Took The Plunge

[dmw16]

Well I took the plunge and bought a digital SLR. I found a good deal on a D70 on ebay (~$280). I think I am going to start with an 18-55mm VR lens. Any suggestions on card size? I was thinking 4GB...

EDIT: Fixed for a clumsy keystroke 🙂

 

[jpeyton]

Nikon D60 for $280 on eBay?

 

[996GT2]

Nice, I like my D70 very much and I think you will too! The 18-55mm VR is a great starter lens; if you want to dabble in portrait photography or just want a very fast lens for low light (e.g. museums and such that don't allow flash), I highly suggest the 50mm f/1.8 since it is inexpensive and very good. If you decide you need a telephoto lens later, the 55-200mm VR is a good choice to start off, or you can trade up to the 18-200mm VR for a great all in one lens.

I'd get a 2 GB or more to start with. A 2 GB card will hold ~550 JPEGs at the highest quality setting, which is plenty for a day's shooting. Get a high speed card like a SanDisk Extreme II/III so you will get slightly improved continuous shooting performance.

 

[dmw16]

Is the 50mm also a VR? Either way, what should I expect to pay?

As for the memory card, what if I want to shoot in JPEG?

Finally, what kind of shots do you take 996GT2? Where do you go? I ask because I see you are at Hopkins and I live in Columbia.

 

[dblevitan]

The 50 mm is not VR, but it is a very fast lens and thus works well under low light conditions. It's also very sharp, which is what people like about it (I haven't used it yet but I'll be buying one soon). It goes for about $120 or so new, a bit less used.

Personally, I have a 1 GB Sandisk Extreme III (bought 2 years ago when they were still expensive) and a 2 GB Kingston Elite Pro plus an 80 GB Hyperdrive HD80 which I rarely use. Between those two cards, I can get up to 400 or so RAW+BASIC photographs without using the HD80, which is plenty most of the time for me. Eventually I'll upgrade to a bit higher capacity, but part of the problem is I'm not sure what camera I'll be buying next and whether it'll use SD cards (like the D90) or CF cards (like the D300/700/3).

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: dmw16
Is the 50mm also a VR? Either way, what should I expect to pay?

No, but an inexpensive 50mm lens is something every new DSLR owner should have in their bag.

Here's a good deal on a new one.

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: dmw16
Is the 50mm also a VR? Either way, what should I expect to pay?

As for the memory card, what if I want to shoot in JPEG?

Finally, what kind of shots do you take 996GT2? Where do you go? I ask because I see you are at Hopkins and I live in Columbia.

The 50mm f/1.8 is not VR, but it doesn't need to be since it's got such a fast aperture.

If you shoot in JPEG only then 2 GB is more than enough unless you want to shoot more than 1000 pics per card (in which case you need 4 GB)

As for pics PM me or something and I'll link you to some...it's 1:30 AM and I'm not in front of my personal comp right now.

Btw, do you mean Columbia the country or Columbia the university?

 

[dmw16]

Columbia the town just south of Baltimore (you know, the city where Hopkins is 🙂 )

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: 996GT2Btw, do you mean Columbia the country or Columbia the university?

"Columbia" the country is actually "Colombia". 😉

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: dmw16
Columbia the town just south of Baltimore (you know, the city where Hopkins is 🙂 )

Haha no, I really didn't know...I'm not from the Baltimore area so I'm not really familiar with the surrounding cities