Need advice

[amachi]

I am helping my little brother to get a DSLR for him to start learning on photography. My dad owns a small studio for a living and in future, this might be taken over by my brother when my dad decides to retire. So, well, only now my bro wants to start learning :bsmilie:

Which camera would you suggest for him to get? Budget wise, should be around SGD800 (including lens). He told me about some suggestions from his friends to get either D50 or D70, is it ideal? I suggested for him to get D80 though, but uh, would like to hear from you guys first

To sum up, the budget is SGD800 and the camera is used for studio purposes and sometimes for weddings and outdoor photography.

Appreciate your help. Cheers

 

[DrSpock]

A good bro astrorion posted this at the newbie corner which may be helpful for you? Based on your budget plus $100 you can also get a new D3000

 

[geraldkhoo]

Say... you got "D300 | Tamron 17-50 f2.8 | Sigma 50 f1.4 | SB900"... why not give that to your brother and upgrade your own :bsmilie:

OK... just kidding...

The D70/s or D80 would be good to start off in photography mainly because of the feature set in the camera. The dynamic range may not be as good as the D90 or D300/s, but it has a lot of the features of a semi-pro range of cameras. Plus, the D70/s or D80 has the in-built motor drive for older AF or AF-D lenses, and to me, this is a big plus. It also has bracketing features and CLS.

 

[amachi]

A good bro astrorion posted this at the newbie corner which may be helpful for you? Based on your budget plus $100 you can also get a new D3000

I did think of D3000 but as a previous user of D40x myself. I think entry level DSLR can't provide much of learning curves. Hence, I tend to recommend D80 to my bro. Do you have any suggestions on why I should choose D3000 over D80?

 

[amachi]

Say... you got "D300 | Tamron 17-50 f2.8 | Sigma 50 f1.4 | SB900"... why not give that to your brother and upgrade your own :bsmilie:

OK... just kidding...

The D70/s or D80 would be good to start off in photography mainly because of the feature set in the camera. The dynamic range may not be as good as the D90 or D300/s, but it has a lot of the features of a semi-pro range of cameras. Plus, the D70/s or D80 has the in-built motor drive for older AF or AF-D lenses, and to me, this is a big plus. It also has bracketing features and CLS.

Hahaha.... Thank god you're kidding :sweat:

As Dr. Spock mentioned, do you think there is anything that is gonna be missed from D3000/D5000/D60 if I go for D80?

 

[amachi]

How about D60? Is it good enough for studio photography?

 

[DrSpock]

You're quite right about learning curves of D60 or D3000 will be limited as compared to D80. D5000 on the other hand is a 'baby' D90 & D90 is an upgraded version of D80 however some stil think D80 is better:dunno:. However pls note that D3000, D5000 D60 do not have in-built motor so limited when choosing lenses.

If you bro is going to take over ur dad's biz, & due to the limited budget D80 is best deal liao but lenses also play a critical role in the types of photography, as you probably know judging by the cam & lenses you are currently using:bsmilie:

 

[ijnek]

use ur dad existing equipment.

the theory abt shutter speed, iso, aperature still applies which gears u use.
y not use ur dad's existing equipment or even ur's?

 

[geraldkhoo]

Hahaha.... Thank god you're kidding :sweat:

As Dr. Spock mentioned, do you think there is anything that is gonna be missed from D3000/D5000/D60 if I go for D80?

I started photography with a D40x, and after a few months, I found that I had exhausted the features, and started asking questions like "How to I get this kind of photo?" and it was then that I realized that there are some very useful features that are not in the D40x... so I made the jump from D40x to D200, and never regretted it.

When using the D40x, there were 3 features which I found was something I wanted but not available:
1. The ability to auto-focus with older AF/AF-D lenses.
2. Auto bracketing features.
3. Kelvin scale adjustment for white balance.

I'm not familiar with the D3000/D5000/D60 feature set, but if it is anything like the D40x, then the 3 areas which I found useful would be missing.

 

[daredevil123]

The problem here now is not this features vs that feature. The problem here is the rather limited budget. 800 will only get you a moderately high shutter count D80 body. So far, most of what I have seen is in the $850 region. And even if you score one at 800, you will have no more money left for any other stuff. Unless you are willing to let your brother use your lenses all the time. Why not even consider the D70s? The only 'handicap' is lower resolution (6MP). People used D70s in the studios 3 years back. Should still be ok nowadays.

 

[geraldkhoo]

The problem here now is not this features vs that feature. The problem here is the rather limited budget. 800 will only get you a moderately high shutter count D80 body. So far, most of what I have seen is in the $850 region. And even if you score one at 800, you will have no more money left for any other stuff. Unless you are willing to let your brother use your lenses all the time. Why not even consider the D70s? The only 'handicap' is lower resolution (6MP). People used D70s in the studios 3 years back. Should still be ok nowadays.

I 2nd the D70s suggestion here. In fact, I bought myself a 2nd hand D70s for a backup body, and I've been very happy with it. In fact, you may be able to get a D70s + Tamron 17-50 (non-motor version) for $800.

