Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been looking for a good DSLR for some time, and will be heading to Nicaragua for a month this summer to do some research. I decided I will be getting one for this trip. My money is somewhat restricted, so I decided to go the route of a used camera via ebay. I have found a few really good deals, and have done a lot of research. My friend has a Nikon D50 and LOVES it, and I love it as well. It seems like the camera for me. I will be getting a 70-300 zoom lense with the camera, but was looking on some input as to what good macro lense I should get. I plan on photographing landscapes, wildlife including birds and reptiles, pets, plants and flowers (etc etc etc etc etc), friends (people).... - okay so basically everything, haha.

Any help and advice on my choice would be appreciated!

thanks

David

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David and Kevin

KDRKreatures.com
Exotic Reptile Breeders - Specializing in Bearded Dragons

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My friend has a Nikon D50 and LOVES it, and I love it as well. It seems like the camera for me.

Sounds like you have already made your choice. It might be a good idea to go down to a camera store or big electronics retailer and at least handle the other brands and see what the differences are (if you haven't already done so).
Don't forget that even though your friend loves his D50, he/she would probably love their Canon Rebel XTi, Sony Alpha 100, Pentax D10, Olympus 300D, etc, if that was what they owned. The Nikon D50 is a good camera, but there are lot of good cameras on the market and you might want to at least try to handle some of the others just to make sure you have examined all your choices.

I will be getting a 70-300 zoom lense with the camera, but was looking on some input as to what good macro lense I should get. I plan on photographing landscapes, wildlife including birds and reptiles, pets, plants and flowers (etc etc etc etc etc), friends (people).... - okay so basically everything, haha.

This is a tough call. Your best bet is a dedicated macro lens in the 90/100/105mm focal length range. There are a variety of great contenders here - Sigma 105mm Macro, Tamron 90mm Di Macro, Tokina 100mm Macro, or the Nikon 105mm Macro. All of these are excellent lenses although the nikon is a bit overpriced considering the others are optically as good (according to head to head comparisons I've seen).

However, going with this option means you would have a 75-300 lens and a 90/105mm lens and nothing wider for habitat/people shots. You might want to consider getting something like the Sigma 17-70 Macro lens. This lens gets rave reviews, whereas most 17-70/18-50/18-55 lenses get rather mediocre reviews. The Sigma 17-70 is also a reasonably competent macro lens as well unlike those "kit" lenses.

If you had the Sigma 17-70 and the 75-300 you are considering, you would be covered from wide angle to telephoto and would have a decent macro lens in a two lens package.

Chris
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

I assume if he's looking at the D50, he expects to get the 17-55 kit lens that normally comes woth it. I don't have much to contribute about lenses or brands since I haven't had much opportunity to compare, other than as Chris said, I love the one I have...

However, I have had the opportunity to compare a D50 to the newer D40 (which I bought) and if you have the chance, go with the D40. It has exaxtly the same image sensor and the kit lens is of the same quality, but the camera is slghtly smaller with a sinificantly better (and larger) LCD screen. The interface for viewing photos you've taken is also much easier and quicker to use.

Here's a photo taken with the kit lens. Depending on what kind of photos you take, you may not need a dedicated macro (whic will be 40% of the price of a new D40 with the kit lens).

For perspetive, this was taken in a studio with an external flash. It's a full resolution crop roughly 1/3 the width of the original. The snake is around 15-18 inches, I think. You'll probably need direct sunlight to get this depth of field out in the bush.

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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

I should point out since it's not clear from the manuals and the guy at the store didn't know that the D40 will NOT drive Nikon's flashes in external wireless mode (nor will the D50). I have a Nikon flash that I use externally, but I have it on a photo-trigger and set the power manually.

If you want the automatic external flash contol, this is not the way to go, unless you want to pay $250 for a controller on top of a $180 flash. The price of the controller is about the difference between the D40 and a higher level model that has the controller built in...
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

Thank you both very much for your input. I am about to head to work, but I have a lot to think about. I will update you on what I do decide. Money is the big issue for me, but I looked at the Nikon d40's and they are do-able. I love the d50 - and have shopped around with different brands. I actually was planning on going with a lesser known brand, but when I put the d50 in my hands I felt it was right (and it did not hurt that it was given rave reviews by my friend) - however that may be a little biased. I am going to do a little more research and thinking and I will let you all know. Again, thank you all so much. I don't know what I would do without this site - its such a valuable resource.

Cheers.

David

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David and Kevin

KDRKreatures.com
Exotic Reptile Breeders - Specializing in Bearded Dragons

Email

I have used a D50 for about 3 years now. It has been a very good camera for me and I've put it through some rugged field conditions. Some day I'll probably upgrade to a D80 or D300 etc. but right now the D50 is getting the job done for me.

scott