Just starting out!!

DoubleAA · May 2, 2011

Hey everyone, me and my wife are extremely interested in getting into photography! I have taken some generic classes in high school and we both plan on taking some work shops soon to learn more about digital photography! Now I've done some research and I think I want to buy the nikon d7000! We will likely treat this as a serious hobby for now and maybe to attempt taking pictures for family and friends! I was just looking for some advise on weather or not the d7000 would be an appropriate purchase and if it would be capable of professional quality photos? Also, what lenses would be a good idea to buy right out of the gate? Thanks alot!

tirediron · May 2, 2011

The D7000 is by all accounts an excellent camera which can produce top-level results. It isn't professionally built in terms of its construction (plastic chassis) however. As far as lenses go, I would suggest starting with the 18-55 kit lens and decide what lenses would suit you as you gain experience.

Bagpiper · May 2, 2011

I tend to agree with the previous comment. Get the kit lens, learn how to use the camera and find out as you go, what lenses you feel you need. Trust me, the more pictures you take the more you will get a feel for what you require in your lenses. You can, and probably will, spend more on your lenses than on the camera. I have had my Canon 7D since December last year and still planning my lenses but in the mean time using the kit lens to learn the camera.

Good luck and hope to see you around with some photographs with your new Nikon "baby" <lol>. Trust me! The Camera will become part of you after a while. A bit like a bionic implant. lol

Cheers
Jim

joealcantar · May 2, 2011

50mm 1.4 would be a nice start, fast and about an 80mm on a DX frame, nice for portraits.
24mm 2.8, clean glass.
used 80-200 2.8 would get you by until you are able to pick up a 70-200 2.8
-
Shoot well, Joe

KevinPutman · May 2, 2011

Canon > Nikon
^-^

Stradawhovious · May 2, 2011

The D7000 is a hell of a camera. I have one, have taken some (what I consider to be) stunning images with it, and even so I will more than likely not realize the full potential of this camera for a long long time.

My humble advice...... To get professional quality photographs from the D7000 the best thing you can invest in is a top quality, professional grade organic shutter actuator.

That being said, my favorite, top 3 lenses:

1 - Nikkor 135mm Nikkor f/2.8 AI (used, $135 meters, but is not an AF lens. You get used to the MF really really fast)
2 - NIkkor 50mm f/1.8 AF-G ($125 new. AF is loud but fast and accurate)
3 - NIkkor 180mm f/2.8 AF-I ($400 or so used AF loud but accurate)

Also, if you are new, look into Bryan Peterson's books and videos on youtube. If you have some local classes at community education, they are usually worth the money as well. The ones in my area were $40 a piece for 1 month classes.

Best of luck, take lots of pics, and come back for critique.

DoubleAA · May 3, 2011

Thanks for all the help! Now if I buy the d7000 body, will it come with the lens cap cover? Will I still need to purchase cables, battery etc.? I'm thinking about parting it together rather than buy a kit! What do you think would be more bang for the buck?

SNBniko · May 3, 2011

I bought mine as a kit... plus a card reader and various other little things. I don't think piecing together the initial purchase is wise. If you look on a product website (bestbuy, etc etc), it tells you what comes in the box. =) Good luck and have fun! The learning curve is steep!

Stradawhovious · May 3, 2011

Can't answer your question without a lot more information.

What is your skill level? What do you want to shoot? What is your budget?

If it were me, and I couldn't easily and quickly answer all three of those questions, I would just get the body and a kit lens and go to town snapping away until I found a gap that needed filling.

Snap.... snap..... snap.... snap.... "Wow, I wish I could get closer to my subject... but this 18-105 isn't getting there." Then drop the money on a 300mm zoom Snap... snap.... snap.... snap.... "Wow, I wish I had a faster lens for portraits"...... Then drop the money on a 50mm 1.8, or 85mm f/2 or a 135mm 2.8 or etc. etc.

Repeat ad nauseum. I wouldn't buy glass then find a purpose for it. I would find a purpose then buy the glass.

Also remember that with the D7000 you can use the AI, AI-S, AF-I, AF-S and almost every other Nikon lens since the early 80s. Many of which are spectacular image quality at low low prices.

Also remember that the best tool I could have ever wished for as a budding photogrpher was lack of options. When I only had one lens and no other toys, I had to figure out how to do things with technique and learning about photography rather than half assing it by introducing a whole bunch of gear into the equation. SNBinko is right. The learning curve is steep. Its even more steep when you add a whole bunch of toys into the mix without a good fundamental knowledge base to support them. The process should be crawl ->walk ->run...... not run-> trip-> crawl.

I've tripped back to a crawl with photography more than I'd care to admit.

YMMV, IANAL MY .02 etc.

Derrel · May 3, 2011

The D7000 is readily available with the 18-105mm lens...body-only sales of it are tough to find...I'd suggest buying the D7000 with the 18-105mm lens in the kits that Nikon is supplying for 90% of the sales of the camera...

KmH · May 3, 2011

DoubleAA said:
professional quality photos?

If you want a camera to produce pro quality photos, you need to make sure the wetware attached to the camera is fully programed.

As it is pro quality people photos are about the light and the composition. In other words, pro quality photos can be made with just about any camera.

o hey tyler · May 3, 2011

OP, I understand you're excited about photography, but that doesn't mean you have to yell all of your sentences at us.

Using a period is a valid form of punctuation too, you know.