Nikon D90

[sgboy83]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum and keen in photography. I don't have a DSLR now, but I will be getting the newly introduced Nikon D90. Can anyone comment on this camera?

What are the lenses that would be recommended? I am looking for zooming and also normal lenses. What about flashlight? Which one is good?

I am really new to DSLR and photography and hence, how can I learn more? Through more practices, through a book or go for workshops?

Lastly, any recommended place to purchase all my stuff? Cathay Photo? M S Photo at AMK?

[doom102938]

Yes I think the D90 is a value for money camera. Its ISO performance is phenomenal(comparable to d700).

Personally I think everyone should start small. Because the learning curve with normal lens(also known as primes) and flash is very steep.

Good recommendations for a prime is the Nikkor 50mm F/1.8. For flashes, I'm not too sure lol.

To learn more, read up on the internet and keep shooting. Go wikipedia and search for photography. Theres lots of information in that article.

By the way, it might be better if you put a budget so we can recommend you flashes, zooms and primes within the price bracket. Cheers

[sgboy83]

My D90 budget is within S$4000. This should includes lenses (1 x prime, 2 x zoom ??), , one extra batt, vertical grip, flash, SD card, bag, etc. Is it sufficient? Which shop should I go to? Cathay? M S Photo at AMK? I went to Nikon website and saw their retail price, so would the shops usually give discounts below retail price or are they fixed?

[doom102938]

Yup street prices are lower.
Let me list out roughly how much it would cost
D90 with kit lens 18-105mm VR-$1750
Nikkor 50mm F/1.8-$170
Nikkor 70-300mm VR-$800
Nikon EN-EL3e Rechargeable Li-ion Battery-$75
Nikon MB-D80 Battery Pack-$185
Nikon SB-600-$370
16GB SDHC-$100
total-$3450(more or less around here)

That leaves you around $600 to buy the peripherals. Like bag, tripod and blah.
You do not need to follow this setup. It really depends on what you need like if you like to take marco pictures, you might want a marco lens. Or if your into sports, a nice 70-200mm F/2.8 VR.

Back to answering your question, yes. Just like the RRP of the D90 with kit lens is $1988 but most shops offer it at around $1750.

BTW you got a really healthy budget lol.

[sgboy83]

Thanks for your help.

What does each of the lens does? Can you roughly explain for those that your recommend? What are their uses? What about SB-600, I change to SB-900? What is the cost? D080 Battery Pack if the Vertical grip?

By the way, what are the shops that you will recommend?

And also, I have problem estimating ISO. So is D90 able to allow auto-setting for ISO for the time being while I learn? Or the ISO got to be manual all the time?

What settings would you recommend for beginner? Auto, P, A, M?

Originally Posted by doom102938 Yup street prices are lower. Let me list out roughly how much it would cost D90 with kit lens 18-105mm VR-$1750 Nikkor 50mm F/1.8-$170 Nikkor 70-300mm VR-$800 Nikon EN-EL3e Rechargeable Li-ion Battery-$75 Nikon MB-D80 Battery Pack-$185 Nikon SB-600-$370 16GB SDHC-$100 total-$3450(more or less around here) That leaves you around $600 to buy the peripherals. Like bag, tripod and blah. You do not need to follow this setup. It really depends on what you need like if you like to take marco pictures, you might want a marco lens. Or if your into sports, a nice 70-200mm F/2.8 VR. Back to answering your question, yes. Just like the RRP of the D90 with kit lens is $1988 but most shops offer it at around $1750. BTW you got a really healthy budget lol.

[Rashkae]

Originally Posted by sgboy83 Thanks for your help. What does each of the lens does? Can you roughly explain for those that your recommend? What are their uses? What about SB-600, I change to SB-900? What is the cost? D080 Battery Pack if the Vertical grip? By the way, what are the shops that you will recommend? And also, I have problem estimating ISO. So is D90 able to allow auto-setting for ISO for the time being while I learn? Or the ISO got to be manual all the time? What settings would you recommend for beginner? Auto, P, A, M?

I suggest you try reading the newbie's guides to photography, as well as get a book from the library on basic photographic terms if you don't even know what the various lenses do.

[Headshotzx]

Hi, i'm a canon shooter, but most equipment specs are standardised like the mms and f stops, so here's my take

For the measurements. Think of it this way. 50mm is how you see the world. Imagine having a window infront of you labeled 50mm. If you scale down to 35mm, the window becomes larger, so you see more things. if you make it become 300mm, the window shrinks a lot, so you see less. Basically, in Point and shoot terms, the longer the mm, the 'more zoom'. The theoretically correct term would the 'longer the focal length' or 'smaller the angle of view'.

D90 with kit lens 18-105mm VR-$1750
Camera. Kit lens means your 'walkaround' lens. It does most of everything that you would need to shoot around you.

Nikkor 50mm F/1.8-$170
For low-light purposes and great for portraits. f/1.8 (aperture) blurs the background a lot, giving you a great portrait photo if taken properly. It's a prime lens, so there's no zoom.

Nikkor 70-300mm VR-$800
Telephoto zoom. For when you need to shoot something further away.

Nikon EN-EL3e Rechargeable Li-ion Battery-$75
Nikon MB-D80 Battery Pack-$185
Self explanatory

Nikon SB-600-$370
Nikon's speedlight external flash. Allows bounced flash which is great indoors. You will have to learn and read up a lot about flash photography to get great results.

16GB SDHC-$100
self explanatory

total-$3450(more or less around here)



I say, go for it! 4k budget for a starter DSLR is... wow...

Cheers
Zexun

[doom102938]

Haha Headshotx has explained them all.

