First DSLR - Nikon D7000 right choice?

[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by dcstep

Lenses are a much better investment than ANY body.

Dave

This.

[MaximusJ]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

This.

Except your first body

And Dave; having currently a 5400rpm drive, ssd would have a MAJOR impact on my image processing time. LOL

[xtac]

Ok So I did some research on purchasing the d7000 and it seems like the ones around $1k are not US manufactured which means no warranty, and some are from grey market. So i'll just get it from a reputable place like amazon or locally from best buy. I'll pay more but This way I'm covered.

As far as the lens I'm going to start out with the 18-105. I'll just be shooting a wide range of things to begin learning, does anyone think this lens will not be ideal for me? should I consider any other lens?

[Chewy734]

Is there any reason you are leaning towards the D7000 instead of something else like the Canon 7D or 60D?

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by xtac

Ok So I did some research on purchasing the d7000 and it seems like the ones around $1k are not US manufactured which means no warranty, and some are from grey market. So i'll just get it from a reputable place like amazon or locally from best buy. I'll pay more but This way I'm covered.

As far as the lens I'm going to start out with the 18-105. I'll just be shooting a wide range of things to begin learning, does anyone think this lens will not be ideal for me? should I consider any other lens?

No D7000 is "US manufactured." They either come through US distribution channels or they don't. Although I've never understood why it makes a difference through which channel the camera was distributed. Canon is the same way. Like a 7D bought in Europe is less worthy of a warranty than one bought in the US? How does that work?

But you're on the right track as far as warranty. If it doesn't cost much more, buy the one with the full warranty. If it does cost a lot more, decide if you're willing to risk having to pay for repairs should something go wrong. If the warranteed camera is say, $300 more, do you think the camera will fail to the tune of $300 during the warranty period?

As far as lenses go, if you can afford it, you might want to consider the 18-200mm. You get a more usable range and it's a great lens according to friends who own one (I don't).

[xtac]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

Is there any reason you are leaning towards the D7000 instead of something else like the Canon 7D or 60D?

No reason other than most people seem to recommend the 7000. I'm not knowledgeable enough to know honestly which one is better for me, should I consider the 7d or 60d?

Originally Posted by M_Six

No D7000 is "US manufactured." They either come through US distribution channels or they don't. Although I've never understood why it makes a difference through which channel the camera was distributed. Canon is the same way. Like a 7D bought in Europe is less worthy of a warranty than one bought in the US? How does that work?

But you're on the right track as far as warranty. If it doesn't cost much more, buy the one with the full warranty. If it does cost a lot more, decide if you're willing to risk having to pay for repairs should something go wrong. If the warranteed camera is say, $300 more, do you think the camera will fail to the tune of $300 during the warranty period?

As far as lenses go, if you can afford it, you might want to consider the 18-200mm. You get a more usable range and it's a great lens according to friends who own one (I don't).

I have no idea why they do that but they do. I'll most likely go with either amazon or newegg, amazon im fully protected i dont have to send back anything to nikon just ship it back to them. Newegg is great beacause they don't charge me tax. It seems like these cameras do malfunction frequently atleast thats the impression i get reading reviews, maybe its just the nature of the business.

I understand every lens has its use, and since i'll be not focusing on one subject area it should allow a beginner to take photos of various subjects but also have a learning curve and not outgrow it quickly. If that makes any sense...

[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by xtac

No reason other than most people seem to recommend the 7000. I'm not knowledgeable enough to know honestly which one is better for me, should I consider the 7d or 60d?

What's your budget? I would say the D7000 is closer to the 60D, and the D300S is closer to the 7D.

I can get you a good price on a brand new 7D body-only, incase you were interested.

[xtac]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

What's your budget? I would say the D7000 is closer to the 60D, and the D300S is closer to the 7D.

I can get you a good price on a brand new 7D body-only, incase you were interested.

Honestly I had not set a budget but I'm thinking under $2k max for body and lens. So i'd like to get the best dslr and available lens for at this range.

The d7000 and 18-105mm is around $1600 with tax.

[- Paul -]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

What's your budget? I would say the D7000 is closer to the 60D, and the D300S is closer to the 7D.

