Better Investment: Lenses or Bodies

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Better Investment: Lenses or Bodies

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Rafael

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I think that in the film era you could only think about lenses, I rember I had the 35-70 f2.8 and my 80-200 f2.8 ED with my FM3 , great little camera but nowadays I think one must invest in both.

That is , in my experience ( I shoot fashion , mostly Catalogues ) 10 megapixels is a resolution my clients complain about, and 12 megapixels bearly meets the needs for a vertical magazine print (forget cropping), a bit of interpolation is needed for horizontal tow page spreads, so I stood with Nikon for a long time until now that I have my D3x and my clients love it, print its images in anyway or form possible, horizontal 2 page spreads, vertical, croppings etc etc

So if you shoot for magazine or catalogue prints, definetly a good body is in order. (at least 12 megapixels) and good color rendition and noise control.

My opinion.

By the way, how or where can I add a picture to my profile, still havent found where, if anyone could give me a tip on this.. thx!

Posted 3 years ago #
NikoDoby

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Just PM me and I'll walk you through any problems Rafael.
Welcome to the forum.

Posted 3 years ago #
mb

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I would go for Nikkor 14-24 f2.8, put Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 on hold for now and wait for something wonderful like D900 to happen.

Posted 3 years ago #
TJGilbert21

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smarterchild said:
Hahah, i do understand that. Its quite odd. but im a senior and im planning on attending college for photography up at columbia photography school in chicago. I wanted a Full frame because im use to shooting on a full frame film cameras. (f3 and f5). I thought about the d700 with grip and that would be about the same price as a factory demo on ebay for a d3.

I'm a high school senior and my dream camera system is D3S + Nikkors 14-24mm f/2.8, 24-70mm f/2.8, and 70-200mm f/2.8 (among other things). I'm super jealous! Any tips on affording those, by the way? I'm also going to major in photography. :D

Posted 3 years ago #
kanuck

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Lenses, and the D300 is a great camera also except for the noise. The 24-70 would be a nice investment if you plan on going FX in the future. You might want to invest in a few nice primes. Maybe a micro or a wide lens?

Posted 3 years ago #
kanuck

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Oh and welcome to the forum Rafael! Your going to like this site and find it to be addictive^^

Posted 3 years ago #
Willis

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Tj- that's an easy one: Spend less than you earn. Put away $10 a day and you'll have a d3x before you graduate.

Posted 3 years ago #
ShadeofBlue

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Uh, any college student that can afford to put away $10 a day is really spoiled... I cringe when making dinner for 3 costs more than that.

Posted 3 years ago #
jonnyapple

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ShadeofBlue said:
I cringe when making dinner for 3 costs more than that.

2 packs of ramen noodles: $0.40. That's what I'm talking about, shade.

Posted 3 years ago #
jonnyapple

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BTW, I just remembered that I saw that Samyang, one of my favorite ramen noodle brands growing up, is going to release a lens for the D900. Yes, my dad was working on a ph.d. when I was growing up and now my kids are in the same boat. It seems like I remember calling samyang ramen 'smack ramen.' Was that another brand or was it just our nickname for samyang?

Posted 3 years ago #
Willis

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If you can work, and you are single, then you can scrape together $10 a day. If not make it $5 and you still get a nice stash by the end of four years. Im spoiled because I got to skipp the ramen and go straight to totinos pizza and ranch style beans. Both will set you back about $1.

Strangly, I earned most of college income welding and reffing basketball games. I'm terrible at both. Fourtuneatly it only cost me about $600 a month for food rent and bills. Almost makes me want to re-enroll.

Posted 3 years ago #
TJGilbert21

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Willis said:
Tj- that's an easy one: Spend less than you earn. Put away $10 a day and you'll have a d3x before you graduate.

Thanks, Willis. I'll take that to heart.

Posted 3 years ago #
shivaswrath

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so true. . .I've decided to stash away $100 a month for camera gear, and starting in February, I would've spent everything I saved (lol. . .)