For ISO, it really depends on the individual. Some people do not mind noise inherent at high ISO levels, but some really hate the ISO noise so much so that they limit it to around 400. D90's ISO performance is very good so you can safely set it to auto ISO and set the limit to ISO1600. Test it out and see what is your threshold.

You can start out with auto and experment with aperture priority(Av mode) and shutter speed priority(Tv mode). When you are ready try out the manual mode(M mode)

Oh get a dry cabinet for all your equipment. You really dont want fungus growing inside your lens.

[MSZ006Zeta]

$4000 starter? WOW. I wished I started like that.

Okay, adding on my comments.

Nikon EN-EL3e Rechargeable Li-ion Battery = $75
- Extra battery for your battery pack
- I personally go for third party batteries which cost around $40 i think (can't recall, has been a long time since i purchased mine), but operate at roughly 80~85% capacity of the original battery

Nikon SB-900 = $670
- Personally I suggest you go for the SB-900 instead. It's at $670 or so, and it's better than the SB-600. It's worth the money. It's an external flash like what Headshotzx explained.

You should invest in a dry cabinet too. Can't recall the price, but you can find the price somewhere on this forum...

=========

Stuff which you can invest in for the future...

Nikon's lenses which are more 'popular'...
1) 24-70mm, f/2.8 - That's about $2300 i think... (Great for replacing your kit lens IMO)
2) 70-200mm, f/2.8 - That's about $2400~$2500 i think... (If you interested in sports, outdoor photography, then this is the one for you)
3) 14-24mm, f/2.8 - That's $2600 i think... (Great for landscapes)

[doom102938]

Yah. The lenses MSZ006Zeta mention all can work for FX sensor also. The Nikkor 50mm and the 70-300mm VR all work with FX sensor. So should you want to upgrade to a full frame body, you would have all the lens you require (except the 18-105mm vr kit lens).

BTW lens designed for FX works very well on a DX body but lens designed for DX would perform poorly on a FX body and might have serious vignetting.

[Headshotzx]

Originally Posted by MSZ006Zeta Stuff which you can invest in for the future... Nikon's lenses which are more 'popular'... 1) 24-70mm, f/2.8 - That's about $2300 i think... (Great for replacing your kit lens IMO) 2) 70-200mm, f/2.8 - That's about $2400~$2500 i think... (If you interested in sports, outdoor photography, then this is the one for you) 3) 14-24mm, f/2.8 - That's $2600 i think... (Great for landscapes)

O___________o

You, my friend, are the ultimate piggy-bank-breaking adviser ever

[liquidityzero]

WOW! 4000 to spend on a DSLR?? Not bad....
Get the D90 kit...sell off the 18-105mmVR lens & buy a 18-200mmVR lens if u want a walk-around lens that can cover a longer focal length.
Buy a SB-800 for your flash. Buy a 50mm f/1.8 for an excellent & cheap prime lens. Buy a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 for use for general indoors/low-light/events photography.

[Headshotzx]

Originally Posted by liquidityzero WOW! 4000 to spend on a DSLR?? Not bad.... Get the D90 kit...sell off the 18-105mmVR lens & buy a 18-200mmVR lens if u want a walk-around lens that can cover a longer focal length. Buy a SB-800 for your flash. Buy a 50mm f/1.8 for an excellent & cheap prime lens. Buy a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 for use for general indoors/low-light/events photography.

That would make his 18-105mm redundant.

[liquidityzero]

Originally Posted by Headshotzx That would make his 18-105mm redundant.

He can sell it off if he wants to. The 18-200mm VR is a nice lens for beginners too, esp if they don't want to change lens often.

[sgboy83]

Any place to recommend to get my DSLR for the first time?

[Headshotzx]

Originally Posted by liquidityzero He can sell it off if he wants to. The 18-200mm VR is a nice lens for beginners too, esp if they don't want to change lens often.

So buy it in hopes of selling it to earn a buck or two? Not very wise leh.

I personally recommend John3:16 @ Funan IT Mall Level 5. I purchase all of my expensive stuff from them. They will tell you personally what you need and why. Very friendly staff.

Cheers
Zexun

[sgboy83]

Okay. Thanks. will consider. But I have feedback on buying things at Funan and Sim Lim that they will quote price with GST and finding ways to make u feel it's cheap but later after u bought it and left, u find it that it was actually much more expensive.

How to deter such matters?

[Rashkae]

Originally Posted by sgboy83 Okay. Thanks. will consider. But I have feedback on buying things at Funan and Sim Lim that they will quote price with GST and finding ways to make u feel it's cheap but later after u bought it and left, u find it that it was actually much more expensive. How to deter such matters?

You buy from the list of recommended shops that is posted all over ClubSnap. You try to do a search for recommended shops.

[ortega]

D90
17-55 f2.8
SB-900
tripod + head (a good one)
bag
dry cabi
memory card
spare battery

everything else put on hold first untill you decide on where you want to take your photography

[h2chng]

I was in the same position few months back.

As I know I am still uncertain of what I want then, I bought a lot of my stuff used. I have tried Nikon D200, D300 and Canon 40D. I have also tried a couple of lens, flash and bags. I figure that it would be less painful to learn. The more I snap the more I understand what my normal usage needs.

I have also find that the comment from the rest of the forumer are generally very helpful, but also biased to their own preference. Your adventage in photography might not totally the same as theirs, thus needs might differ.

My biased recommendation is to just pick a used copy of D80 or D70 with a kit lens, flash SB600 + accessories for less than a $1k. Start shooting and learn what it takes to take good pictures.

As for myself, I am going to get a D90 most likely the coming few days. I need the video and high iso. I usually take my family gathering and indoor shoots.

Hope that helps.

Cheers