Building a lens and accessory collection for D5000 on a budget

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Building a lens and accessory collection for D5000 on a budget

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DannyP

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Hi guys,

Just found the forum, and am very happy to post my first message here and pick all your brains. I've been reading previous posts, but feel like I still have a question:

I'm a photographer by hobby. After years of doing my best with point-and-shoots, I finally got my first SLR camera, the D5000.

The camera came with the kit including the Nikor 18-55 VR and 55-200 VR lenses, which are already a blast to use.

But I want to start, little by little, building a collection of lenses and accessories for all types of photos - regular portraits, macros, wide landscapes, telephoto, etc.

The caveat, however: I'm on a budget. As a regular person, working for a living, I don't have $500 to spend on a beautiful Nikor 70-300 VR here and there. Even a Nikor 35 f/1.8, for example, every month.

Also, are the any accessory I should quickly try and buy (other than the basic camera bag, of course)?

My plan would be to spend about $100/month tops building this collection. Or skip one month, and spend $200 the next month.

With that said, what would you say should be my game plan?

As I said, I'm looking forward to, in the long run, be able to play with all kinds of photography, so don't worry about "what kind of photos are you planning on taking?" at this point.

Thank you so much, and looking forward to hearing what you guys have to say!

Danny.

Posted 3 years ago #
NikoDoby

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Hello Danny and welcome to the forum.

You want to spend $100 dollars a month!? No don't do that. Instead save your money and invest it into buying good lenses. If you SAVE $100 every month you'll have $1200 to spend on a worthy lens at the end of the year! In the mean time learn your camera and the lenses you have now. Spending your money on gear isn't going to improve your photography.

Posted 3 years ago #
jonnyapple

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Welcome to the forum. Here's my roadmap for you, Danny.

First, find out what focal lengths you like to use the most with the kit lenses. Don't worry about if the lenses aren't fast enough, because this would just be to find out what angle of view you like best for the different kinds of pictures. First purchase: remote release (~$10-20).

While you're doing that, taking lots of pictures and becoming the nerd who's always got his camera out (I'm not bitter), save up for a tripod and a flash in whatever order you think would be most useful for you. Tripods are great for landscapes and come in handy in a lot of different situations—ones you might not think about until you're in them and own one. For the tripod, you can probably get one that will support your gear pretty well for ~$150, unless you're looking to eventually invest in some telephoto lenses and shoot wildlife seriously. Then you might run into money. ;-)
For the flash, get one that will let you do bounce flash. I love the SB-600 and if you're thinking a lot of your pictures are going to be inside it might be worth it to get and learn to use this before the tripod.

From there, find out what focal lengths you use the most and get some fast primes or fast zooms. The 35 1.8 (~$200) you mentioned is a great lens and might be a good one to start with. After that, maybe the new 85mm macro (~$500), which might work well for portraits, too. There are also nice third party zoom lenses (tokina, tamron, sigma) that you might want to consider. But for now, my vote is flash then tripod or tripod then flash.

Posted 3 years ago #
PB PM

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I agree with Niko, don't just spend $100, bank it and get some good lenses, a flash, etc. There aren't many good photo accessories or lenses to be had for less than $100 anyway.

Posted 3 years ago #
ted2001

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I agree with Jonny, learn your kit first. The remote is great, particularly with a great tripod (I've spent more on tripods than some people have on lenses).

I personally like the size, cost and simplicity of the SB-400. It will give you bounce flash, the first major improvement in artificial lighting.

The 35/1.8 is also a great lens for a small price. I'd be a bit wary of the 85 macro, perhaps wait until the reviews are in.

My sequence of acquisitions would be 1) flash, 2) tripod, 3) remote. Then you can think about other lenses. You might want an ultra-wide for landscapes, a macro, a fast portrait lens. Time will tell. Good luck and have fun.

Posted 3 years ago #
PB PM

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85mm is a decent macro lens, but average for other usage. I posted a quick review with my feelings about it on my blog. Not trying to plug my site, but so far it is one of the only reviews of the lens online currently.

http://robdphotos.blogspot.com/2010/02/nikon-85mm-f35g-dx-micro-review.html

Posted 3 years ago #
adamz

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If You start and don't have any accessories apart from the camera, I would go and get giottos rocket blower, than I'll save up for better lens, skip couple of months and than You could easily afford better glass.

Posted 3 years ago #
heartyfisher

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I vote for
1) flash,
1.1) Difusers and bounce stuff, can be made. check out strobist
2) tripod,
3) Raynox DCR250(multi element close up filter),
4) Circular Polarising filter.
5) 35 or 50 1.8 depending on what you find out about your fav focal lengths.
6) Good PC - Play with PP with nice software like the Free GIMP or good value PaintShop Pro Photo. Irfranview is free and versatile and you can get some nice plugin for it.