Info.

http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon_EO...vs-Nikon_D7000

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by MaximusJ

Except your first body

And Dave; having currently a 5400rpm drive, ssd would have a MAJOR impact on my image processing time. LOL

RAM, 64-bit and enabling Open CL speed processing time with my software, the HD is hardly involved after the files are loaded into the processing software. I suppose some softwares are inefficient and call on the HD too much. DxO used to take 40 to 60-sec. per 30MB file, but now with the latest version it's 4 to 6-sec. whether I'm doing it with my SSD or my slower HD on my desktop.

I agree though, with lots of software, the HD will matter.

Dave

[xtac]

Damn missed out on a refurbished mk2 for 1795 from canon. Always want new, but people reported them getting practically new ones, with less than 500 shutters.

More than I wanted to spend, but seems thats an excellent camera.

[BMW F22]

You could always send in an old, broken P&S Canon camera and get 20% off through the loyalty program. Buy a broke P&S for $10 on Craigslist and send it in. You can get a 5D MkII for a good price.

[MaximusJ]

Originally Posted by xtac

Honestly I had not set a budget but I'm thinking under $2k max for body and lens. So i'd like to get the best dslr and available lens for at this range.

The d7000 and 18-105mm is around $1600 with tax.

Keep shopping, I got a $400 lens added on this bundle and paid $1699 8 months ago; tx included. + A software bundle.

I'm pretty that you can get an even better price now then this.

[ibarry92]

Originally Posted by MaximusJ

Thats what I currently use. So I think I can chime in here.

I first thought that it was an ok camera. I did a mistake in my purchase tho. I bought the $1699 kit which included the 18-105 and 55-300 lenses.

I was thinking it was just ok because I was using it inproperly and I was using it mostly with the 55-300; which is the poorest lens I ever owned. DONT buy that! Its $400 wasted. The kind of crappy lens that I will probably end up being stuck with; unable to sell.

Then I began to learn my camera and all its options and began to use it more with the 18-105. This is where it really started. The 18-105 is an aaaamaaaazing lens for $400. VERY sharp and very wide for a kit lens.

For a grand, you get a very complete camera which can do everything you could ever want it to do; From HDR bracketing to Interval shooting.

The only thing I find it lacks of is that the bracketing is limited to 3 shots; up to +2ev. Some camera now can go up to 9 shots. But maybe that wont affect you if you're not that much into HDR.

A big plus of the D7000 is the continuous mode that can shoot up to 7fps (!!!) and got a 11 shots buffer. With a proper memory card the buffer empties very quickly so for sports or car race photography, this is THE camera. A 45 shots sequence takes 11 seconds; which is very good.

Also, the provided straps are crap; either Canon or Nikon. Check on ebay and find a neoprene kinda strap and your neck will thank ya. Paid maybe $3 for both of mine, shipped.

Sandisk also developped a memory card specifically for that camera and is the only camera that is faster with a UHS-1 card then a class 10 card. All the others got the same kind of results with both. So you'll want to get one of those. (SanDisk Extreme Pro 95 MB/s) Dont cheap out on memory cards. I lost precious shots doing so because i did the mistake of continuing to use my old Class 6 cards from my previous D5000. Get at least a 20mbs class 10. UHS-1 is the best.

Another BIIIG plus is that chinese manufacturers made every accessory replica possible. So I bought everything from china (from remote to extension tubes) and kept my money for the lenses. For a D7000, you may want to consider a battery grip instead of buying additional batteries. But buy a third party ($50), dont waste your money on a nikon grip ($300).

And lastly, when you're ready for more, and really want to get razor sharp pictures with this camera, get non-DX lenses. The only exception would be the 18-105mm which is a good lens for the price, and you'll need one of those all the time.

So when you're ready to go a step higher in sharpness, save your money for the ED lenses!

When you get it, you will want to surf on those websites that I love to learn basic stuff and also some tips you do not always naturally thing of.
www.improvephotography.com
www.digital-photography-school.com (Thanks to dcstep for this one!)

GET IT! And enjoy that new passion that will soon hit ya

So for a beginner photographer who is looking for a DSLR camera, a 18-105mm would be a good option for lenses? I'm asking because I'm completely lost when it comes to lens. I'm also getting into photography and I'm looking for some decent lenses. I'm mostly going to be taking pictures to family, landscapes, buildings, etc. Also sorry for the noob question, but I would like to focus on a subject and have the background blurred out. Is that the job of the lens or the camera. In addition, I would like to be able to control when I can use that ability.

Sorry OP, I don't mean to thread jack.