 

[amachi]

You're quite right about learning curves of D60 or D3000 will be limited as compared to D80. D5000 on the other hand is a 'baby' D90 & D90 is an upgraded version of D80 however some stil think D80 is better:dunno:. However pls note that D3000, D5000 D60 do not have in-built motor so limited when choosing lenses.

If you bro is going to take over ur dad's biz, & due to the limited budget D80 is best deal liao but lenses also play a critical role in the types of photography, as you probably know judging by the cam & lenses you are currently using:bsmilie:

Yeah, the ability to auto focus on AFD lenses is another reason why I am choosing towards D80. AFS lenses aren't cheap :sweat:

 

[amachi]

use ur dad existing equipment.

the theory abt shutter speed, iso, aperature still applies which gears u use.
y not use ur dad's existing equipment or even ur's?

My dad isn't using a DSLR. I think he's using a Fujifilm camera, which I forgot what model. It starts with S if I am not mistaken.

Ohya, I am not staying with my family, they are at overseas, while I am at Singapore now, hence it's not possible to lend my equipments to my bro

 

[amachi]

I started photography with a D40x, and after a few months, I found that I had exhausted the features, and started asking questions like "How to I get this kind of photo?" and it was then that I realized that there are some very useful features that are not in the D40x... so I made the jump from D40x to D200, and never regretted it.

When using the D40x, there were 3 features which I found was something I wanted but not available:
1. The ability to auto-focus with older AF/AF-D lenses.
2. Auto bracketing features.
3. Kelvin scale adjustment for white balance.

I'm not familiar with the D3000/D5000/D60 feature set, but if it is anything like the D40x, then the 3 areas which I found useful would be missing.

I guess now I only have options for either D70s or D80. How is the ISO performance in D70s? I am not quite familiar with rather old DSLR features and performance, as I've been using D40x and D300 only. ISO performance on D40x is still nice at ISO 800, even ISO 1600 still not bad.

 

[szeping]

To sum up, the budget is SGD800 and the camera is used for studio purposes and sometimes for weddings and outdoor photography.

IMHO, Will it be too little to invest if you are really into a studio business and occasionally weddings/outdoor photography?

Personally, D3000/D5000/D60 has many limitations if you are going to use it as a workhorse.

I used to own a D70, but have used my friend's D80. Based on the experience, the leap is not that huge as compared to D80 -> D90, so you might save up the money to just stick to D70 if you need a motorised body. From the saving, get a decent lens and flash if possible.

 

[amachi]

IMHO, Will it be too little to invest if you are really into a studio business and occasionally weddings/outdoor photography?

Personally, D3000/D5000/D60 has many limitations if you are going to use it as a workhorse.

I used to own a D70, but have used my friend's D80. Based on the experience, the leap is not that huge as compared to D80 -> D90, so you might save up the money to just stick to D70 if you need a motorised body. From the saving, get a decent lens and flash if possible.

Maybe it is too little. But due to limited budget, I guess getting DSLR + lens is a good start, isn't it? Also, as my dad has some equipments of his own as well, if my bro could re-use that then it's good. I myself is not too familiar with what my dad has as his equipments hence I can't ask further for your suggestions on what and which equipments could be re-use.

Yupe, I guess those with motorised body will be better. Might save some cash for lenses and flash.

I guess it's time to hunt in the BnS

Thanks guys for the input

 

[geraldkhoo]

I guess now I only have options for either D70s or D80. How is the ISO performance in D70s? I am not quite familiar with rather old DSLR features and performance, as I've been using D40x and D300 only. ISO performance on D40x is still nice at ISO 800, even ISO 1600 still not bad.

The ISO performance of the D70/s is worse than the D40x. In fact, I refrain from using anything more than ISO800 for the D70s. However, learning lighting in photography is very important, and personally, I've been using my D70s with ISO between 200-400 as I either use flash or fast lens.

The ability to use high-ISO is great, but in the past year or so, I am actually trying to use as low an ISO as possible in my shoots to have a better picture quality... and even with D300, I don't use ISO higher than 800 very much nowadays.

To me, the D70/s is a great buy. The flash sync speed is also 1/500s, which is great when using flash and strobes.

 

[nuunder]

The D80's matrix metering is well quoted on the forums to be a little bonked. Go search for some comments from Thom Hogan on this.

To maximise the amount of money you have to spend on lenses rather than a body, I would suggest a D70 too.

 

[amachi]

Had a chat with my bro, he's saying dad will sponsor him some cash to get a better camera, and we thought about a used D200. What do you guys think? From BnS, I guess I can get it around SGD 800. Is it a better option than D80 or D70s?

 

[geraldkhoo]

Had a chat with my bro, he's saying dad will sponsor him some cash to get a better camera, and we thought about a used D200. What do you guys think? From BnS, I guess I can get it around SGD 800. Is it a better option than D80 or D70s?

D200 is definately better in terms of features I used to own the D200, and one thing about it that I don't like is that the battery life is not so good on the D200 as compared on the D300. Other than that, it is a great camera.