Fun projects to try
1) Water Drop! We have some threads here on these forums that are great!
2) Insect Macro.
2.1) Flying insects - (hint: use flash and patience)
3) Street Photography.
4) Event photography - :-) hint: will need your F1.8 lenses.
5) Flames and Sparklers - Long exposure.
6) Light Painting. - Hint: tripod.
7) Star trails
8) Studio and models - Hint: Off camera flash.
9) Birds in flight

That should keep you busy for a couple of months..or years !! :-)

Posted 3 years ago #
jonnyapple

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That's a fun list, heartyfisher. I would add to the software part to find free trial versions of software and see what you like to use best. I agree about Paint Shop Pro. It's a great value and many of the photoshop tutorials that you can find online can be done in PSP (or the GIMP) if you know your software well enough to find the commands.

Posted 3 years ago #
DannyP

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I'm so happy to be a part of this forum now - you guys are great!

Niko & PB: that's exactly what I needed to hear/figure out - whether it was more worth spending little by little, or saving a bunch and spending it on good glass later. Thanks for the great input!

Jonny: coincidentally, I actually have just ordered a remote. Should be in the mail, on its way over. Glad I'm on the right track on that. Flash is a good idea, but the SB-600 seems to be around $200+, so that'll be in the "save a couple months for that" category. Or go for the SB-400, which seems to be around $120. I can't imagine not swiveling is that big a deal at this point... right?

On tripods, any tips on a good prosumer one? I've tried looking around, but the number of different brands and makes can be quite overwhelming. And I don't want to spend $50 just to see it break on the first try (as my last one did). :-)

Ted: I'll keep the 35/1.8 in my mind. I've heard and read great things about it, and doesn't seem to be too expensive. May be on my short list for when I start buying more lenses.

Adamz: I'll be the first one to say I'd never heard of the Giottos RB, but it looks great!!

Heartyfisher: that is an awesome list, for both equipment and assignments!! I might be having fun with that for a long time. :-)) Thank you so much for that!

And, by the way, I am lucky enough to have Photoshop here, so software is not an issue. I'm a designer who's trying to branch out and improve his photo skills, so software is the one part we're ok so far. :-)

Thanks once more and do keep the suggestions coming; these have been EXTREMELY helpful!!

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!
Danny.

Posted 3 years ago #
PB PM

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Danny, when it comes to tripods, don't cheap out. I wouldn't spend less than $150 on a tripod.

Posted 3 years ago #
adamz

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PB - I wouldn't spend less than $150 on a ballhead, not to mention tripod :)

Posted 3 years ago #
PB PM

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Haha, well I rather like my $90 ballhead, it does the job. Not that I wouldn't like something better, but my budget is limited this year.

Posted 3 years ago #
jonnyapple

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Yeah, now I think about it $150 might be a stretch. (another save up item ;-)
Maybe something like this:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/168060-REG/Slik_615_900_700DX_Pro_Tripod_Legs.html
and this:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/660321-REG/Manfrotto_496RC2_496RC2_Compact_Ball_Head.html

I have a buddy that bought tripod legs and then complained to his wife that they were basically useless alone until she let him buy a head. I'm not recommending that strategy, though.

edit: I agree with you that this forum is a fun place, Danny. Besides learning a lot from the people here, I think it's actually made my photo spending go down. I can't quite figure that out—maybe helping other people spend money on photo gear substitutes for spending my own?

Posted 3 years ago #
DannyP

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Tripod WITH ball head seems like a logic combination for me. Can't imagine having a tripod where the camera is static on it, so I completely agree with your friend. And titanium seems the way to go, as all the others I've seen or had in the past (the $50-70 ones) lasted all of a couple shootings.

Your suggestions are great btw, Jonny. I'll definitely keep an eye on these!

And love the "make comment, not purchase" approach! :-)

Posted 3 years ago #
mb

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Manfrotto 055XPROB + 496RC2 Tripod Kit is a nice choice for 200$.
I would not go for anything cheaper than that.

Posted 3 years ago #
kyoshinikon

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To start get a manual 50mm 1.8 used... roughly $35 on ebay

Posted 3 years ago #
DannyP

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BTW, I know this is a somewhat old discussion now, but I ended up getting the 50mm 1.8 suggested here as a gift. So I can now play with it for quite a bit, while saving money for a good external flash, for example. Have a concert coming up on Sat., and am very excited about maybe playing with all different lenses during the show!
Thanks again everyone!

Posted 3 years ago #
jonnyapple

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Great, Danny. Post a couple pictures here if you ever feel like it.

