picked up Nikon D3100 body only today

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picked up Nikon D3100 body only today

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miatadan

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Joined: Oct '09
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Hi
picked up Nikon D3100 body only from local camera shop. They matched online pricing.

Last camera I had was Nikon D5000 which I sold as needed money for trip I took to Sevastopol and Sumy in Ukraine. During trip had to use Canon SD1300 P&S as only took carry on luggage.

Battery is charging as I write this. I do not expect this camera to out perform the D5000 or D300s but having camera to use is better than not being able to take photos. At least this way, I can take pics while waiting either for D700 replacement or D300s replacement ( if D300s replacement has same iso performance as D700 ).

Only lense I own right now is the Nikkor AF-S 35mmF1.8 DX. Is it worth the price difference for AF-S 35mmF1.4 ? At least it becomes 35mm in FX format.

Always felt in old film days, lenses better investment - is this still considered true? If I want only prime lenses, what would be best choices at this time?
Could I get away with just having AF-S 35F1.4 and AF-S 85F1.4 if subjects general outside stuff and people inside.
Seems not much interest in D3100 on this forum? Guess all attention going to D7000 here!!!

Dan
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Posted 2 years ago #
tcole1983

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Joined: Feb '10
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Lenses are the better investment. Just like any technology these days there is always something newer and better coming out. I have the 35 f1.8 and it is good, but not the only lens I would use. Not wide enough for landscapes. Not really telephoto enough for anything. It is pretty good for outdoor people pictures, but a little too long for indoor people pictures (at least in smaller rooms) unless you just want upper body or something. It has its uses since it is the cheapest prime that will autofocus on the D3100, D5000, D3000. It is fast.

On the D3100 note...I don't think many people were waiting for the D3100. I think lots of people were waiting for the D7000 because of the level where the camera is. It is the affordable prosumer for those people that shoot, but not professionally. On the other hand the D3000 is the entry level camera and the D3100 to replace that...people are moving up from the D3000 and weren't waiting for the D31000. People that are just getting into the dSLR world now have a better platform with the D3100, but there wasn't a cult following like the D7000.

Posted 2 years ago #
Niz

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Joined: Dec '09
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There really isn't a point to go from the 35mm 1.8 to the 1.4. The 1.8 does work on Fx, I use it on my F5 all the time. We need to know more about what you like to shoot before we can start telling you what lenses to get. You might want to look into a good zoom for a walk around.

Posted 2 years ago #
Segura

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Joined: Sep '09
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tcole1983 said:
I have the 35 f1.8 and it is good, but not the only lens I would use. Not wide enough for landscapes. Not really telephoto enough for anything. It is pretty good for outdoor people pictures, but a little too long for indoor people pictures (at least in smaller rooms) unless you just want upper body or something.

Could it be because a 35mm on a DX camera is normal field of view (not wide or telephoto)? It has a 44° angle of view on DX. A 35mm on FX would give you 63° angle of view. For reference a 50mm (normal) on FX is 46°.

Posted 2 years ago #
tcole1983

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Segura said:
Could it be because a 35mm on a DX camera is normal field of view (not wide or telephoto)? It has a 44° angle of view on DX. A 35mm on FX would give you 63° angle of view. For reference a 50mm (normal) on FX is 46°.

Exactly and I gave my opinion on using it as your only lens. You could do it, but you would always be compromising when you can't get everything in your shot or when you can't see the speck that was the animal you were trying to take a picture of. IMO even with the 85 mm lens you would still be missing lots of focal lengths. Still wouldn't have anything wide and 85 really isn't long enough for much.

Posted 2 years ago #

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picked up Nikon D3100 body only today

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