Newbie

RRJLind · Jun 9, 2016

Hello All! New shooter(s) here. My bro-in law gave me his Sony A100 (kit lense, 300mm zoom, and a fish eye). I enjoyed it so much my wife went and got us a good deal on a nikon D3200. The lense it came w/is kinda big (55-200 1.4) So every time i want to take a pic, i find myself backing up :-( We still have tons to learn, but that's part of the fun. I got a 2 books from the library, and my local best buy is having a class in a month. My the goals are to feel pretty comfortable w/the camera, get a lense i'm happy with, take some good shots that i like enough to hang up in the house, And get awesome pics/video of our daughter growing up. I'll also need to learn about filters, and photo editing.

On a side note, the Best Buy by me had a Lowpro sling 150 bag for $30 (on clearance) I think this is a killer deal, for a real nice camera bag. I can't find it online, but it may be worth looking at your local best buy (clearance rack).

TCampbell · Jun 9, 2016

Was this a "used" D3200? A D3200 usually comes with a kit lens which is an 18-55mm lens with purchased as a single-lens kit. There are usually choices to get a second lens... and that second lens is often the 55-200. But if the camera only comes with one lens then usually it's not just the 55-200.

RRJLind · Jun 9, 2016

yes, used. kinda strange, no instruction manual, no cord to connect to the computer. but it did come w/a 16GB card, so that was a nice surprise.

An 18-55 lens huh? Thats may work

goodguy · Jun 9, 2016

Yeah, get the 18-55mm VR, those are cheap new and very cheap used but still good beginners kit lens.
BTW the Nikon 55-200mm isn't 1.4, its 4-5.6

RRJLind · Jun 9, 2016

i misread the number 55-200mm 1:4-5.6G. Thanks, I'll look into that lens.

dennybeall · Jun 9, 2016

You'll have fun with that kit but Yes, the 55mm (which is actually 82.5 since that's a Nikon cropped sensor camera) will force you back. The 18-55 (27-82.5 same reason) will let you get in close and work out to a good portrait distance.
The good thing is the 55-200 is in use an 82.5-300 which will help you to reach out.

RRJLind · Jun 10, 2016

So the 18-55 is a must. We have a newborn so we'll take tons of close ups

So far it looks like $90ish new on Amazon. Unless i get lucky on ebay.
Thanks

dannylightning · Jun 10, 2016

the 18-55mm is the lens you get with most nikon camera kits and its great for general shooting. and that 55-200mm will work well for zooming in on things that are farther away or taking close up portrait shots... that is a great pair of lenses to start with and that is also a nice camera body.. if you have those two lenses and a nice off camera flash for shooting indoors in low light you should get some great photos. unless you want to spend some money on lenses, for now i would just suggest you get the 18-55mm nikon VRII lens and this neewer flash. that flash is just as good as one of the high end nikon flashes IMO. here is a link to the flash.. https://www.amazon.com/Neewer-VK750...dp/B00GE4MNQA?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

when i started i had the 18-55 and the 55-200mm lens and a camera body that was not as good as yours. i was able to get some great photos with that setup. the lenses will not be super good in low light so you may want to look into getting that flash for round 50 bucks.

if you want lenses that do well in low light you could always look for some 1.8 or 2.8 lenses but there going to cost you more..

you are going to want to take a look at this link so you can see how the focal length of a lens can effect your portrait shots if the lens is close to the subject that you are shooting on a DX camera like you have i would generally use at least 50mm lens, that is equil to a 77mm lens on a DX camera for a up close portrait shot.. Syracuse Photographer offering Professional Portrait, Family and Wedding Photography What Is the Best Lens/Focal Length For Portrait and Head Shot Photography? « Syracuse photographer specializing in portrait, family, newborn and wedding photography.

on a DX camera take the focal lenght of the lens and multiply it by 1.4 so if you had a 100mm lens it would actually give you a focal length of 140mm on your camera.. around 70mm works well for upclose portraits so a 50mm lens on your camera will do the trick.. if the subject you are shooting is not very close to the lens that distorion you can get is not really something your going to have to worry about, its mainly just if the lens is close to the subject where that gets noticable..

sigma makes a 17-55mm 2.8 lens, its more expensive. takes nice photos and does very well in low light..

RRJLind · Jun 13, 2016

holy cow! Thanks for this! Lots of good information. I really like shooting in low light w/o the flash, but I think that lens is $400 or more, which is about double what i could spend on a lens right now. So Nikon 18-55 it will be. Still plenty to play around with and learn.

dannylightning · Jun 13, 2016

i am not a huge fan of flash my self unless i am taking portraits indoors. flashes can help stop motion very well and they will give you a great image if used correctly, with a flash like the one i gave you a link for in most rooms you can point it at the ceiling or a wall and the light will bounces of the ceiling and walls and give you a really large and much softer light source that can easily light a room very well,

a flash pointed directly at the subject is going to be very harsh light and a much smaller light source unless you have some umbrellas or soft boxes or something like that to defuse the light, make it spread out more and soften it..

i personally use 2 of those flashes and i have some light stands with umbrellas if i want to get some nice shadow effects. if i just wanted a nice evenly lit photo indoors i would put the external flash on the camera and bounce one flash off a ceiling and that will give you way better results than a on camera flash will. i would never use the built in on camera flash unless i absolutely needed to use it.. there are time when you may need a external flash and you cant get a better deal on a good one that that neewer flash IMO

a off camera flash or two is a important thing to have indoor for portraits IMO, here is a photo i shot of my self with 2 of those flashes and some umbrellas, even with just one flash and bouncing it and what not you can get some great shadows

this video can give you some ideas on how to use a flash to do that kind of thing..

RRJLind · Jun 14, 2016

sweet. I can't thank you enough. I've been looking on youtube, and reading books and its a little overwhelming/confusing. your responses are clear, and to the point. I appreciate that.

I have an old external flash from my bro-in-laws 10 yr old sony. But i'm not against buying a better one. I really would love to take professional looking photos of my daughter.

I can't wait to start trying this.

Stradawhovious · Jun 14, 2016

RRJLind said:
sweet. I can't thank you enough. I've been looking on youtube, and reading books and its a little overwhelming/confusing. your responses are clear, and to the point. I appreciate that.

I have an old external flash from my bro-in-laws 10 yr old sony. But i'm not against buying a better one. I really would love to take professional looking photos of my daughter.

I can't wait to start trying this.

Bite off little chunks of information to digest at a time. Trying to learn everything at once will lead to frustration and crappy photos. Ask me how I know.