niccoury

KEH is best for used.

B&H is best for new.

Adorama is right on their ratings.

for some, that gap is big. esp since you're at 80 not 70 like the 70-200.

 

you can find a used 28-70 f/2.8, the old pro standard zoom for about 900-1000 at KEH.

this topic seems like deja vu.

try the 70-300 AF-S VR. it's inexpensive and fits nose-down in nearly any bag.

 

it's not the fastest, but image quality is great, has vr and handles nicely.

the SB-400 is a cute little flash with decent results that was made specifically for the

D40/D40X. It's less expensive than the SB-600 and much more compact.

 

the D4O sounds perfect for you and is less expensive and will create good pictures, some

argue its a better price/performance than the D40X or D60.

Brad, you're right on with the D2H, its great for us pj's.

 

I have no problem shooting above 800 ISO though, it depends on the lighting and how

much time I have to clean up my files after the shoot. I've found (as you probably have)

that lighter background show less noise, therefore allowing me to shoot at 1600 with a

quick noise reduction filter and I'm golden.

 

for the D2H's prices on the used market, it's a no-brainer IMHO to get one.

 

~ nic

Hey folks,

 

So as a working news photographer, my camera bag (currently a Slingshot 200)

needs to be able to work quickly. With my zooms, the lens hoods reverse for easy

storage, but with my primes, 85 and 50, the hoods are screw on type. They are a

pain to keep in the bag and more so to put on my lenses.

 

With zooms, I always use them, but with primes, do lens hood make a big enough

difference on the shorter primes?

 

I'm considering just leaving them as my desk.

 

~ n

the Sigma 30 f/1.4 is it yo and actually preforms very well.

Lifted yes, but they're still citing me as the photographer, which I'm fine with.

 

As long as they're not breaking any copyright stuff and claiming the images to be someone other than mine, why should I care?

The point that Nikon USA doesn't repair grey market is not worth the price difference.

 

KEH has "Non-US," which is similar, but still not worth it.

No need to worry about copyright. It's makred on like every page that all work is copyrighted to the photographer. You'd be hardpressed to meet anyone silly enough to steal work from here.

Adobe Lightroom is great. I'd recommend it over Apeture any day.

you may also want to check out a 35-70 f/2.8 for an inexpensive pro lens. It's sharp and small.

the 24-86 is one of my fav mid-range Nikons. It's inexpensive, sharp and contrast-y. With a flash, it works wonders.

 

the 28-70 will def. give you a shallower DOF, due to the f/2.8, but it's 3x more expensive, much heavier and larger.

 

~ nic

I think we need to drop all the camera comparing (or comparing our manhood) and get out

in the field and shoot.

 

I'm between assignments right now. I've shoot about 600 frames today.

I did just find a used D2H from Nat'l Geographic Supply with a new shutter, 17 shots, and a

1-year warranty on it. The camera was refurb'ed by Nikon USA.

 

It's also a price thing too somewhat.

I work for a Weekly. They can't afford to get me stuff. Plus I can write it off and own it

myself! I also have a personal photography business, so I use it all for that too.

It really depends on what you're producing with the said camera that matters.

 

For family pictures or your kids' soccer game, A D40X would do 90% of people just fine,

but the shiny toys are fun to have.

 

As a news shooter, 4-6mp is fine for 97% or my work. Every so often, for cover shots for

our Weekly, a larger, full-frame file is needed, where the large megapixel crop factor

could be nice to have, but it's all in what I'm shooting.

The D300 interests me quite a bit, but as a daily news photographer, my only fear is that it

wouldn't hold up to stresses I put on cameras.

 

I'm buying a D2H this week. A D300 may creep into my personal stash...

Fair enough. But that's why for a while as the staff photog with a Weekly news rag, I was shooting great photos with a D50 in RAW that my editor loved.

<i>Kerry, without the D300 you will never ever be able to take anything other than mediocre images.</i>

 

Not true. A pro with a D50 will shoot a better picture than a child with a D300. It's the photographer who makes the image look good, not the camera, yo.

Hey everyone,

 

So I'm going to pick up a few D2H bodies for my work as the staff photog at a

Weekly.

 

As I can only buy them used now, I've delved into KEH's used department and I

figure buying something conditioned EX or EX+ is fine, but what about lower.

 

Has anyone bought a camera or lens or both in less that EX condition? How happy

are you with it's condition used?

 

Thanks,

 

~ nic

I'm a pro PJ, and I'd go with the lens over the camera.

 

I'm also on a very strict budget until I start getting my paychecks and actually saving them

from the newspaper.

 

Older Dslr's with pro lenses work better than a pro body with amatuer-ish lenses.

Lens issue. Though the 85 f/1.8 is a great lens, it's AF not AF-S, so it hunts more. But it's great for what it costs. One of the best, IMHO, price/performance lens Nikon has.

I didn't like F4.

 

F100's are smaller and IMHO give better pictures. F5 "lite".