Posted 3 years ago #
NSXType-R

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DannyP said:
BTW, I know this is a somewhat old discussion now, but I ended up getting the 50mm 1.8 suggested here as a gift. So I can now play with it for quite a bit, while saving money for a good external flash, for example. Have a concert coming up on Sat., and am very excited about maybe playing with all different lenses during the show!
Thanks again everyone!

Nice!

But you do know that it won't autofocus right?

Posted 3 years ago #
rooparul

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Hi guys I am also new to D 5000 bought recently. I was off to Himachal on a holiday with family and had a great time clicking away however with the 18-55 lens that came as a package, I found two limitations: I could not zoom a distant object very easily and also the wide and beautiful landscapes of Himalaya ranges could be captured only to some limited width... please suggest which other lens should I add?

I am thinking of NIKKOR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED VR which is coming for RS 10000-12000 that is roughly my budget.

I also have an offer to exchange my 18-55 lens with a 18-105 lens and the shopkeeper will buy it back for Rs. 5000 and will give me the 18-105 for about Rs. 12000 ( I hope I remember the deal correctly)

Please help

Posted 3 years ago #
heartyfisher

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Unfortunatly getting hooked on photography means spending some money on lenses.. If you want to go wider than 18-55 then the 18-105 wont hlep at all You will need sonething like the sigma 10-20 for nice wide angle shots. The 105 does help getting more reach and is a nice lens to have. However if you feel you want a lot of reach then you should get the 55-200 instead.

Posted 3 years ago #
gelu88

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See if you can borrow the lens from the shop bit a few minutes/hours and go around and see how much zoom you get.

there are lots of people that find they don't shoot wider than 100mm, you'll have to find out.

Also there are not too many options for going wide.

because your D5000 does not have a focus motor built-in, you are more limited in your lenses. Your options are the Nikon 10-24, Nikon 12-24, Sigma 10-20 and the tamron 10-24

Both nikons cost about $900-$1100 and the Sigma and Tamron go for 450-550.

I've decided on the Sigma at this point, as its quality is very good at a great price.

Posted 3 years ago #
DannyP

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Hey guys,

Thought I'd post an updated on this. Been playing with the 50mm 1.8 now for a little while, and I absolutely love it. No, there's no zoom, and no, it doesn't autofocus on the D5000, but it does exactly what many of you said: it teaches enthusiasts how to shoot with a dSLR without relying on automatic functions (especially since it only works in Manual - "M" - mode on the D5000.

First, the lens itself is beautiful. Study, great quality, yet tiny in size (albeit heavy, since it's all metal). It's also ridiculously fast!

You really learn the importance of focusing (and what the little green dot on the viewfinder means) and also how to properly use the aperture ring! No, I never knew exactly how to deal with it - bokeh, brightness, I always used to let the camera do it for me... tsk, tsk...

What really impresses me is both the quality of the photos (so sharp and nice, despite not having autofocus!) and, more than that, how well it handles low light situations - even without using the flash! I tend to go to many places and events were using the flash would be detrimental to the occasion (small venue concerts, where you don't want to keep popping a flash at the singer's face every two seconds; or outside at night, where you don't want to keep calling people's attention by using flash all the time). And, even with the flash off, the photos still look amazing with the right apperture/focus/ISO combo (and I don't go with ISO beyond 800 if I can).

That said, here are my latest thoughts on lenses:
- It's fun to play with manual focus, but yes, I do wish SOMETIMES that I had AF in it
- I also want to try the 35mm 1.8 sometimes. It does bother me that the 50mm in a D5000 acts as a 75mm, and not "eye view." But don't think I'll buy another lens just for that, unless I win the (small) lottery
- As for my kit lenses (Nikon 18-55VR and 55-200VR), I love them both. Have taken great, sharp photos with both of them in different situations and occasions. No, they're not nearly as good as the 50mm 1.8 in low light (the 1:1.8 REALLY does help, compared to what, 1:3.5-5.6?) but they do a great job in combo from anything from macro to landscapes to all the way zoomed in. It does annoy me, sometimes, to have to keep switching between them, I'll be honest. I tend to take all kind of shots - closeups and wides alike - all the time, and switching can be a pain. But I've heard the two lenses are better than the Nikon 18-200VR and, plus, I'm not sure I want to spend another $200 replacing lenses that'll ultimately do the same...

I'll garner some good shots and put them online somewhere, to share with you guys soon!
D.

Posted 3 years ago #
NSXType-R

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Glad you like the lens. One issue though- I believe the 50mm 1.8 has a metal mount but a plastic body.

But only a minor detail. Be sure to post photos!

Posted 3 years ago #