First post!

I am new to all of this and haven't done much photography in years. I have ordered a Nikon D60 for entry level stuff, and I'm wondering, I'm going to need another lense but I don't know which to get? Also a flash.

I have a few freebie esessions lined up in July, and also I've had an offer to shadow a friend photographer but she shoots with Canon, so she couldn't be too much help as to what to get.

I would like to stay under 1k for the lense and flash.

Thanks!!

Jes

Hey there Jessica,

Ok, so you have one major issue that is going that make this task a hard one.

your camera.

The D60 comes without the essential in camera auto focus drive. The D60 relies completely on the autofocus motors built into the lenses to focus the camera. The problem with this is that many lenses that nikon makes, especially the ones I would recommend for weddings, and most especially the cheaper, yet still amazing lenses do not come with AF-S (internal auto focus motors)

Here is what I would do if I were you and was anywhere near serious about doing this for a hobby, semi-pro, or pro.

Return the D60. I checked on B and H and the D80 is only $20 more. Granted it doesn't come with any lens, but we will take care of that.

Invest the extra $20 and get a new D80 body or look on craiglist or ebay and pick up a used D200. They are amazing. and they both have internal autofocus drives. Also you can buy them without any cheap lenses on with them.

Lets say you went the D80 route. This will work fine for now. eventually you may want something better, but for now we are set. $980 left to spend

Next search around on craigslist for an old, used, but good condition 80-200 2.8 lens.

This lens is sweet, you will really like it. It is sharp, has great color, has a good reach, and is amazing for portraits. I shoot about 80 percent of my wedding portraits with this lens. You can reasonably pick this lens up for about $500 on craigslist. You sometimes can even find one paired with other equipment. I often will buy the whole bundle from someone who doesn't know what they have and then turn around and sell everything I don't want. I have made money doing this and is in fact the way I picked up my 80-200. I got mine for $50 but that is another story. Be careful, always meet in person and craigslist will pay off.

Ok so lets say you get one for $500, that leaves us with $480

Next I'd say you need a good wide angle zoom. If you are not yet positive that you want to do this pro then I would say stay away from the obviously awesome choice of the Nikon 17-55 2.8. For now you can get away with the Tamron 17-50 2.8. This lens costs about $400 new with US warranty. OR you can get a crazy import model from a sketchy online dealer for $320. I went this direction. I didn't end up regretting it. I eventually bought the nikon version because it helped my ego. (and image quality)

If you haven't noticed the trend you I have staying away from anything that has a variable aperture. Everything that you buy should be a fixed aperture at 2.8 or below. The several reasons for this are.

1) more light = necessary for dark reception halls/churches etc.
2) better Bokeh (the blurry area behind the subject) The reason why we buy nice DSLR's is because of this pretty blurry area. You don't want to waste this by getting a lens that has a lowest aperture of 5.6 or above. 2.8 is what you want, and what will set your pics apart from point and shoots.

Ok so there goes another say $350-400 which leaves us with about $100 to spend.

You can spend this on two things, either a

Sb-600. ($180) It will get you by for now

or a

50mm 1.8 ($100)

The low aperture will let you shoot in dark places you wouldn't think possible. + you get an amazingly thin depth of field which means more pretty Bokeh.

Thats it for now. I hope you find this helpful.

John

Thanks you so much for your response. I live near a Southeastern camera supply and when I went in there to try to ask some questions the other day no wonder the woman wasn't at all helpful.

They did have 2 D200's (used) for about $625...i'm guessing this is a good deal? Especially since it is at a reputable dealer

I'm assuming that also all of the lenses that were mentioned will work on a D200?

Thanks for all of your help

If you can score a D200 for $625 then I would definitely pick one up. That is a steal. The D200 is still a top notch camera. IT will work with every lens nikon has ever made.

Man I am so excited for you. I am glad I could give some advice. You won't regret it.

The d200 eats a lot of battery so you will most likely want to pick up a spare battery or two.

ciao

Thanks for all of your help! I called again to check on the D200 and i was mistaken. It was $800. I'm going to check on the D80 and probably go with that one.
Thanks!

If you are looking into pursuing this as a career, you may want to use the extra money and get the D200. I have the D200 & D300 and a friend has the D80 and there is a lot of jumps in quality and construction, for the extra $100/$200 it would be worth the investment in the camera.

I was thinking of selling my D80. If the D200 is that cheap now, wonder if I shoudl trade it in for a D200 to compliment my D300. Or do you all think I should keep the D80. It is my backup and I rarely use it now. But I still need a backup!