My Camera Equipment – photography part 2
In part 1 I talked about general photography tips that I have learned over the past few years. Remember I do not have a photography background so I am approaching this from the average joe perspective not a professional’s opinion. Now its on to the equipment.
This is the section where photographers get to brag on their equipment and how much money they have spent. Lindsay and I have been very happy with our camera and the relatively small amount we have invested. As I mentioned earlier I decided on a Nikon. I was looking at entry level camera and it seemed that Nikon offered me the options I wanted at a better price than Canon. At the time the Canon in the same price rage used CompactFlash cards, I knew that I wanted a camera that used SD cards. I knew this was the future of storage, plus i have an SD card reader on my computer. The Nikon’s body was slightly smaller and felt more sturdy. So here it is…
My original purchase (Feb 2008):
Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G lens
Nikon SB-400 Speedlight (flash)
SanDisk Extreme III 4Gb SD Card
Total: $811
I quickly added a nice case (birthday present) and UV filter to help protect my lens from scratches.
Why did i pick this equipment?
At the time my budget limited me to the D40 or D60. Ultimately I picked the D40 to save some money but also to save hard drive space. The D40 is a 6 megapixel camera, which seems low but hopefully by now you realize more megapixel (MP) is not what is important, as I have written almost 1,000 words without mentioning it. Each photo on my D40 is approximately 5MB. The D60 is a 10MP camera, so each file would be closer to 10MB, almost doubling my space requirements. I work exclusively on notebooks and drive capacity on notebooks is limited, especially two years ago.
I didn’t want to constantly be switching lenses so instead of buying the kit with a 18-55 lens, then adding a 55-22mm lens which you will see is common practice. I purchased the 18-135mm (about x7.5 zoom). Since my original purchase I have upgraded to the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR (official name). The upgrade was the added VR (vibration reduction) not the zoom. I was happy with my original lens but wanted the VR feature when shooting at the tele end of the range.
The 18mm is the wide angle, 18mm is about as wide as you can get on a budget and great for trying to capture a room in tight quarters. If you only have one lens you want to make sure it will go down to 18mm or less. The 105mm is the telephoto length. This is about a 7x zoom in digital terms. If had the extra cash I would have purchased the Nikon 18-200mm lens. But overall I am very pleased with my lens.
I also purchased the entry level flash, the Nikon SB-400. I hate how built-in flash illuminates photos. It is a small flash but lets me angle my flash 90° so I can bounce it off the ceiling when shooing indoors (when you usually need a flash).
Then I bought a 4Gb San Disk Ultra III card, that came with a little SD card reader. At the time it was the best I could get and it holds about 600 photos so I don’t really need anything larger. I have backup up 2GB and 1GB cards that I use in other devices that I have used once or twice in a pinch. If you get a fast camera, make sure to get a fast SD card to go with it.
Additional Equipment
As mentioned above I have replaced my lens with a newer model. I used the money from selling my original lens at Gazelle.com to purchase a prime (or fixed) lens. So a few weeks ago I bought my new lens for $7!
That lens was the Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR35mm f/1.8G. I bought it at Wolf Camera for $200. Having a f-stop of 1.8 is a little bit of photography heaven for me. When using this lens I switch to Aperture priority mode, the A (or Av on Canon cameras) on your camera dial. This allows me to have manual control on the f-stop. If you shoot in Automatic it will almost never go below f4. (On a side note: Lindsay always shoots in Automatic and I do for the majority of my photos, only changing the focus mode).
Notice how the chair is out of focus behind the little man as well as his fist in front. This brings your focus to Joshua’s cute but messy face. If it was take at, say, f4 his fist would be in focus and distracting from the desired subject.
After using a folded index cards as a bounce card for my flash for a year, Lindsay got me the Flip It! 400 from Demb Flash Products for a nicer looking bounce card. This allows you to bounce flash off the card when shooting portrait or outside. It also allows for 2 light sources it you angle it right indoors to get the ceiling bounce and card bounce. While it seemed expensive to me, it is worth it.
Future Equipment
Really am happy with my setup but in Photography there are always things on your wish list. I would like to upgrade my camera to the new Nikon D5000 that is 12megapixel, but more importantly shoots HD video, has a swivel lcd to help at difficult angles, and 11 focus points (verses 3 on my D40). I really don’t need more camera than that. I would also add a third, more powerful lens, like a 70-300mm. Once the boys start playing t-ball or other sports I will need this lens! Unfortunately this is still several years away so Lindsay isn’t buying it as a valid reason to buy another lens, yet.
Final Camera Advise
My final piece of advice is to get a camera that fits your budget and you like how it feels. Ask friends and family member what camera they have and how they like it, the pros and cons. I am not a Nikon or Canon guy, I happened to find that I personally like Nikon cameras but I know many people that love their Canon cameras. Maybe one day I will have a Canon, who knows. They both make great cameras. When purchasing a camera, I follow a general rule of thumb to buy from a camera company, meaning a company that has a long photography background and a large focus on imaging. Obviously that leads to the likes of Nikon and Canon. This doesn’t mean that other companies don’t make great cameras, its just my personal opinion and preference.
As many photographers say, “the best camera is the camera you have with you.”
Tell me what camera you have, why you picked it and what you like (or don’t like) about it.
Look for part 3 next week. I will write about some editing tips for your photos.
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hey spencer! welcome to the blogger world! john and i also have a joint blog (he doesn’t post too often though) so you’ll have to check it out. i have enjoyed your posts about your camera since i have the same one. i am learning a lot!
i do have a question for you …when you said you had a 4GB drive and were only able to hold about 600 pics it made me check my settings because i almost have 2000 on my card now. i saw what you were talking about…the RAW file. will i still be able to edit, send, upload, etc. pictures that are saved like that? i guess i don’t really know anything about it. second question…have you ever thought about purchasing another brand of lens for your camera? john bought me one for christmas and it wasn’t a nikon lens but made for nikon. just curious on what you thought. i haven’t got to use it much because it is a 70-300 so i can’t zoom out far enough to use it very well indoors. hopefully i get to play around with it this summer more. just curious…keep the blogs coming! 
Thanks, I will see how it goes, I may end up like john, what’s your address?
Memory Card: I shoot RAW so it adds to the file size. when you shoot jpeg, it processes the image and throws out data it doesn’t think you need. RAW keeps that data. It can help to pull detail out of over exposed images.
RAW files require applications that can read them. To get the full benefit you need an app like Aperture or Lightroom. Or most camera come with an app that will work, I just never have tried them because I use Aperture (more on that in my next post).
Other Lenses: Third-party lens are fine. I personally have not every purchased one. I do hours of research on lenses and typically i find the Nikon lenses to get better reviews, however they are usually more expensive. Does the price difference justify the quality difference? That is a personal opinion. I tend to save a little longer and buy the more expensive one (within reason), but that is my personal preference. I know many people who use 3rd party lenses and are very happy with them. But you are right that the 70-300 lens would not be good indoors.
hope that helps, more info soon…
Spencer
looking forward to more info! our address is jjdavis31.blogspot.com. you’ll have to check it out sometime. have a good day!