paul_capoccia

<p>I'm glad I mentioned the battery on here, some reviews rated them very well but based on your responses it appears those might not have been accurate reviews. I might invest in a second battery for long shooting days, that's a good thought. Thanks!</p>

<p>I'm looking into buying a Nikon d5100 and am making sure I have everything I'll need for it before purchasing it with the lenses I want, and I'm reading a lot of reviews that say the battery pack that comes with the camera has much to be desired. Are there other companies that make batteries for a Nikon d5100 that would last me longer than what I'll get with it to start? If so, what companies and how much better will these other batteries be/how long will they last? Thanks!</p>

<p>Alright, I used SanDisk SD cards in my other camera and never had problems, but I know I'll now need an HD etc. compatible SD card so I better invest enough in it so I don't have any problems. I didn't even think of counterfeit ones... I'll probably buy from amazon or cameta if they sell SD cards.<br /> The kits for a d5100 with the 18-55 are the same as buying the d5100 body with the 18-105 separately refurbished so I figure I might as well go with the 18-105 because it would give me a bit more focal length so I could really judge if I would even need more length than 105, or if that focal length is fine and I might want to, as suggested, go with a 35mm or something for low light. Again, not going to get anything more than the 18-105 until way down the road, once I learn about that and everything, plus invest in a tripod that'll suit my needs. My budget does have its limits haha.<br /> I already reserved the 2 books mentioned, the ones by Langford and Peterson, at my local library so I'm gonna read through those when I can, and I'll look into the d5100 experience, that should give me some very specific advice the others probably cannot give due to the broad nature of the topic.</p>

<p>To answer just a few of the thoughts here,<br /> I'm definitely going to look into some of these books. I'm a bookworm as it is so I think it'd be a great idea for me to dive into some of the books on photography, I'll look into those books by Langford and Peterson mentioned here.<br /> I'm glad someone referenced the refurb lenses again. I found the d5100 body relatively cheap somewhere with a good warranty but I can't find a cheap enough kit with a Nikkor 18-105 so I'm gonna be that separately refurbished and that'll be my only lens for awhile. I think, as all of you said, that will give me a good idea of what I "need" rather than what I "want", especially since I'm shooting blind right now as to what to buy. Now that I pretty much settled on the camera/lens combo to start, what companies' SD cards do you all recommend? I've read some terrible reviews on SD cards before so I want to make sure I pick one that is pretty widely used and accepted as being 'the best', I don't want to fall short on something as simple yet as (obviously) necessary as the SD card.<br /> As for a tripod, I'll wait on that too. I know somebody said for now I'll just get a little blur here and there, which I can deal with until I see what kind of tripod I want/need. <br /> Thank you all for all of the advice! You all have been such a help.</p>

<p>Wouter,<br>

Thank you so much for all the help. I really think the 18-105mm will be enough. I used the Nikon lens simulator on their website and I think it'll be enough for me, especially since, like you said, it'll be very similar to the camera I already have, just much better. As it is, the Powershot gets significantly worse the more you zoom in (naturally), so the improvement on quality will be well worth it. It is VR (that's vibration reduction or something right?) so that'll help.<br>

Going back to your point at #2, I don't quite understand that they are the 'minimum values'. If 5.6 is there, how can f11 happen? or is f11 an abbreviation for a fraction within 3.5-5.6? I definitely need to learn about the aperture because I definitely don't know nearly enough.<br>

And like you said, refurbished comes with a warranty and I believe they're well tested. In theory they should work fine and with a warranty I have nothing to worry about. I just need to investigate the extent of the warranties compared to other websites like Amazon.</p>

<p>P.S. I'm on cameta.com looking at some of the refurbished packages, if it's refurbished am I taking a major risk of it failing quickly or am I finding a hidden deal that I overlooked before? Refurbished definitely fits my budget better with these lens recommendations. I can add 4 year warranties to them so that might be a great option since it'd still be covered for parts.</p>

<p>First off thank you all for the information. I have a few further questions, since you all know more than I do about this stuff.<br /> 1. As far as tripods go, will most tripods be 'compatible' to go with most cameras, or do I have to look for tripods that'll work with Nikons? I know I have to be careful of the weight to make sure it can support a d5100 adaquately. I'm not sure what kind of height I'm looking for yet.<br /> <br /> 2. I'm starting to understand the aperture settings. Simon mentioned shooting at 'f11' for depth of field, can I shoot at f11 if the lens is only 3.5-6.3 or something like that?<br /> <br /> 3. I'm going to continue to look for a kit with an 18-105mm with a low f, but in the case of 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6, is 3.5-5.6 "good"? A 2.8f would be mentioned, is that "top of the line"?<br /> <br /> 4. It sounds like, if I can find one at a reasonable price, an 18-105mm Nikkor would be better than the 18-55 to start. What lens would be able to do what I'm doing now with my camera mentioned below?<br /> <br /> And going back to the Canon Powershot I use now, a PowerShot SX 130IS, 12.1 MP, 12x optical zoom, it's okay but the image quality has much to be desired and it has a lot of limitations. No bulb mode (which I want), the lighting with it is kinda tricky. I can set the aperture to 3.4-8.</p>

<p>Hello,<br>

I'm relatively new to photography, I've been using a basic Canon powershot camera and decided it's about time I bought myself a really good camera. I'm buying a Nikon d5100, but I'm not too sure what to get for lenses. I'm looking to take up close photos with some sunset/landscape/night photos. I'm not looking to photograph children, pets, sports, or anything with movement, basically all nature photos or if I am taking photos of people, they will be still. <br>

The lens that comes with it on Amazon.com is a 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens. I understand the 18-55mm is the range and I only know a bit abouto the 3.5-5.6, that deals with the aperture for the light. Is this a good lens? Should I buy this camera with this lens or just buy the body and look at another lens?<br>

Also, I was looking into a 55-250 mm Nikkor Lens as well. Should I get the 18-55mm and the 55-250mm, or am I better off buying just the d5100 body and getting a 18-250mm or 18-300mm Nikkor instead? Will an 18-250mm with the same aperture do the EXACT same things that an 18-55mm and a 55-250mm would do separately?<br>

Thank you!</p>