jvophotography Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cappoldt Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvophotography Posted December 7, 2005 Author Share Posted December 7, 2005 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. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_sokal___dallas__tx Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvophotography Posted December 7, 2005 Author Share Posted December 7, 2005 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lex_jenkins Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvophotography Posted December 7, 2005 Author Share Posted December 7, 2005 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_skomial Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 "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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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