(dup.........)

Oooh, I can post here now, because i just recently overhauled my gear. So I'm like cool now, right?

D7000
Nikon 18-200mm VR
Nikon 35mm f/1.8 VR

When I'm feeling filmy, I can bust out the old school:
Pentax Spotomatic
Super-Takumar 50mm f/1.4
Super-Takumar 28 f/3.5
Sun 85-210mm

Nikon D300
Nikon D700
Nikkor 18-200mm f3.5-4.6
Nikkor 35mm f1.8
Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8
Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8
Nikkor 105mm f2.8 Micro
Nikkor 1.7x teleconverter
Nikon SB-900 Flash
Giottos Mountaineer Tripod
RRS BH40 LR2
RRS L-bracket for both cameras
RRS Leveling Plate
RRS B2-mAS Clamps x 2
RRS Lens Foot for the 70-200 lens
Hahnel Cable Release
Hahnel Wireless Release
Cotton Carrier Light

^^ Awesome, I have a Pentax Spotmatic from 1968 and a collection of Takumar lenses. It works, but is filthy as hell so I never use it :(

Gee I think your underequipped there...the 24-70mm and 70-200mm:slob:

Me too. I would like to get a 400 or 500mm lens, but the cost keeps me from doing that.

Why bother with the 18-200mm which shouldn't even be allowed in the same camera bag as the twin killers

thats the lazy lens:haha:

Pope, you/ve always been cool; you didn't need gear to achieve it. However, you made some cool choices.

People express varied opinions about the 18-200mm VR lens. Speaking from experience - I used one on a D200 for a couple of years - I considered mine very useful. It gave me clear, sharp photos in a lot of different lighting situations and working conditions, and in addition to offering convenience, its performance far exceeded what I thought I could expect from such a wide-range zoom.

Mr. John, if your question is directed at me, it is because I bought my D300 and the 18-200 at the same time. Those were my first Nikon purchases. Since then, I bought the D700, and the other lenses as time and money allowed me to. Ths 35 1.8 was bought before the D700, for what it is worth.


Regards, Colin

Yeah, it had been a few years living with my "higher-end" P&S, finally decided to upgrade. A lot of review sites called the 18-200mm a great all around lens, so it was my first. Any barrel distortion at the lower end i've encountered has easily been compensated during post-op. Also, recently acquired the 35 prime to compliment it on the lower end. So far no complaints with the tag team, but I haven't had that much time with any of them yet. Maybe i'll post something for the first time in a long time soon...

I just got a new camera that I'm going to use to take some sweet pictures.

It's a 14MP Samsung HZ50W 26X Zoom.

It's not a DSLR, like most of you guys', but I'm an beginner and thought this would do just fine with my budget.

The photographer's eye and attention to detail are the most important ingredients for appealing photographs. Your camera will serve you well, so don't concern yourself with gear until you come up against limitations that make you feel like you have to upgrade.

Updated equipment list, with comments about each item.

Cameras:

Nikon D90: Wish I had the D7000, but this is adequate for what I do.

Nikon D50: Love this little camera, feels chunkier than the D90 in my hands, wish it had a more up to date sensor. I keep it as backup.

Lenses:

Nikkor AF-S 16-85mm f/3-5-5.6G ED VR DX: Very nice, solid build. Excellent resolution and very sharp. Gives very nice contrasty photos with bright colours. Only a bit of distortion at the wide end, easy to fix. Has manual focus override and distance scale, but no depth of field markings. Extremely useful range, though it's too slow at 85mm. VR doesn't make up for it, but it's nice to have.

Tokina AT-X Pro SD 12-24mm F4 (IF) DX: Big, solid lens. You can pull the focus ring down to focus manually. It has a distance scale but no depth of field markings. This one uses the screw drive AF on Nikons. Focus is quick. Distortion is low for a wide angle and easy to fix at 12mm and there is no distortion by 24 mm. I bought this over the slightly better and faster Tokina 11-16 because I wanted to zoom to 24mm, which allows me to keep this lens on most of the time on residential photo tours.

Nikkor AF-S 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF DX VR: This lens feels like a cheap plastic piece of crap beside my other lenses, so I don't use it that much, even though it gives quite good image quality. The VR on this lens is not that great, the VR is better on more expensive lenses. Focus is slow. The biggest complaint is that the focus ring is really hard to adjust and doesn't stop at infinity.

