What to buy next..

[TamiAz]

I'm going to be buying some new photography toys, but not sure which way to go.. FYI, I'm a hobbyist. I've had my camera for six months and I don't plan on going into business.

I've been looking at a few different options. I'll have about $700 or so to play with.

1) New monitor and calibrator

2) Macro lens

3) Tamron 70-200mm 2.8 (Nikon lens is way out of my budget)

What wold you recommend??

Thank you!!

 

[Dao]

I will recommend something you really want to do now but not able to due to equipment limitation.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

OCF / monolights

 

[usayit]

Dao has the right answer....

What you want to do should drive what to buy next... not the other way around.

 

[TamiAz]

Thank you.I'm just having trouble deciding because...

1) Monitor - I want to improve my editing skills and I'm feeling frustrated because I can't seem to get my colors right on my laptop. I do take pictures for family and friends and I want to give them quality pictures even if it's free.

2) I love the macro pictures I see, but I'm concerned that I really won't use much after the novelty wears of, however, I do love shooting nature (flowers and insects).

3) My daughter plays softball and she plays a lot of night games..My current zoom lens just doesn't cut it. I was thinking the Tamron would give me the ability to shoot pictures at her night games and I could use it for portraits.

I'm just indecisive because it's a lot of money and I don't want to make the wrong decisions..

 

[Gfinch]

Thank you.I'm just having trouble deciding because...

1) Monitor - I want to improve my editing skills and I'm feeling frustrated because I can't seem to get my colors right on my laptop. I do take pictures for family and friends and I want to give them quality pictures even if it's free.

2) I love the macro pictures I see, but I'm concerned that I really won't use much after the novelty wears of, however, I do love shooting nature (flowers and insects).

3) My daughter plays softball and she plays a lot of night games..My current zoom lens just doesn't cut it. I was thinking the Tamron would give me the ability to shoot pictures at her night games and I could use it for portraits.

I'm just indecisive because it's a lot of money and I don't want to make the wrong decisions..

If you decide to go with the Tamron 70-200 f2.8 do invest in a quality Monopod if it does not have image stabilization. f2.8 is great, but will still need some support at night if you don't have the stabilization. I just got the Canon 70-200 f2.8 and I am now really wishing I had spent the extra for the IS. Since I did not have the extra cash I just spent $100 on a Manfrotto Monopod.

 

[Tony S]

Get the 70-200....... with kids and them having all kinds of activities going you will be glad to have it to capture their events. Shooting kids sports at night stabilization really wouldn't matter, you should still have the shutter speed up high enough to capture action and rpevent any camera motion from showing up. And if you've never tried it, shooting through fencing right up against it with a 2.8 makes the fence disappear. Then get a set of extension tubes and you can also use it for macro work.

 

[greybeard38 10]

Save your money until you know exactly what you want and then go for it.

 

[sovietdoc]

What monitor are you currently using? If it's like a 23" or higher, I wouldn't bother.

The the question becomes macro lens vs 70-200

That only you can decide but consider this:

You can make "macro-like" photos with 200mm worth of zoom, but with 90mm worth of macro you can't make shots you otherwise could with 70-200 lens.

As a money investment, 70-200 lens has a lot more applications than a macro lens (in my opinion) but it all comes down to what do you really like more.


EDIT:

I just noticed that you already have a decent zoom lens, in this case get a macro lens. Tamron 90mm macro is very good. No need to get another zoom considering you already have one that covers even greater focal length.
http://www.amazon.com/Tamron-AF-90mm-2-8-Di/dp/B00021EE4U/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1334616313&sr=8-3

 

[jaomul]

Electrical mount extension tubes(kenko or similar), they will be fun for a while and turn your existing lenses macro. If the macro buzz bites and you need better you can buy a lens and sell them for a small loss, if not they will do just fine for most. A monitor will always be better than a laptop screen, I imagine a calibrater, monitor and tubes are gettable for 700. Almost Everyone wants a 2.8 70-200, but when you really want it you wont be considering macro or a monitor instead so maybe that can wait for a while, only an outside opinion

 

[STM]

Before you go plunking down money for new "toys" as you put them, I would sit down and seriously consider what it is you find genuinely lacking right now in what you have and what it is your want to do with photography.

You may find you don't need to go out and get any more toys. Often times there is a huge difference between "need to have" and just plain "want to have". I would love to have a Nikon D3X body or a Sinar P 4x5 view camera and several lenses, but do I NEED ONE? Certainly not.