help me get started

For some reason i am a beginner and did not want to go with D3100 or D5100 or D3200 those beginner models and decided to grab a second hand used D90 its kinda cheap now bcoz its old coz I'm thinking that maybe i can use it longer than those.

I came from a bridge camera so you can say i know nothing about lens or photography at the moment but is willing to learn. I'm thinking of buying body only and can you guys recommend me what sort of lens i should get? Will the kit lens be sufficient? I'm mainly going to do some portrait and landscapes is there a all in one lens? or is it best to buy 2 lens for separate reasons?

mario said:

For some reason i am a beginner and did not want to go with D3100 or D5100 or D3200 those beginner models and decided to grab a second hand used D90 its kinda cheap now bcoz its old coz I'm thinking that maybe i can use it longer than those.

I came from a bridge camera so you can say i know nothing about lens or photography at the moment but is willing to learn. I'm thinking of buying body only and can you guys recommend me what sort of lens i should get? Will the kit lens be sufficient? I'm mainly going to do some portrait and landscapes is there a all in one lens? or is it best to buy 2 lens for separate reasons?

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I did exactly what you did. Came from film to a bridge camera then to DSLR.

I too looked into each camera body and decided the D90 met my needs and wants for the money I could spend. Had I been able to afford it the D7100 was my first choice but, for half the cost of the D7100 body alone I got the D90 and three lenses.

My D90 came with the 18-55mm AF-S lens, 55-200mm VR lens and a 50mm f/1.8 "D" lens.

I ended up selling all of these lenses one at a time and collected another set of four lenses for my needs.

I now have the 18-70mm f/3.5 "D" lens, 28-105mm f/3.5 Macro "D" lens, the 70-300mm VR lens and, after foolishly selling my first one, again I have the 50mm f/1.8 "D".

For your stated needs I recommend at least two lenses. One for your landscapes and one for your portraits. Portraits really shine when using a prime lens such as the 50mm f/1.8 "D" or "G" model, "G" being the newer and sharper AF-S lens with silent wave motor, or the 35mm f/1.8 "G" lens.

For the D90, which is a crop sensor camera with built in focus motor (meaning you can use any AF lens Nikon ever made), there are many choices for any lens type.

Most of the newer "AF-S" lenses tend to be sharper and have slightly better image quality (IQ) than the older lenses. However, there are many of the older "D" lenses that will certainly give the newer lenses a tough run for their money if not actually outperform them in certain areas.

The newer AF-S lenses are usually faster to focus than the older but that is not that important in your case.

Now, back to your needed lenses.

The 18-55mm kit lens is a good lens for its price but it is far from the best lens. For landscapes you may want wider than 18mm due to the crop sensor of the D90 camera. The 18mm widest focal length, on a crop sensor camera, gives an actual field of view of a 27mm lens. To go really wide you have to get something in the range of 10mm-24mm, 11-16mm, 11-17mm or 16-24mm, etc. Still, 27mm is perfectly fine for landscape if you do not need extreme wide angle.

Other wide angle lenses to look at are the Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5 "D" lens, as I have. It is tack sharp and build quality is better than the 18-55mm lens.

The 18-140mm AF-S lens is a great choice too and gives you some extra length that can be used as a portrait lens. It could be, in the words of a certain person, "The only lens you will ever need".

For portraits I really recommend a prime lens such as the 35mm or 50mm lenses. They just rock in terms of IQ and sharpness.

Good luck with your D90. You will love it as you come to know it.

Every photo I have posted on this forum has been taken with my D90. Browse my photo gallery if you have time and see what you think of some of the lenses I have used lately.
Mike D90's Images - Nikonites Gallery @ News

mario said:

For some reason i am a beginner and did not want to go with D3100 or D5100 or D3200 those beginner models and decided to grab a second hand used D90 its kinda cheap now bcoz its old coz I'm thinking that maybe i can use it longer than those.

I came from a bridge camera so you can say i know nothing about lens or photography at the moment but is willing to learn. I'm thinking of buying body only and can you guys recommend me what sort of lens i should get? Will the kit lens be sufficient? I'm mainly going to do some portrait and landscapes is there a all in one lens? or is it best to buy 2 lens for separate reasons?

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I still cannot fathom out why choose a D90 today. The D3300 has a much better sensor and will remain with you much longer. Any D90 you get at a reasonable price second hand will most probably be used pretty hard and not have much life left in it. So what to you get in a new D3300
. More MP 24MP.
. More DR 12.8EV
. Full HD video at 60 fps
. A very light camera ~ 600g

what do you loose
. Capability to AF with "D" type lenses
. Metal Body

For a beginer the entry level cameras are an excellent investment. If after some time you think that DSLR is not for you, you can sell it off and loose much less money. You get excellent sensor and great video capability. The higher end models add features to make your life easier, but in no way shoot better images.

For the lens choice you have to figure out what sort of photography you are interested in. For each type there are a set of lenses. Briefly
. Landscape needs wide angle lenses with good linearity and minimal distortion. They need not be fast - F4 onwards will do.
. For Birding you need long telephotos with excellent AF capabilities. The minimum is 300mm prime.
. For fast action sports you need fast zooms with excellent reach
. For close up of insects and flowers you need a long macro lense
. For portraits you need fast lense in the 85mm to 135mm range, and aperture of F1.4 or F1.8 to isolate the subject

The list goes on and on. If you buy the D3300, it comes with the 18-55 kit lense. That is sufficient for starting your photographic journey.

