I might be getting a new camera and I need help. My choice is Nikon D90 but I need the opinion of others about this camera. I would like to know cons and pros about it. I did my research online for this but it will be better to see the opinion of 365Project users. Also I will be getting new lenses for it. My choices are 18-200mm VR lens or f 1.8 lens. I would love macro lens as well but I know so little about it. I need to know which of those should I get first instead. I would love the opinion and descriptions of your favorites. Maybe sharing a photo could help me see. Be aware I don't really know much about these type of cameras or lens but everyone's opinion is welcome.
I will echo Rockwells sentiments. He does love it for the price, and what it can deliver. I wish I could get one. Someday. http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d90.htm
I've had the d70 in the past and that was an excellent bit of kit and I had the D90 for a little while, absolutely nothing wrong with it, was similar (just new and improved) but to be honest, I didnt get to play much as I dropped it and claimed on insurance! Upgraded to a D300 after that.
Looking back ten years ago to when I first bought a £3 thousand D1, these camera's are so much better, for a fraction of the price. I'd never ever spend that amount on a camera again- eek!
Hope you get and enjoy!
- oooh, if you later treat yourself to a flash gun, please check if its compatable as there's so many.
Very very useful information Frieda thank you for taking some of your time and writing about your experiences. I will definitely remember about the flash gun.
Lydia- I have a Nikon D90 and I Love it! Never had a problem with it and love how my pictures turn out. You can see my prject by clicking on my picture. I shoot with it all the time :) Congrats on your new camera!
Lydia, I am a Canon girl, but if it comes to lenses I'd highly suggest you to start with the 18-200mm VR lens and not the macro lens - I own a 18-55mm lens and it's pretty much all you need for daily use. If you want to get into macro photography, you should check out eBay and look for close up lens sets for a start, I use one myself and the results are really good! It's the only advice I can give you, because you'll probably not want to do macro shots on a daily basis and the close up lenses are a rather cheap alternative.
I am a Canon girl too Janine but I want a change. That helped a lot! 18-200mm were my ultimate choice and the camera comes with 18-55mm lens. Macro photography can wait. I was just curios in case there was a kit for sale or something. I will be keeping my eye on the 18-200mm VR lens, I've read and everything states that it is perfect.
Is there a huge different between 18-200mm VR and 18-55mm lenses?
Yes! The 18-200mm opens up another world of being able to zoom.. can do some wildlife and some great portraiture too with it. I have an 80-200mm VR 2.8 lens and I love it!
That's great then bcause my first choice was to get the 18-200mm. Now that I have you guys opinion it helps a lot. I guess if I do get the camera I would get the camera of course the 18-55mm and the 18-200mm and like I've said the macro lens can wait for later on.
Hi Lydia.
I think the 365ers have sold you on the D90 + 18-200, which is good. When it first came out the lens won a lot of good reviews and Canon didn't make one. They do now so come to your own conclusions....Nikon have recently issued the 2nd version of this lens & it has a lock on it to stop zoom creep. This is most definitely a Good Thing. I have come across people who are quite disparaging about it, but if you have the time, money & physical strength to cart around a bag with 3 or 4 fixed lenses in it (and a good device for cleaning all that dust off your sensor every tine you change lens), then feel free. In one of his series of digital photography books, Scott Kelby (check him out on Amazon) suggests this is the perfect solution for travel photography. Scott & Ken Rockwell are not to everybody's tastes, but you can make a call as to whether their technical knowledge is valid or not. I appreciate due to the nature of my 365 project this may be of limited use to you, but the following were all done on a D200 (effectively the same as your D90, if not a little bit worse in some respects!) with the 18-200 VR (mark 1).
March 18, 21, 27, 28, 31
April 1, 3, 9, 15, 23
May 2, 5 - 8, 10, 15, 16
From a practical point of view, the range offered by the 18-200 has meant where I can only take one camera, I have chosen the D200 over things like a D700 due to the lighter weight & greater versatility for one handed operation.
Finally, I have just asked a colleague who owns a D80 what he thinks. He says he bought the D80 for it's versatility (auto or manual etc) and to give him room for learning & experimentation. In the time he's had it (2 - 3 years) he tells me it has never let him down. As has already been suggested, forget about the 18 - 55 and put the money saved towards your fund for The Next Lens, be it a macro or a 50mm (and may I suggest you save a bit longer & get a f1.4 50mm as this lets you take low light shots you won't believe and also gives a very pleasing blur on portraits as it's effectively about a 75mm lens on a DX sensor such as the D90 has).
Happy shopping!
I had mentioned getting the 18-55mm because it would be easy to take the camera with me whenever I go out just for fun. I guess I'll have to make sure.
I have a Canon but it's not mines, that's why I am looking for my own camera which I chose it to be a Nikon. Paul you gave me ton of information, which makes me a bit more confused, but I admit I learned somethings. One thing that you mentioned was about the newer version of the 18-200mm I wonder what are these call. I'll do my research again. Paul if you see this again it would help if you answer these questons.
Another thing you named was macro lens which is good to know about. I will check those out for the future.
Never thought this was going to be so hard to decide and choose. I don't wantto regret my purchase and I definately don't want to spent way too much for something that could work the same for less money. If there's more people that know and can help me I would appreciate more comments. Thank you for your time.
I'm guessing the new lens are called "AF-S 18-200mm G VR II LENS" I found a d90 that comes with them so I will be having that offer under consideration.
Look into the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II. (the non-VC version) It's smaller, faster, sharper and cheaper than the 18-200. Then save up for a nice 70-200mm zoom. There's rumors of an upcoming Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 VR which would be a nice one and relatively inexpensive.
That's my opinion, but I don't mind carrying around a heavy camera with several lenses.
Lydia - I would DEFINITELY get a 50mm 1.8 - there is no better lens for low light or the best bokeh portraits. Check out my project for a smattering or portraits using it. Its cheap, sharp, got great DOF. The D90 may come with a 18-55 kit, which ends up being an pretty useful lens itself. I just recently sold my 70-200L for longer zoom range of 70-300, but getting used to that range is slowly coming. It depends on what you want to take really - and what you plan to do with it. The 18-200 would be a great all purpose zoom, but will be limited in light and sharpness at its telephoto end.
Lydia, I have a D90. It is a great camera with a lot of features that come from the high end of the Nikon range. Do yourself a favour and skip the kit lens. The 18-200 VR lens is highly recommended as a good all round DX lens. I'm looking at getting on for my wife to use as she finds the 17-35 F2.8 and 70-200 f2.8 VR2 lenses quite heavy to handle.
Follow the adice of the pros and uy the best glass you can aford ... you will not be disappointed. You will be using your top glass long after you've upgraded your body. Cheap glass will bring you nothing but frustration and disappointment.
Yes! You two helped me so much. Jesse just last night I found out about the 50mm 1.8 and couldn't be happier with others photos. They are exactly what I was looking for. Your photos are wonderful and so clear.
Here's where a new question sneaks in, not worrying about the price which are better 50mm 1.8 or 50mm 1.4? And what about 35mm f/1.8 DX?
That's probably my last question and I'll be done. Anyone with experience using these previous named lens?
Now guys I am definately getting the D90 that comes with 18-200 lens. So I won't be worrying about the 18-55 lens at all.
I've owned the 50mm f/1.4D and used the 50mm f/1.8D. The 50mm f/1.4 has better build quality, it has less chromatic aberration and it slightly sharper when stopped down passed f/2.2 (the f/1.8 is slightly sharper at f/1.8 and f2) The 50mm has been updated and given an AFS motor for faster focusing. I haven't used it, but the reviews I've seen are quite good. I would expect it to perform a bit better than the old version.
I haven't used the 35mm f/1.8, but the reviews I've seen have been quite good. I had the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC. I liked it a lot more than my 50mm because with a DX sensor, I found 50mm to be too long for indoors where I needed a fast lens most.
Thanks Josh. It is quite hard to choose when everything you talked about seems good. I need to know which is better in all. I need lens that work fine under poor light and being able to take portraits and close shots. Boken is a must and also I want lens that are really well built. meaning made out of a good material. Which one you recommend?
Bang for the buck, you can't beat the 50mm f/1.8D. You can find it for just over $100 new and it's really sharp. The 1.8 is lightweight plastic, and feels cheaper than the 1.8D, but they hold up just fine.
If you'll be using it mainly for portraits go with the 50mm over the 35mm. Wider lenses tend to distort people more, especially when you get up close. But if you're indoors and can't back up, wider is nice.
