Essential First Purchases
Nikon D40 for me, as for most owners, is a first DSLR. As you gain manual control over your camera and with opportunities to change lenses and control the light off the camera, a whole new horizon opens up, but it comes at a co$t, as you realize your purchases have only began.
D40 comes with a great kit lens. My advice to anyone who's buying that camera, or any other first DSLR, is to wait and see what you like shooting the best. If it's nature, you'll want a zoom lens, and 55-200 VR is a great value for the money. If you like shooting people, you might want to invest into 50mm f/1.8, which can be a pain to focus in a low light, but offers great shallow depth of field.
But one accessory I would recommend buying right away is an external flash that can bounce the light off the ceiling. Instead of having people washed out with light on your pictures to make people look dead, you can let the flash spread evenly across the room, as you see it on the phone on the right, thus creating a natural look to your photos instead of usual flash look.
If you own Nikon and you're looking into buying a flash, I recommend skipping SB-400, and going straight to SB-600. The value and options you get worth extra $70 you'll pay for it, and eventually as your skills improve, you can implement SB-600 into your lighting setup in a way you wouldn't be able to with SB-400. I owned SB-400 this whole time, but have regrets about my purchase feeling a lack of features SB-600 or SB-800 would have offered me, so I just bought another flash. You're welcome to ask any questions about this, as I get a lot of emails about SB-400.
D40 comes with a great kit lens. My advice to anyone who's buying that camera, or any other first DSLR, is to wait and see what you like shooting the best. If it's nature, you'll want a zoom lens, and 55-200 VR is a great value for the money. If you like shooting people, you might want to invest into 50mm f/1.8, which can be a pain to focus in a low light, but offers great shallow depth of field.
But one accessory I would recommend buying right away is an external flash that can bounce the light off the ceiling. Instead of having people washed out with light on your pictures to make people look dead, you can let the flash spread evenly across the room, as you see it on the phone on the right, thus creating a natural look to your photos instead of usual flash look.
If you own Nikon and you're looking into buying a flash, I recommend skipping SB-400, and going straight to SB-600. The value and options you get worth extra $70 you'll pay for it, and eventually as your skills improve, you can implement SB-600 into your lighting setup in a way you wouldn't be able to with SB-400. I owned SB-400 this whole time, but have regrets about my purchase feeling a lack of features SB-600 or SB-800 would have offered me, so I just bought another flash. You're welcome to ask any questions about this, as I get a lot of emails about SB-400.
2 comments:
I totally agree with you re: the D40 being an excellent camera for people new to DSLR photography. Less settings and less knobs to worry about, also very lightweight. And the price is not bad at all. Although I still have a long way to go...
Thanks for your comment re: SB-400.It helped me make up my mind re: what speedlight to buy.
BTW awesome photos, especially of Maks. Very soon you will need a separate section just for his photos!
Thanks for stopping by. Yes, I should start a new section, huh..
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