What is the best companion camera to a D610 for a beginner?

[Mister Bumbles]

I'm not sure why I was stressing out... I had forgotten that B&H has a price guarantee for 30 days. At least, they used to. In the past they have price matched Black Friday deals, so I will call tomorrow to verify. Otherwise, I have $2340 burning a hole in my pocket to get my gear!

 

[sonicbuffalo_RIP]

That was so nice of you, hark! Love when people 'pay it forward'. One of my favorite all time movies!

 

[Mister Bumbles]

Well.. I went and did it! I was able to sell some extra junk from storage and came up with enough to get a decent bundle. Then, because I'm a super-duper nerd, I created a graphic to that shows what I ordered!

I'm a bit freaked out now that my piggy bank, and my bank account are completely and utterly decimated, but so excited to be started on this new journey!

View attachment 124343

Full sized version... https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7462/15194866904_efe8103994_o.jpg

Thanks for all your help and info everyone. I can't wait to get started!
And once James orders his D7000, he'll have a bag and batteries thanks to Hark!

 

[Bill16]

Seems like you got yourself set, though you sadly got a d610 instead of the awesome D700 that I just bought! Lol just kidding! Lol
@hark that is so cool of you my friend! :frog:

Well.. I went and did it! I was able to sell some extra junk from storage and came up with enough to get a decent bundle. Then, because I'm a super-duper nerd, I created a graphic to that shows what I ordered!

I'm a bit freaked out now that my piggy bank, and my bank account are completely and utterly decimated, but so excited to be started on this new journey!

View attachment 124343

Full sized version... https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7462/15194866904_efe8103994_o.jpg

Thanks for all your help and info everyone. I can't wait to get started!
And once James orders his D7000, he'll have a bag and batteries thanks to Hark!

 

[hark]

Seems like you got yourself set, though you sadly got a d610 instead of the awesome D700 that I just bought! Lol just kidding! Lol
@hark that is so cool of you my friend! :frog:

Thanks, Bill. Mr. Bumbles' package was left for UPS today. Now his wait begins.

 

[Mister Bumbles]

*dances a jig* Hello again everyone! This week is going to be agony! *lol*

Waiting for two packages to arrive now. Only 3 hours after I ordered my equipment from B&H, I received a message telling me that they had shipped and they had provided me with tracking. This free expedited shipping that is going on right now is KILLER. I mean seriously. The last time I ordered something expensive was from Amazon and it took nearly a week and a half before it shipped. B&H will definitely be getting more of my business in the future. Hark and B&H are making my week AWESOME.

*drools a little and tries not to look too crazy-eyed*

*twitches nervously*

 

[traceyjj]

LOL... hope your new toys arrive quickly, and you both have so much fun with this hobby together.

Hark, that was a fantastic thing to do

 

[Mister Bumbles]

Hark's package arrived last night. James was excited and digging through it like a kid on Christmas morning. He's still trying to figure out which camera bag he wants to use, and which one he's going to pass on to the NEXT person to receive it!

First it belonged to Hark, now James, who next? *chuckle*. Figured since he only needs one, may as well pass on the love!
Thanks very much for the bags and the batteries Hark!

 

[Mister Bumbles]

Well good morning everyone! I hope you all survived the great "Turkey Culling of 2014"! (urp) MMmmm.. turkey.

Yesterday I stumbled across an Amazon special for a Nikon D7000 + Nikon 18-55mm VR II for $649, but the deal claimed that it ended at midnight last night. So James bought one. And as of this morning, the Amazon D7000 + 18-55 VR II has shot back up to $949. So I guess we got a good deal at $300 off the kit price. We also snagged a 4-year drop & spill warranty extension, so he'll feel safer now too. From what I have seen, the best camera sales all happened in the past 4 days and today the prices are all just sky-high again otherwise.

