First DSLR recommendation Nikon D80 + what lens?

[lcwl99]

hi everyone

I would like to purchase a D80 but not sure if I should buy it with the kit or just body.

I will likely be taking photos of people (most of the time) plus scenery of course.

A friend recommends that I buy the D80 body and buy the sigma 17-70mm HSM lens.

Will this be sufficient to start off?
Please advise if I should get another lens beside the sigma 17-70mm....

Thanks in advance.

 

[geraldkhoo]

My recommendation is to get the D80 body + Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 lens. You won't regret this to start with

 

[sunboi80]

the kit lens 18-135mm i think gives u more focal lengths to play with... 17-70mm is more like for walkabouts... dun really have any tele capabilities (for better bokeh)....

depends on wat u want to shoot actually...

My take:
if u dun have existing lens- take the kit and play with it 1st
if u have existing lens/or know what lens u wan to use- get the body only

Hope this helps

 

[meukow]

the kit lens 18-135mm i think gives u more focal lengths to play with... 17-70mm is more like for walkabouts... dun really have any tele capabilities (for better bokeh)....

depends on wat u want to shoot actually...

My take:
if u dun have existing lens- take the kit and play with it 1st
if u have existing lens/or know what lens u wan to use- get the body only

Hope this helps

i agree.. the kit lens for D80 is a very versatile lens..

 

[lcwl99]

is the kit lens VR?

are VR lens better? pls advise.

 

[geraldkhoo]

is the kit lens VR?

are VR lens better? pls advise.

VR, or Vibration Reduction, lenses compensates for your handshake. So, having a VR lens is like shooting with a tripod or monopod, but there are limits to VR lenses. When I first got a VR lens, I thought it would do magic... then I realized the limitations :bsmilie:

VR lenses are good if you are shooting out of a moving vehicle... but photographers have survived decades without VR lenses and yet got such great shots. Also, VR lenses are useful at long focal lengths, e.g. 100mm onwards, but in short focal lengths, it is not so important. This is basically because of the rule of thumb that the shutter speeds should be around 1 / focal length to avoid it being blur, so if you are shooting at 200mm, your shutter speed should be about 1/200s to get a clear shot.

Also, VR helps in your handholding, but not if the subject that you are shooting is constantly moving. You may still get blurred shots because the shutter speed is not fast enough to freeze your moving subject... and that is why I would recommend the f/2.8 lens. I would personally take a fast lens (those with f/2.8 and lower f-stop numbers) over a VR lens any day... of course the best if it is a fast lens + VR

A f/2.8 lens allows more light into the sensor, hence, at the same ISO setting, having 2 different lenses (one at f/2.8 and the other at f/4), the f/2.8 lens allows 1 stop of light in more than an f/4 lens, and hence, the shutter speed can be twice as fast (i.e. if it is 1/1000s for f/2.8, then it will be 1/500 for f/4), which means that you can freeze a moving object better. Also, if you shoot indoors, a fast lens would help you a whole lot.

 

[sunboi80]

The kit lens is not VR, only the kit lens for D60 is VR but the longest focal length is only 55mm, so quite farnie that this is a VR lens.
VR are better of cos but they are also more ex...
Well as wat gerald explained earlier, VR is not magic... it just compensate for handshake but if u hands are too shakey also no use...
it's basically good for low light photography where the shutterspeed gets too long. however if the subject is moving, u will still get blur in ur pics..

Wat u wan to shoot? personally i think that the tam 17-50 is a attractive lens but the 50mm max is too little for me, cos sometimes i like to shoot ppl in the tele-range, the bokeh looks nicer. the f2.8 is good for handheld low light photography though...
i think it all depends on what u want to shoot..., if ur budget allows then get the nikon 18-200mm lor... very versatile lens.. haa but also very very ex (abt same price as the D80 body);p...

 

[lcwl99]

thank you so much for your comments.....

I am interested to take photos of children.....closeup shots....but I like to have the bokeh effect too....

I will likely buy

D80 plus kit lens (18-135) + sigma 17-70mm HSM f/2.8

is it ok to start with?

Ok?

Do I need to buy flash (SB-600) and dry cabinet?

 

[Hexlord]

A flash is good for portraiture shots or event photography. You may want to consider a prime lens like the 50mm 1.8 if you are deciding on the kits lens package

 

[sunboi80]

there is no hard and fast rules on which lens is enough to start with. Some people can shoot with a 50mm prime for very long time and think that it suits them. some people got focal lengths from 10mm to 500mm but they still dun think it's enough.. it all depends on individual.. if u can afford get a flash else u can live without it for the time being and use the built in flash. if ur lens are not too big (like 18-200) u wun get the shadow in ur pics with the built in flash, but the effects are definitely not as nice as the ext flash.

if u are buying the sig 17-70 then mabbe dun buy the 18-135...the focal length overlap.. u might find urself using the sig 17-70 very much more often than the 18-135... mabbe u can get a 70-300 or 55-200. u get more focal lengths to play with

dry cabinet can buy later if u shoot often enough and bring ur equipment into the sun to prevent fungi growth...but in the long run i think it's a worthwhile investment...

the 50mm f1.8 is a cheap and fast lens.. can consider it like wat Hexlord said... however if u dun have the extra buck u can skip it for the time being cos the prime is not very flexible and for begineer i think mabbe better to use zoom lens to see wat u like to shoot first before deciding on primes for specific shots...

just my 2 cents

 

[Astin]

Nikon makes many zoom lens for general photo purposes, below is a list of the more popular ones with approximate price, u can choose the one that fits yr budget, and these lens are popular so if u want to upgrade later there should be no problem to sell it at 2nd hand market.
AF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED DX - ~$460 (D80 kit lens)
AF-S VR 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G ED DX - ~$1000
AF-S VR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED DX - ~$1200
AF-S 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED DX - $2200
AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED - ~$2500 (newest model)

 

[kevyan]

My recommendation is to get the D80 body + Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 lens. You won't regret this to start with

Yeap... that's my startup... plus SB600 lah...

 

[meukow]

thank you so much for your comments.....

I am interested to take photos of children.....closeup shots....but I like to have the bokeh effect too....

I will likely buy

D80 plus kit lens (18-135) + sigma 17-70mm HSM f/2.8

is it ok to start with?

Ok?

Do I need to buy flash (SB-600) and dry cabinet?

if within ur budget, i think a dry cabinet should be included.. u will have more things to spend on in time to come.. :bsmilie: