Nikon Camera advice please

[SpiderX]

I own 3 Nikon lenses so i want to stay Nikon.

I am interested in a digital slr..... looking at the D80,
D200, D300..

I am going to use it for photo journalism... i spend a lot of time driving and riding all over the east coast and Ii want to start getting pictures for a possible book.... so the photos need to be good enough to publish..... i know very little so be gentle

[mauberley]

Any of those cameras will suit you just fine, I would think. Hell, I'm still plugging away with a D70 that is over three years old!

As for "good enough to publish," that's largely dependent on you.

[SpiderX]

Originally Posted by mauberley

Any of those cameras will suit you just fine, I would think. Hell, I'm still plugging away with a D70 that is over three years old!

As for "good enough to publish," that's largely dependent on you.

The pictures will not "be" the book but support the text/prose/poetry/lyrics etc.

Thanks.... Im leaning toward the D80 but the 300 looks pretty nice

[SB]

I was in the same situation, had Nikon lenses, so I went with the D80. It had been years since I used my old 6006 so I wanted something that was easy yet still had the capability for fine tuning once I relearned some stuff. I'm sure the D200 and D300 are better but I'm only familiar with the D80. Here's a shot in full automatic mode. Click for larger version.

[SpiderX]

Originally Posted by SB

I was in the same situation, had Nikon lenses, so I went with the D80. It had been years since I used my old 6006 so I wanted something that was easy yet still had the capability for fine tuning once I relearned some stuff. I'm sure the D200 and D300 are better but I'm only familiar with the D80. Here's a shot in full automatic mode. Click for larger version.

I have an 8008 and in the same boat..... not sure what i want to spend but the D80 will probably be more than I need so it is the front runner.... I want to see some pics from the 300

[miniphatty]

Originally Posted by SpiderX

I have an 8008 and in the same boat..... not sure what i want to spend but the D80 will probably be more than I need so it is the front runner.... I want to see some pics from the 300

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d80/vs-d70.htm - some people hate him - some love him - either way cannot ignore him.

[SpiderX]

Originally Posted by miniphatty

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d80/vs-d70.htm - some people hate him - some love him - either way cannot ignore him.

this is excellent ....thanks

[ScottRiqui]

The "sweet spot" might be a used D200, but if a new D300 is in your budget, go for it. I'm still using a D50, but I'm going to start cruising eBay for a used D200 once the D3 and D300 start shipping in quantity and people (hopefully) start upgrading.

[PGT]

be sure to check out costco.com - they are running some specials on kits this week. forget which models

edit - best is D40x

[mauberley]

That looks familiar. Ahh, memories of Space Camp...

[ScottRiqui]

Depending on which lenses you have/plan to get, keep in mind that the D40 will only autofocus with the newer AF-S lenses. Even the fairly-recent "G" lenses have to be manually focused.

In other words, the D40/D40x doesn't have an autofocus motor built into the body itself, so if the lens doesn't have an autofocus motor in it, it will have to be manually-focused.

[miniphatty]

I was in the same boat - i had some Nikon glass and another Tamron WA that i bought for my N80. I went for the D70s. If i were you, i would probably get the D80 and a digital lens or two. The DSLRs have a smaller image sensor compared to the 35mm SLRs and hence there is an automatic zoom factor involved (~1.5). For most purposes, this is not a huge deal but for wide angle shots you might find yourself backing up frequently

I recommend reading Popular Photography forums as well as Nikonians.org - both are great forums for this kinda questions. Remember, the camera and the lens can only do so much - it's your eyes and hands that do a lot of the work (or a tripod + IR remote ).

Bottom line: I would get a D80 and a decent VR (vibration reduction) lens from Nikon. I was looking at the 18-200 DX VR which was going for around 700$. Do a little more research and you will be a guru very soon

[ScottRiqui]

Originally Posted by miniphatty

I was looking at the 18-200 DX VR which was going for around 700$. Do a little more research and you will be a guru very soon

That's my favourite lens, by a wide margin. It's all but replaced my 18-55mm, 70-300mm, and 50mm f1.8 (although I still pull that one out occasionally for really crisp low-light stuff).