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http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d90.htm
Looking back ten years ago to when I first bought a £3 thousand D1, these camera's are so much better, for a fraction of the price. I'd never ever spend that amount on a camera again- eek!
Hope you get and enjoy!
- oooh, if you later treat yourself to a flash gun, please check if its compatable as there's so many.
Is there a huge different between 18-200mm VR and 18-55mm lenses?
I think the 365ers have sold you on the D90 + 18-200, which is good. When it first came out the lens won a lot of good reviews and Canon didn't make one. They do now so come to your own conclusions....Nikon have recently issued the 2nd version of this lens & it has a lock on it to stop zoom creep. This is most definitely a Good Thing. I have come across people who are quite disparaging about it, but if you have the time, money & physical strength to cart around a bag with 3 or 4 fixed lenses in it (and a good device for cleaning all that dust off your sensor every tine you change lens), then feel free. In one of his series of digital photography books, Scott Kelby (check him out on Amazon) suggests this is the perfect solution for travel photography. Scott & Ken Rockwell are not to everybody's tastes, but you can make a call as to whether their technical knowledge is valid or not. I appreciate due to the nature of my 365 project this may be of limited use to you, but the following were all done on a D200 (effectively the same as your D90, if not a little bit worse in some respects!) with the 18-200 VR (mark 1).
March 18, 21, 27, 28, 31
April 1, 3, 9, 15, 23
May 2, 5 - 8, 10, 15, 16
From a practical point of view, the range offered by the 18-200 has meant where I can only take one camera, I have chosen the D200 over things like a D700 due to the lighter weight & greater versatility for one handed operation.
Finally, I have just asked a colleague who owns a D80 what he thinks. He says he bought the D80 for it's versatility (auto or manual etc) and to give him room for learning & experimentation. In the time he's had it (2 - 3 years) he tells me it has never let him down. As has already been suggested, forget about the 18 - 55 and put the money saved towards your fund for The Next Lens, be it a macro or a 50mm (and may I suggest you save a bit longer & get a f1.4 50mm as this lets you take low light shots you won't believe and also gives a very pleasing blur on portraits as it's effectively about a 75mm lens on a DX sensor such as the D90 has).
Happy shopping!
I have a Canon but it's not mines, that's why I am looking for my own camera which I chose it to be a Nikon. Paul you gave me ton of information, which makes me a bit more confused, but I admit I learned somethings. One thing that you mentioned was about the newer version of the 18-200mm I wonder what are these call. I'll do my research again. Paul if you see this again it would help if you answer these questons.
Another thing you named was macro lens which is good to know about. I will check those out for the future.
Never thought this was going to be so hard to decide and choose. I don't wantto regret my purchase and I definately don't want to spent way too much for something that could work the same for less money. If there's more people that know and can help me I would appreciate more comments. Thank you for your time.
I'm guessing the new lens are called "AF-S 18-200mm G VR II LENS" I found a d90 that comes with them so I will be having that offer under consideration.
That's my opinion, but I don't mind carrying around a heavy camera with several lenses.
Follow the adice of the pros and uy the best glass you can aford ... you will not be disappointed. You will be using your top glass long after you've upgraded your body. Cheap glass will bring you nothing but frustration and disappointment.
Here's where a new question sneaks in, not worrying about the price which are better 50mm 1.8 or 50mm 1.4? And what about 35mm f/1.8 DX?
That's probably my last question and I'll be done. Anyone with experience using these previous named lens?
Now guys I am definately getting the D90 that comes with 18-200 lens. So I won't be worrying about the 18-55 lens at all.
I haven't used the 35mm f/1.8, but the reviews I've seen have been quite good. I had the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC. I liked it a lot more than my 50mm because with a DX sensor, I found 50mm to be too long for indoors where I needed a fast lens most.
50mm f/1.8
50mm f/1.4
35mm f/1.8 DX
Right now I think I am going to 50mm f/1.8
If you'll be using it mainly for portraits go with the 50mm over the 35mm. Wider lenses tend to distort people more, especially when you get up close. But if you're indoors and can't back up, wider is nice.
Check out pbase for real word examples from these lenses. http://www.pbase.com/cameras/nikon/50_18_afd http://www.pbase.com/cameras/nikon/50_14d_af http://www.pbase.com/cameras/nikon/nikkor_35_18g_af_s_dx
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