austriker
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2008
- Messages
- 439
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- PNW
- Website
- www.dlindahlphotos.com
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos OK to edit
I stopped by your Flickr pages and looked at four pages of images; you actually have some talent and your aesthetics are pretty solid for a young shooter. I see that you have used your dad's 70-300 or whatever without AF on the D40, so you know what that is like. Your situation is tricky,and I am not exactly sure what,specifically, your priorities are. I know you like sports--I saw baseball,youth soccer, and Minnesota Twins photos, and I also saw some pretty decent small-scale landscapes and genre photography.
You need to temper Noyze's advice with somebody else's; he always,always suggests that people get a D90. Every time.:lmao: One thing about the D90 is it offers 80 percent of a pro camera's features,and works with all Nikkor AF lenses, and has an excellent 12MP APS-C sensor. It also hs a pretty good AF system, using either center AF point only, or 11- area or 7-area Wide AF for unpredictable action. But you know, on a budget, the LENS really is a critical aspect for sports shooting, and the Sigma 70-200/2.8 is really the only choice that has a fast enough internal focusing system and the focal length range and f/stop that will make night baseball possible to shoot well. I would totally skip on the 70-300 unless the price is super-low.
With an AF-S Nikkor lens on the D40, the center bracket AF is quite fast. WIth the 300 f/4 AF-S or 70-200 VR, the D40's center AF bracket AF speed is
really quite fast. With any of the "pro" superteles like 200/2 and 300/2.8, the D40's center AF focusing is fast enough for sports shooting if you use it within its limitations. Ideally, you have both fast-focusing lenses with wide apertures, like f/2.8, AND a good body like a D90 or D300 or D3.
WHAT exactly do you mean by sports? Daylight sports in good light could be handled by a used D2x for $900, even using a consumer zoom lens. The $1000 and up Nikon lenses on the D40 will shoot pretty well. Indoor and night sports place a lot of demands on your gear. If you want lenses for sports, I always suggest looking at used lenses from a store/web outlet that has a good return policy. I like to buy used lenses whenever possible.
thanks derrel for the information.. very very very informative! a lot of that info was news to me,so thanks! i really appreciate your comment about having some good athestics and talent for a younger shooter!!
honestly i am still trying to work out my style and what i like the most to shoot...
the 70-300 price is quite low. i found one on craigslist for $85!!