[mauberley]

Originally Posted by ScottRiqui

That's my favourite lens, by a wide margin. It's all but replaced my 18-55mm, 70-300mm, and 50mm f1.8 (although I still pull that one out occasionally for really crisp low-light stuff).

Seconded. This is the probably the last lens I will put on my D70. Great for 99% of what you might need to do. Only problem is that it's in short supply.

[PGT]

I took my pics with a 2mp Nikon CoolPix 950, back before the days of D-SLR. They were fit to print....so sayeth my now wife who runs the digital prepress group at a commercial magazine printer.

moral of the story....the technique/skill of the photog > gear in many cases.

[miniphatty]

Originally Posted by PGT

I took my pics with a 2mp Nikon CoolPix 950, back before the days of D-SLR. They were fit to print....so sayeth my now wife who runs the digital prepress group at a commercial magazine printer.

moral of the story....the technique/skill of the photog > gear in many cases.

True words.

This was taken using a 3MP camera 4 years ago - have the higher res. pic somewhere on my PC. No optical zoom, just about nothing fancy - just a plain old (POS) P&S.

[gnatster]

Check out http://www.kenrockwell.com/index.htm

This guy tells it like it is with Nikon goodies. Pro photographer with TONS of great advice.

[PGT]

/\ nice!

some of mine that we made into a calendar.....from my trip to the Neuquen province of Argentina....the northern part of Patagonia. We climbed Volcan Lanin on the Chilean border....it's an analog to Mt Hood in Oregon...similar size and difficulty.









one thing I've noticed with newer cameras is better color saturation and more natural color balance. that's the one area we had to tweak with my older Nikon. I've got a newer model now that was much better in this area. The other thing is actual pic size....the uncompressed tiff shots I took were tiny in physical size (massive in file size) and utterly unusable.

I've gone back and forth about a new Nikon D-SLR but I tend to use my 7.2mp Sony with Zeiss lens for everything, never even pulling my older Nikon out.

That said, I see a proper D-SLR in the hands of an experienced user and it makes me want one. I just don't think it's 100% necessary for everybody, even if you plan to publish the pics in a book.

[old81]

I shoot with a D70s, just remember to keep the CCD very clean. I have looked at the D80 and D40x, I would consider a 40x for a backup camera.

also, it is nice to have a simple P&S in you pocket for those times you don't have the gear with you or are just not wanting to tote the Nikon. my current pocket digitals are Sony W1 and W80.

The Nikon shoots a little cool, so you if you want warm shots you will have to adjust your camera settings. An alternative is to shoot with the Canon DSLR which does shoot warmer. I prefer the Nikon.

This is a shot last summer with the D70s, Nikon 55-200 AF. Not the most expensive piece of glass but it performed well and some of the pictures were used by the local BMW club, but they lost a lot in publication in a b&w newsletter.

[PGT]

one of my favorite photogs is Paul Hansen. His pics have a certain look to them. He uses a Canon 20D. I asked him for advice on what to buy and made the comment that I should plan to spend at least 50% of the total expenditure on the glass. Seems to be solid advice. His site www.sevenphotos.com

[Sin MINI]

I've been shooting a D70 for some time and love it, but sometimes wish for more, like a D200. Not that it takes better pictures, but the usability of the camera.

Here's a couple of samples from Yosemite and basic HDR processing in Photoshop.



Here's a couple from AMVIV 2007 (had to include at least ONE with MINI's)

[SpiderX]

This is great stuff and I really appreciate it..... I really have to make up my mind how much I want to spend.....

thanks to all for posting pics with camera data.... it really helps me get perspective..... keep it coming... a little text with explanation is also "cool"

[PGT]

Originally Posted by SpiderX

a little text with explanation is also "cool"

edited mine for location

[SpiderX]

Originally Posted by PGT

edited mine for location

Thanks

[jw34]

Here's a couple of samples from Yosemite and basic HDR processing in Photoshop.

Nice HDR. Which brings up an important point. And that's how you take the shots (RAW vs JPG for instance) and what you do in post processing (or pre with HDR). I went from a D70 to a D200 and appreciate the difference between the two. But with Photoshop involved the difference is not night and day the way it was between my Coolpix 5700 and the D70.