Ok, this is a bit of a kick in the keester

[robbins.photo]

Ok, well wanted to thank everyone for all of the great advice. I thought about it quite a bit, and while I am certain I will eventually be upgrading my camera body I think for now my best bet is to go ahead and invest in some faster glass that will work with my D5100. I really seriously considered going to something with an autofocus motor such as the D7000 or D7100, but the D5100 has been a great camera for me and I realized that even when I do upgrade my camera body I'll most likely keep the D5100 as well. As a result I really want the 2.8 to be compatible with both bodies - the thought of wandering around with my 70-300 mm on a D7100 and the 2.8 70-200 mm on my D5100 so I'd be ready to fire with either at a moments notice, or vice versa - well, just entirely too tempting a notion to pass up.

I also considered that in a few months time the D7100 will probably drop in price or at the very least more used models will be available, so I think the best bang for my buck is going to be to go with the glass first and the body a little later on down the road. Wasn't and easy decision by any means, and believe me for the folks that did recommend the upgraded body your advice was very valuable and very much appreciated.

So thanks again folks, I'll be sure to post some images with the 2.8 once I figure out which one to go with, from the looks of things with my given budget I might have to consider Tamron or Sigma, but if I do I'll most likely buy from KEH, Adorama or B&H so if I do have any problems I can send them back for replacement. I'm hoping to get a used Nikkor AF-S of course but haven't found one in my price range yet. We'll just see what happens I guess - but no matter what I just wanted you folks to know your advice was a huge help. Thanks again

 

[goodguy]

This was a fun post, good luck on your lens purchase and I cant wait for an update on what lens you got.

 

[o hey tyler]

You were the one mentioning financial woes. I was only giving an outsider's perspective. Your sarcasm was delivered towards a response that was well intentioned. Do you think this is my first rodeo? All too often, a few shiny coins makes one's eyes shut wide open. You are amongst the millennium. Peace, Out

Well. OP you just lost future advice from one of the more knowledgable people on here for no good reason.

Too bad.

 

[robbins.photo]

You were the one mentioning financial woes. I was only giving an outsider's perspective. Your sarcasm was delivered towards a response that was well intentioned. Do you think this is my first rodeo? All too often, a few shiny coins makes one's eyes shut wide open. You are amongst the millennium. Peace, Out

Well. OP you just lost future advice from one of the more knowledgable people on here for no good reason.

Too bad.

Well we had locked horns before on a previous thread and this time around he came looking for a fight. Is he knowledgeable? Quite possible. Does that mean I'll allow him to be that disrespectful to me? Nope. If he wants to post snark then he shouldn't expect me to respond with sweetness and light. That would probably have come through a little clearer if he hadn't gone back and edited the posts where he was originally cursing at me. As it is, cest la vie.

 

[yioties]

Don't sweat it brother, everyone is tough behind a keyboard. There are a lot of knowledgeable people here in this forum that help out with advice without being ignorant. Have a great Christmas and post pics when you get the new glass!

 

[robbins.photo]

Don't sweat it brother, everyone is tough behind a keyboard. There are a lot of knowledgeable people here in this forum that help out with advice without being ignorant. Have a great Christmas and post pics when you get the new glass!

No worries, I try to tick off at least one person a day so I just scratched it off my to do list and moved on.. lol. Will post some pics as soon as I can, found a couple of really good candidates so hopefully we'll be able to get it ordered this weekend

 

[astroNikon]

Finances are a tough call.
A camera is expensive for alot of people with families and this as their hobby. It is for me. Camera $$ versus food, bills, kids, christmas/holiday gifts.

Personally, I would buy a used d7000 first for one reason. It opens up the AF-D lenses to you immediately, which is lower cost versus the AF-S.

I don't consider the 80-200 heavy, but compare it to lugging around a telescope & base which is heavier than my cameras, lenses & tripods combined.

I just bought a d600 body. It tormented me for months about buying it for the sheer $$$ it costs. But now that I have it, the $$$ doesn't seem like a huge burden for the $$/camera swap as I see how it works and how I would use it. It seems like a good investment for my enjoyment. Which is the hardest objection to overcome in buying a camera body or lens or lighting, etc.

 

[robbins.photo]

Finances are a tough call.
A camera is expensive for alot of people with families and this as their hobby. It is for me. Camera $$ versus food, bills, kids, christmas/holiday gifts.

Personally, I would buy a used d7000 first for one reason. It opens up the AF-D lenses to you immediately, which is lower cost versus the AF-S.

I don't consider the 80-200 heavy, but compare it to lugging around a telescope & base which is heavier than my cameras, lenses & tripods combined.

I just bought a d600 body. It tormented me for months about buying it for the sheer $$$ it costs. But now that I have it, the $$$ doesn't seem like a huge burden for the $$/camera swap as I see how it works and how I would use it. It seems like a good investment for my enjoyment. Which is the hardest objection to overcome in buying a camera body or lens or lighting, etc.

I really considered going that route - buying the D7000 now and getting the older D model for the 2.8 zoom, but I sat down and thought pretty hard about what sort of lenses I'd be buying in the future and how I'd be using the equipment I have on hand, plus what I'd like to do as far as upgrading the body. After thinking it over I decided I really wanted the D7100 - the 5100 has been a really good camera but for my next body I'd really like the upgraded sensor. Makes more sense, at least for my situation, to wait and spend $900 something on it a few months down the road than it does to spend $600 something on one now that will give me roughly the same image quality I'm getting with my current body. Granted the 7000 does have some other advantages over the 5100, but really when I do upgrade it just makes more sense I think to go all the way up to the D7100.

I looked at the lenses I use and really I don't do a lot of portrait work, etc - I probably use my telephoto 90-95% of the time. I do a few portrait style shots now and again but for now the lens I have for those focal lengths is getting me by just fine and when I do upgrade there it will probably be to a 35 mm or 50 mm prime, that will pretty much fill my needs in that arena for quite some time to come. As a result the cost savings for being able to get the D model lenses as opposed to the AF-S isn't really going to come into play for me for a while, and even when it does I'm looking at saving maybe $100 at most over the next 6 months if I went with the D7000 now because I probably won't be buying more than maybe that one prime lens between now and then.

But the largest driving factor behind my decision to go with the AF-S version of the glass is that eventually I will most likely be purchasing a D7100, but when I do I will most likely be keeping my D5100. I think it would be a really nice feature to have the 200 mm 2.8 to be able to be used on either body. So if for example I've got my 70-300 mm mounted on the D7100 and I'm working with it but then realize I need to switch to the 2.8 rather than having to stop and switch lenses I can just grab the other camera. Or if I think I'll be needing the faster glass as opposed to the longer zoom I can mount it on the 7100 and have the 300 mm on the 5100 - with a dual harness I've got either available pretty much at a moments notice. I figured it be worth a couple of hundred extra to get that capability, plus a lens that will focus faster and probably not weigh as much. Again for a lot of folks these aren't considerations, but when I look at my situation I think the AF-S version just makes more sense.

As to finances, fortunately in this case the money I'm using to finance this with was more or less an unexpected bonus, it wasn't money I planned on having and it wasn't really earmarked for anything as a result. As is my norm I make sure my financial obligations are satisfied before I spend any money on myself, just as I have always done.

 

[goodguy]

I think if you are not getting the D7100 then keeping the D5100 is the right course.
While the D7000 is an upgrade from the D5100 it really have so much in common that I agree better buy a good lens and when you are ready get the D7100 or what ever will be the king of the crop hill.