Planning for new gear

[jvophotography]

Looking at purchasing a new rig after the first of the year. I

bought the D70 hot off the press and have absolutely loved it. It

has taken my shooting to anotehr level and I'm looking to jump again

to a more professional rig. I don't have a LOT of money but could

see spending $2k - $2.5K for EVERYTHING. I probably won't need to

buy to many lenses or anythign along that line as I have my D70

lenses.

 

I am looking to get into more wedding photography and the D70 will

be used as a backup.

 

I have been reading up on the D200. It sounds really nice. Is it

enough of a jump or should I consider the D2X instead?

 

As always, thanks for any help.

[ShunCheung]

First of all, which lenses do you already have? How about flashes?

 

Again, I wouldn't spend all of my budget on a body. The D200 looks good on paper and I am happy with the sample I saw, but there are not tests on production models yet. Given that qualification, I think I can recommend the D200, over the D2X. And I would spend the rest of the budget on more lenses and accessories such as flash, memory cards, etc.

[cappoldt]

10 megapixels from the D200 should be very adequate for larger bridal portraits...besides, if $2-2.5k is your budget for the whole lot, a $4,500 D2X body is going to wreck your plan.

[jvophotography]

Yes, I should have said somethign about the lenses that I have. I have several. The D70 Kit lense of course. A 70-300MM Nikkon, and the F1.8 50MM prime. I also have the SB-600. I will probably buy the SB800 if it works with the D200.

 

I have tons of Memory cards so no issue there.

 

I shoudl say that IF teh D200 just wasn't a good enough leap up in quality from the D70, then I'd have to just save more for the next level.

 

Hope that helps in the advice giving. ;-)

[paul_sokal___dallas__tx]

From everything we've read, the D-200 should be a great body for what you're planning. I hvae a D-70 and D2X and use both for weddings. I think most Nikon wedding shooters agree theat the best zoom combo for wedding work is the 17-55 F2.8 and the 70-200 f2.8 VR. I own the former but just had to send it back to Nikon because it has a focus/distortion problem, which sucks for a $1500 lens. My 70-200 should arrive from B&H tomorrow. If you have the 70-300 G version, it's really a toy lens (I have one) and probably would not do justice to the D200.

[ShunCheung]

I pretty much agree with what Paul points out. IMO Joe needs lenses more than a new body.

 

BTW, Paul, I hope you took advantage of this $100-off B&H special for the 70-200:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?ci=1&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=RootPage.jsp&A=search&Q=*&bhs=t&shs=PSDEC052&image.x=7&image.y=9

[jvophotography]

I want a better resolution. That's my primary reason for wanting a higher grade camera. Outside of that I also really want to be covered in the advent of a body failure. Right now I have no backup. I will seriously check into the 17-55 lense.

 

anything in the $500-$800 range that will work? Or should I just commit to the $1100-$1200 range for the 17-55?

[ShunCheung]

As a professional wedding photographer, you definitely want to have at least one backup body, if not more.

 

I would wait a few weeks for some actual D200 experiences and reports. I shoot a bit of wedding also and I can highly recommend the 17-55mm/f2.8 DX. IMO the 70-200 VR is secondary for weddings.

[lex_jenkins]

Redundancy is essential for stuff like wedding photography. I do it only as gifts for family and friends but I still wouldn't consider showing up with less than two of everything: bodies, flash units, etc.

 

So if the budget is $2,500, tops, and I already had a D70 and a couple of useful lenses, I'd factor in one or two SB-800 or SB-600 flash units, another affordable body (not necessarily a D200), and either a flash bracket or, perhaps better, a couple of good flash modifiers. Extra batteries, memory cards, etc.

 

And if I was going to do wedding photography as a business, even part time, I'd get liability insurance. Check the wedding photography archives for reasons why insurance is a good idea - not just to protect your equipment from theft or damage, but to protect you from unforeseen circumstances that might result in legal actions.

[jvophotography]

As always, thanks so much for the info. So far, I've only been shooting friends weddings and I've been doing it inexpensively enough so that the folks know they ar getting a bargain.

 

However, I do want to expand. I'm just usinging the interim period to expand my portfolio and get the equipment where it needs to be.

 

I do so appreciate all the advice.

 

Thanks for the advice on the insurance as well.

 

What I will probably end up doing is just ordering a D200 body and the 17-55 lense.

[frank_skomial]

"BTW, Paul, I hope you took advantage of this $100-off B&H special for the 70-200"

 

Paul, what about getting the $150 rebate for Nikkor 70-200 2.8 AF-S VR USA, from B&H instead ?, but you must hurry up, as the rebate ends soon.

[ShunCheung]

I got some more information on B&H's specials. Essentially you can get B&H's extra $100 off the 70-200 VR in additional to Nikon USA's $150 rebate. Since that is a different topic, I started a new thread:

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00ERhc