Nikkor AF-S 35mm f/1.8 G DX: I don't like the look and it feels a bit light, but it's really sharp and a useful focal length (equivalent to a normal lens on cropped sensor cameras). Has manual focus override, good bokeh and fast. Very low price, great value. Despite being overall a cheap feeling lens, it has the rubber gasket around the metal lens mount, a nice touch.

Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 Ai-S: This is the later flatter version, it's extremely tiny but doesn't focus as close as the more common versions. I don't find the 50mm focal length very useful on cropped sensor and it's full manual on my camera, so I don't use it much. But it is nice and sharp. I do use it with a reversing ring for macro photography.

Nikkor AF 85mm f/1.8 D: Another great lens: fast, nice bokeh and sharp even wide open. Only problem is I wish it had a more solid build, the barrel feels a bit hollow and plasticky, but overall acceptable and has a good weight. Focuses quickly enough, but would be better with modern focus system (it uses the screw drive). It is sort of in between when it comes to contrast and colour; not as contrasty and saturated as the 35mm and 16-85, but moreso than the older MF lenses. I haven't had this one very long, but it gives very pleasing images so far.

Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 Ai: This is a great lens despite being fully manual (focus and exposure) on my camera. The bokeh is exceptional. Stops under f4 have a different character, more subdued colour and softer image. F4 and above are very sharp and have a bit more contrast but not as much as modern lenses. Suffers from severe CA with light shining directly into the lens. Build quality is exceptional, all metal, it has a nice weight to it and the focus ring is a smooth as silk.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but you should make a major effort to get the d7000
the camera is a quantum leap forward from the old d70-80-90 series, its high iso performance is pro level ,shutter is much quieter, camera body is made of metal (covered in plastic) auto focus is faster and more accurate,camera can fire off 6 fps, the camera also handles high contrast condition far better than the old series, image quality is superior than the old cameras, in short Nikon seems to have fixed all the problems with the old series with this camera

Where all the strobists at? What speedlights and triggers is everyone using?

I know this, but I just bought my D90 a year and a half ago, and the D7000 costs twice as much as I paid for the d90.

Another benefit of the D7000 is it meters through old manual lenses (of which I have a few).

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...oy1/camera.jpg

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...y1/camera2.jpg

My amalgamation of equipment after 7 years of photographing.

From left to right: Nikon D70, my first DSLR with the Tokina 12-24 f4 lens.

Nikon 70-200 VR f2.8

My new Tokina 11-16 f2.8, amazing lens.

Nikon 18-70 f4, came with the D70 back in 2004.

Various filters, along with a IR filter for the 18-70, although, the only camera that it works on is the D70, since everything Nikon made after that filtered out IR light so the filter doesnt work :(

I have 3 extenders, awesome for macro. I get rid of my macro lens, wish I hadnt.

Then my new Nikon D7000

Behind that, the Tamron 200-500mm f4-5.6. Cant afford the big boys yet.

Nikon 10.5mm fisheye f2.8

The very old Nikon 80-200 f2.8

Nikon D200

Then finally the Sb-600 flash.

^^pretty nice gear.

I've made a lot of changes to my lenses lately. I'm really taken by the quality of Nikon's older MF primes.

I've now sold the 50mm f1.8 AI-S and 105mm f2.5 AI, replacing them with the 50mm f1.4 AI-S and 105mm f2.5 AI-S. I picked up the 200mm f4 AI-S too.

I briefly had the 135mm f3.5 AI, but sold it a couple days ago. I used the 135mm for some of the Barrhaven photos, it was quite a nice lens, but I only bought it because it was incredibly cheap. I didn't really need it and it's not very fast at f3.5 maximum aperture.

The AI-S version of the 105mm doesn't suffer from the severe chromatic aberrations that my AI version had. It must have better lens coatings.

Another reason I went for the AI-S versions of each of these lenses is because you can install a chip on them so they meter on DSLRs. The chip also enables proper EXIF information and allows you to control the aperture with the command dial on the camera. I installed chips on the 50mm, 105mm and 200mm last night, so I can't wait to try them out.

^
Oh, I see what new lenses you got, never mind my question in the random photo section. Sweet digs by the way. Werent you going to get the D7000 and are using the D90 now? If so, get it, its a kick freakin ass camera for night and low light photography. I dont know if the D90 has something called D lighting, but my D200 didnt and the D7000 does, and holy crap, for night urban photography, wow, its awesome.