your life easier, which in turn, ought to make your pictures better.

I would expect a better viewfinder and better AF too... But, again, I don't know much about those bodies so that may not apply.

Very true and a well made point. I think the main theory behind the invest in glass not bodies business is that lens should last a life time and bodies will be upgraded much more frequently than your lens and so if your going to plunge a load of cash into something then yes glass is the better 'long term' investment, but in terms of importance neither takes priority really.

subscuck · Feb 20, 2011

I'm normally a glass first person, but a once in a lifetime great deal on a better body that would normally be out of range trumps glass. Sell the D90 and be flush because you know down the road you'd regret selling the D7000.

djacobox372 · Feb 20, 2011

Don't wait on decision making, for $700 buy the d7000--it's a no brainer, you could always sell it for a profit. If you wait to long the police may catch up to the guy selling it to you and you'll be out of luck.