We also stumbled on some nice low prices on SDHC UHS-1/U3 cards. Sandisk Extreme Plus (80MB/s) 32GB cards for only $19.45 each. They were $38 on Amazon at the time, and about $40 at most other online shops. It looks as if Amazon has them this morning for $19.76 now.

So, I'll be rocking dual 32GB cards in my D610 and James will have one 32GB and one 16GB in his D7000. Now we just need to get him a tripod, and both of us need to find flash units, but as of this morning, we're pretty much out of spare operating funds for this project *chuckle*.



James is super stoked and waiting for his gear now.

 

[Mister Bumbles]

P.S. The D7000 + 18-140 VR for $799 finally arrived at *Best Buy* ... Nikon D7000 DSLR Camera with 18140mm VR Lens Black 13310 - Best Buy

But, James and I both tried to do as much research over the past week as possible on the various lenses, and *supposedly* the 18-55 VR II has decent enough IQ and less distortion than the 18-140 to deal with? But maybe we're wrong, so currently we're probably just going to stick with the kit we ordered, and save up to get a higher quality telephoto for getting beyond 55 later.

Unless anyone can weigh in with opinions that sway us *chuckle*.

D7000 + 18-55 VR II for $650 (then save and get a nice 55-200 or 70-300, etc)
D7000 + 18-140 VR for $800

Choices, choices.

 

[RocketCowboy]

I don't have any first hand experience with the 18-140, while I do have the 18-55. I'm was the 18-140 that got me looking for a longer "walk around" lens and ended up with me getting the 24-120 instead (since I want to keep my lenses FX capable for mixing between bodies).

I don't think you can go wrong with either, it ultimately comes down to what you shoot and how much zoom range you need. The longer zooms tend to sacrifice some IQ and/or sharpness, but add convenience. The shorter lenses usually are lighter, and sharper. I don't think you'll be disappointed either way.

 

[Mister Bumbles]

I don't have any first hand experience with the 18-140, while I do have the 18-55. I'm was the 18-140 that got me looking for a longer "walk around" lens and ended up with me getting the 24-120 instead (since I want to keep my lenses FX capable for mixing between bodies).

I don't think you can go wrong with either, it ultimately comes down to what you shoot and how much zoom range you need. The longer zooms tend to sacrifice some IQ and/or sharpness, but add convenience. The shorter lenses usually are lighter, and sharper. I don't think you'll be disappointed either way.

Thanks for the quick reply! James is a complete camera newbie. He's got to learn everything, basically. I know the 18-140 is probably more convenient for some, but personally I always liked to carry a variety of lenses. I had a 50mm 1.8, a 50mm 1.4 (manual, vintage, sharp as hell), 18-55, and 28-135 with image stabilization. The extra reach was nice, but as you said, it sacrificed image quality. But that was with CANON gear. Switching back to Nikon after being away from it for 10-12 years, I have a lot to learn / catch up on. At the time I was only using vintage Nikon equipment and processing film by hand, things have changed a LOT!

 

[RocketCowboy]

Sounds like we're thinking alike!

 

[Mister Bumbles]

Sounds like we're thinking alike!

Well, you know what they say about great minds right?

 

[sonicbuffalo_RIP]

Out of the choices listed, I think the 18-140mm lense is the better one to have for a kit lens. Great walk around lens. Have fun, enjoy, and don't let James give you the shabbiest bag from Hark. *chuckle*

 

[Mister Bumbles]

Out of the choices listed, I think the 18-140mm lense is the better one to have for a kit lens. Great walk around lens. Have fun, enjoy, and don't let James give you the shabbiest bag from Hark. *chuckle*

-chuckle- James would never do that!

i just bought a D610 and it came with a really nice Ruggard Commando bag! (The same as one of the bags Hark sent). The other bag is smaller, but it's a well-designed Lowepro bag and James loves that one.

At some point when I get more gear, I will need a bigger bag. At that time I will probably pick up another Lowepro like I had for my Canon gear. Room for 6 lenses and lots of extras.