Next Piece of kit

Grant.currie · Nov 24, 2007

Hey, just a question, currently i have the following:-

Nikon D50
Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55mm
Tamron AF 70-300mm
Wide Angle Polarizing Filter
Tripod
Rucksack

I am looking to expand my kit but i am unsure as to what direction to go next, ideally i would like another lens of some sort, i had been considering a Nikon Fisheye lens. Or would it be more sound to buy a flashgun? Or perhaps even something else?

As a little note i would rather not replace any of what i currently have.

JerryPH · Nov 24, 2007

First question, what is your budget?

How do you use the camera? What do you shoot?

Do anything indoors where perhaps one or multple off camera strobes would fill that need?

Do any extreme close-ups that a macro lens would be essential?

I would go for an ultra wide angle way before getting a fisheye. The fisheye look is cool, but gets old after 50 pics, but an adjustable ultra-wide has a great many more uses.

Grant.currie · Nov 24, 2007

The budget really is something sub £300 (about $600).
The Tamron lens is a combined Tele-Macro Lens so a dedicated macro lens I don't really need at the moment.
Subjects vary greatly really, with working inside a school i get called upon to do most things. Also its used for my own personal use, recently i have taken a great interest in photographing buildings and long exposure shots.

What sort of focal length would i be looking at getting for a ultra wide angle lens?

itoncool · Nov 24, 2007

a Fisheye could make creative shooting alternative, but if I were you I would go for the 'normal' ultrawide lens first because I will be needing this more often than a fisheye.

Nikkor 12-24 f/4 will be my first recommendation for you, but it'll cost more than your budget, I was considering Sigma 10-20 also before I went to the Nikkor, so I highly recommend this lens too, an extra 2mm wide make a big difference. But, I doubt you can go wrong with any brand you choose, because I rarely see any complaint from any ultrawide zoom users (Tokina, Sigma, Tamron, Nikon or Canon).

kundalini · Nov 24, 2007

Welll, this blows your budget to hell, I have the 12-24mm f/4 (~$1K USD) and absolutely love it. It's not blindingly fast but the colors that come off it are fantastic. I've got my eye on the new 24-70mm f/2.8 for my next lens.

Sigma has an alternative to the Nikkor 12-24mm I think. Check out photozone.de for reviews.

From what I've read the fisheye is a purposed lens. Yeah, you can get great creative images, but the day-to-day usage is limited. Do some more reading.

[EDIT: itoncool beat me to it. The Sigma is 10-20mm]

JIP · Nov 25, 2007

How can anyone tell you what you need.

Grant.currie · Nov 25, 2007

JIP said:
How can anyone tell you what you need.

Its not a case of what i need more of a case of what direction to take and what would be most effective next. Its really about bouncing idea's around more than any solid reply.

Ideally if possible the $600 is my upper limit. do milimeters of focal length make a bigger difference towards the bottom end of the scale, so for example going from 10-20mm will have a bigger effect than going from say 90-100mm?

Has anyone ever seen these things called gorillapods:-
http://www.joby.com/

nossie · Nov 25, 2007

an infrared shutter release (assuming they do them for nikon)

nossie · Nov 25, 2007

oh, and a tpf camera strap, I got mine, it's not bad actually but I can't clip my infrared remote control on to it like I could the last time because it's wider

Grant.currie · Nov 25, 2007

nossie said:
an infrared shutter release (assuming they do them for nikon)

Hmm, i had looked at that the other day, do you find much use from them?

cameramike · Nov 25, 2007

if you wish to do long exposures one would be essential if you were using the BULB function. how about a grip maybe?

nossie · Nov 25, 2007

Grant.currie said:
Hmm, i had looked at that the other day, do you find much use from them?

yup! I have an IR Remote for the Canon 350d and it's a great little gizmo for tripping the shutter without touching the camera. I use it every time the camera is on the tripod. I have it a couple of years now and still haven't changed the battery.

There's also a 2 second delay so if you're in the photo yourself you can trip the shutter and then hide the remote. If you set the camera up for auto bracketing then it'll fire the 3 shots for you automatically. It works up to about 10 meters-ish.

It's really light, less than a cheap pen and measures about 40mm x 15mm x 5mm.
10 out of 10 from me.