Buying a Nikon D7000?
Hiya, I'm buying my first DSLR and after much research I have decided I'm going to get a D7000.
The only thing I'm now stuck on is what lens to get with it. I've tried researching it but there's just so many recommendations that I keep jumping between lenses and can't make my mind up. I do intend to collect a kit over time however with the initial purchase of buying the camera, I'm not going to have too much money to spend on the lens just now so I'm willing to start of with a cheaper lens while I get used to the camera and such.
I can't decide whether to go with the 18-105mm kit lens or I quite like the look of the 50mm 1.8G. Is there's something else decent in this price range.
I do have a more special interest in Macro photography however I would like to keep my options open in terms of being able to explore different things. I do really like the look and image quality of the 50mm but I'm not sure what the realities of shooting with it will be as a main lens for a few months.
I've had an interest in photography since I was 14 (now 20) and have slowly built up. I have a Fujifilm Finepix s1500 just now which is a far cry from a dslr. I feel I've really outgrown it in the last 2 years however I haven't been able to afford the jump to a dslr so I've been saving.
Thanks, I'd appreciate any help.
Please no nikon/canon snobs I've made my mind up on the camera, just looking for some help on a lens to start with.
Go with the kit lens, it's not wide aperture, but it will be much more useful for starters than the 'nifty fifty' which has limited use on an APS sized sensor, mainly for portraits and low light, but the D7000 is good at high ISO anyway.
There's an alternative in the Pentax K5, exactly the same Sony sensor, but Pentax gets slightly more out of it, the Pentax has much more backwards compatibility with older K mount lenses, all will work as designed, 'A' series lenses can be used in any Mode, 'M' series in Manual and Av only, all will meter correctly and all will be image stabilised as it's built into the camera, no extra for image stabilisation with every lens you buy in the future. There are hundreds of sub $100 lenses with superb image quality on the second hand market, the only thing your missing with these older lenses is auto focus.
Magnesium chassis, weather sealed, great fast to use ergonomics, cheapest DSLR system to buy into by far.
If you need auto focus there's the Pentax range of L series primes, probably amongst the best lenses from any manufacturer there are, not cheap though.
Neither is much good if you're interested in video, they both have it and it's decent quality, but you can't make any adjustments during filming with either.
Here they are side by side from a good review site
The D7000 is a very capable camera. Good choice.
If you want a lens for general photography then either the kit lens or the 50mm will be fine. The 50 can go to a much lower f-stop than the average kit lens, which will be good for low light shooting and getting interesting out-of-focus effects ("bokeh").
If you don't want to spend money on a dedicated macro lens, then it's possible that there will be a macro adaptor for one of the lenses you mention. I don't know for sure if Nikon makes them (Canon does), but I'd be surprised if they didn't. The adaptor screws on to the end of the lens and you can use it like a macro lens. Not the real thing, but good enough unless you want to be a total macro specialist.
The other big thing is using a prime vs using a zoom. This is one of the great subjects in photography. Primes (it is said) make you more creative by forcing you to move around to get the shot, while zooms are more convenient. It used to be believed that primes were without doubt superior to zooms in terms of image quality, but many photographers these days will tell you that the gap has been significantly shrunk. Like I said, though, the 50 1.8 will be far better for shooting in low light than the kit lens, which has a variable maximum aperture from 3.5 to 5.6, so don't count on it for shooting when it gets dark, especially at the longer end.
Personally I'd start with the 50. Kit lenses are alright, but I'd save up and get a better zoom later on. The 70-300 is a good lens, for instance, and not that expensive, or there are the 70-200 2.8 lenses, which are top notch but quite expensive.
Don't get the 50mm prime lens. You can't zoom which is very limiting.