Posted 3 years ago #
kyoshinikon

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Lenses... and as to $10 a day, every student can do without 3 Starbucks fraps...

Posted 3 years ago #
HFD Whalers

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I ended up ordering a refurbished D3 and a new 24-70 f/2.8, I am holding off on the 14-24 to see how the reviews are on the new 16-35. Thanks again all for the suggestions

Posted 3 years ago #
kyoshinikon

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Get the old AF 17-35mm f/2.8 instead

Posted 3 years ago #
shivaswrath

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kyoshinikon said:
Get the old AF 17-35mm f/2.8 instead

agreed!!

Posted 3 years ago #
jlmphotos

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First of all, cameras and lenses are not investments. With that said, I say "invest" in the best lenses you can afford. Cameras, as you can tell by reading here and other sites come and go every six months. Lenses, if you stay with say Nikon, or Canon or whatever pretty much will last you a lifetime assuming you take care of them.
My vote is invest in the best glass you can get.

Posted 1 year ago #
tcole1983

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jlmphotos said:
First of all, cameras and lenses are not investments. With that said, I say "invest" in the best lenses you can afford. Cameras, as you can tell by reading here and other sites come and go every six months. Lenses, if you stay with say Nikon, or Canon or whatever pretty much will last you a lifetime assuming you take care of them.
My vote is invest in the best glass you can get.

If you make money with your camera then sure they are investments. Of course lenses last longer and are the "better" investment in the long run, but there is a point where if you are really serious then you have to spend the money on a body as well. Of course there will always be new technology being developed, but with a pro level body even years down the road it should still be able to produce suitable pictures even if it doesn't have the newest AF system or high ISO capability.

I really think that most dSLR cameras are at the point where unless you are making huge posters then all the bodies produce high enough quality pictures for just about any need.

Posted 1 year ago #
NSXType-R

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Agreed, lenses over bodies, but eventually your body would be so old your body would be holding back your lenses.

I would say a safe time to upgrade your body is ever other generation at the soonest. If you can hold off, you'd be even better.

Upgrading from a D70 to a D80 would not have gotten you very far.

From a D70 to a D7000 though, that'd be a huge leap.

I hope I take that leap later. :D

Posted 1 year ago #
Danny Ocean

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I stray away from Nikkor and use Zeiss glass instead nowdays. But then again, if i need a speciality lens (except for Macro), I obviously go for Nikkor.

Posted 1 year ago #
DaveyJ

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I'd add lenses to anything D300 and up instead of bodies unless you are into DSLR video and I have found the D7000 is very good. The 16-85 lens and a few other variable stop lens work just about as well as the 2.8s. I use 2.8s though exclusively in macro. I have had better luck with Nikkor in 35mm. Larger format glass is a whole different matter. Most lens seem to last forever. I have had a couple that it became an issue if the body or the glass was done for and it turned out to be the lens.

Posted 1 year ago #
PaulR

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Yep Lenses have it, and they don't depreciate like camera bodies

Posted 1 year ago #
Wataru

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jonnyapple said:
2 packs of ramen noodles: $0.40. That's what I'm talking about, shade.

Do you know that when I was a college student 35 years ago ramen was about the same price as it is today? But a Nikon F2 with an 50 mm lens was about $500, which was almost as much as my annual tuition. I still have (and use) the camera and 50 mm lens. To buy a new 50 mm manual focus lens would be $400.00.

My thought is to buy the best FX lenses you can get, and go with a cheaper DX body for now, as you will always be able to, and want to, buy better bodies in the future, and as others have said, your lenses will wait for you.

And don't eat too much Ramen: it has way too much sodium!

Posted 1 year ago #
Wataru

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kyoshinikon said:
Lenses... and as to $10 a day, every student can do without 3 Starbucks fraps...

I support my camera and violin hardware requirements on $60.00 a week. In one year you have a D800, in two years you have a D4. in 8 months you have a 24-70 mm, etc. It is a lot easier now than it used to be, because there is no need to buy film!

Posted 1 year ago #