Nikon newbee [35mm f1.8 or sb600???]

[forward6666]

Hi everyone,

i've been shooting with D5000 (kit lens) for good 3-4 months now... and learning everyday.
now want to get some new equipment... but not sure what... hope you guys can help me decide...
my dillema is wether to buy the nikkor 35mm f1.8 lens (which i read many reviews on and looks like perfect lens for me, coz i do really like shooting portraits) or the speedlight sb600 (which will help me greatly with indoor shooting and more)

at the moment i just have the kit lens which is alright, but not that good in low light, indoor.
so im thinking both the 35mm f1.8 lens and the sb600 can help my situation. the price is roughly the same as you prolly know... so which one to get? no matter what i buy now i will prolly buy the other one later for sure... but which i should get first?

any comments will be appreciated...

 

[IsenGrim]

each has its pros and cons.

the 35mm prime has a large aperture to get in as much ambient as possible. the drawback is that its a prime. the pro is that it is relatively easier to learn to use.

the flash is an extremely powerful tool. it is definitely much more useful than the prime. the con is that the learning curve is much much steeper.

personally i will go for the flash, coz the lens is only an upgrade (you already have a lens). With the flash, you have 1 more attribute to play with. rather than just upgrading an existing attribute.

 

[forward6666]

wow thats true... never looked at it that way.... i've been thinking about sb600 for long time...
okay 1st vote goes for the flash... thanks isengrim

 

[Fotophilic]

just buy the sb600.
prolly by the time u thinking of getting lenses, 35/1.8 is not in ur wish list anymore...

 

[stunna88]

yes, just get sb600, nuff said.

 

[forward6666]

all 3 votes go for the sb600 so far.... anyone else?

 

[gimumancer]

all 3 votes go for the sb600 so far.... anyone else?

sb600 for me too..although i have both

 

[ChenGuy]

Hmmm... i will get a 50mm f1.8. And save up for nissin di866. Think i am totally off.

 

[shaoken]

Hmmm... i will get a 50mm f1.8. And save up for nissin di866. Think i am totally off.

Good decision!

 

[ijnek]

get the flash

 

[catchlights]

a logical choice is get the flash.

with flash and kit lens you can shoot lots of things then with 35f1.8 and kit lens.

 

[smile_gerard]

Hmmm... i will get a 50mm f1.8. And save up for nissin di866. Think i am totally off.

I would get the nissin then save up for the lens. He won't be able to auto focus with a 50mm f1.8. Sigma 30mm 1.4

 

[irritainment]

definitely flash for me!!

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

yeah... flash adds another dimension to indoor photography. Having the speed of the 1.8 still not enough in most cases. Flash certainly goes a long way.
Do consider Nissin as well. The TTL might not be as accurate as the SB600, but for the price you pay, it's a good trade-off.

 

[bruggink]

I agreed with ZerocoolAstra. So far it sounds to me that you can either get a flash or the 35mm prime. Alternatively you may wanna consider 3rd party flash, eg Nissin (which you can check out at the Mass Order section). The Nissin flash could have saved you 40-50%?? (not sure about the exact cost. just an estimation). With the saving, you may have budget to get a new flash and the 35mm prime as well. Best of both world. =)

 

[jackzhangxiao]

my upgrading is like that:

1. D5000+ 18-55 : using 18mm for landscape
2. 35mm 1.8G : use this lens for indoor in low light condition where you dun wanna use flash to destroy the environment.
3. 55-200 : perfect match the kit lens, now you have 200mm to shot animal and birds in zoo.

with the lens above what you can shot landscape with 18mm, you can shot tele zoom using 200mm, you can shot indoor with low light by F1.8. And all these lens are cheap, of course if you can rich, you can go further.

my next step is to get a SB600 or 800... no money...

 

[forward6666]

thanks for all the replys peeps... i can see majority of people saying flash... and i think im leaning towards flash as well.... then theres another questions sb600 or nissin Di866? why

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

if it's between SB600 and nissin866, I'd say go for the Nissin. For a bit more $, you get more power and wireless flash commander capability, which your D5000 doesn't have in-built.

 

[daredevil123]

Get the SB600/nissin 866 first.

After that, if you really want a portrait lens, get the 50/1.8 if you do not mind MF, or if you want AF on your D5k get the AFS 50/1.4. 35mm is too wide to be a good portrait lens. And if you go close, it will cause some elongating of the nose and results are less flattering.

 

[peacewithinPG]

SB-900?