Welcome to nikonites!
I think choosing a camera body is a personal choice, that needs to be based on your needs. If your wanting to do a lot of large prints then higher MPs should be a big consideration. But if your mostly just posting shots or using them to view on your computer or making regular sized prints, the MPs above 12 MPs isn't a real concern in my opinion. But this is just one thing out of many things that should be considered when making your choice of camera body.
Now to me the durability, feel, and quick button access for changes in settings were what I was after. Where as the 3xxx series and the 5xxx series are menu based, lighter but less durable bodies,newer sensors which it a real plus, but lacking a built in AF motor a big negative.
So it's all on needs and preferences!

I hope you'll love whatever Nikon model and lens selection you choose!

Bill just pretty much summed it up.

D90 > D3300

Sure it has less MP
Sure it's a few years old
Sure it weighs more

But you have a built in AF motor
Full adjustability on the fly (Don't have to flip through a menu to adjust settings)
Consumer friendly MP
Everything else that the D3/5XXX bodies are not.

Everything that a camera offers is personal preference. I have a D3100 which I still use on the ever so often. I hate thumbing through the menu, the plastic feel when holding, the feel of the camera as it's definitely made for people with little kid hands. Sure it is light (I'll give it that), but I use that for a small carry around spare when I don't want to bring more weight, and want to keep with just only one lens all day.

Do keep in mind you will probably be changing camera body as time goes on, to follow technology advances. Lenses, when you find good ones, you will keep for a loooooong time.

aroy said:

I still cannot fathom out why choose a D90 today. The D3300 has a much better sensor and will remain with you much longer. Any D90 you get at a reasonable price second hand will most probably be used pretty hard and not have much life left in it. So what to you get in a new D3300

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Well, the D90 is much closer to a professional body than the D3100/D3200. It is bigger, heavier and better built. It accepts every AF lens Nikon ever made. As stated it has on the fly finger tip controls for everything instead of having to lower the camera and scroll through menus.

Also, what is the cost of a good new or used D3100/3200 body?

I got my D90 with 18,000 actuations, the 18-55mm lens, 55-200mm VR lens and a 50mm F/1.8 D lens, SDHC card, battery charger and extra battery, necessary cables and a camera bag for $450.00 USD shipped.

I've said this over and over again. When the D-90 came out, it was the cream of the crop. Just because it's "old news" doesn't make it any less a camera. I have a D-90 and I've taken pretty darn good care of it. Not sure how one would use a camera pretty hard? I know people who own a D4 with over 200,000 actuations on it and it's only a few years old. It's not beat up by any means. Just used. I'm also not one for jumping on new technology. Just assume buy a used or something new but a few years old. I like to see what problems surface up, if any.

I went to a D7000 from a D90, but could go back to a D90 tomorrow, if necessary, without shedding a tear. The D90 is a totally solid, well made camera of near professional quality and is an excellent starter dslr. Your choice of lenses is going to be more critical to future success than your camera body. Start with a 50 1.8 d and build from there with lenses that best suit your photographic needs.

hey mike thanks for the reply wil seriously consider the lens you mentioned.

btw i found another deal D90 + a 18-200mm nikkor vr lens. Can you tell me more about that lens? What is it good for? its a zoom lens right? or I can do everything from macro to portrait to landscapes with it?

Should i get it together with that lens or just go for body and buy some lens separately those that you mentioned

mario said:

hey mike thanks for the reply wil seriously consider the lens you mentioned.

btw i found another deal D90 + a 18-200mm nikkor vr lens. Can you tell me more about that lens? What is it good for? its a zoom lens right? or I can do everything from macro to portrait to landscapes with it?

Should i get it together with that lens or just go for body and buy some lens separately those that you mentioned

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I cannot tell you much about that particular lens as I have never used it. Others here have it so maybe a search in the Lenses will tell you more about it.

It is a zoom lens and actually would be a great starter lens for someone with a low budget that cannot buy dedicated focal length lenses or shorter zooms. I think I have read that it is a very good lens but, like any zoom, will not have the same IQ at all focal lengths and smaller aperture openings. It will likely show some IQ issues at F/16 to f/22 and at the extreme ends of its zoom length.

If this particular lens gives good IQ at 18mm and a good IQ at, say 60mm zoom point, it should make a good landscape lens capable of decent portraits. However, its IQ is probably not going to be at its best at 200mm and may not be good with a wide open aperture, which is necessary for any low light work.

If I were buying again, I would do exactly what I did before. Just look for the best camera possible and hope for a lot of good extras with it, but I would worry more about the camera itself as it is the most expensive and hardest to replace piece usually.

When I was searching the used market for my camera the reason I ended up with the D3200 over the D90 was because of the deal I found. D3200, 18-55, 55-200, 8gb SD card and Lowepro slingbag for $390 and the camera only had 300 shutter actuations and still under warranty. I wasn't going to beat that deal.

Indeed. Good deal!

guys i need some quick response/advice If the price for the 50mm f1.8G and 35mm f1.8G (both used) is the same price which one should i get?what is the advantage of 35mm over the 50mm and the 50mm over the 35mm ?pls explain so that i can understand

mario said:

guys i need some quick response/advice If the price for the 50mm f1.8G and 35mm f1.8G (both used) is the same price which one should i get?what is the advantage of 35mm over the 50mm and the 50mm over the 35mm ?pls explain so that i can understand

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50mm is FX. 35mm may be FX or DX. The 50mm and the 35mmDX are about the same price new. The 35mm FX is (if I am not wrong) twice as expensive.

The 35mm has the same FOV on DX as the 50mm on F. The 50mm will have the FOV of 75mm, so is in the portrait territory. I have both 50mm and 35mmDX, the 50mm is used when I want to have a slightly bigger image and the 35mm for normal low light photography. The 50mm is slightly sharper.

what about the 18-105mm? is it any good?

mario said:

what about the 18-105mm? is it any good?

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It is a good walkabout lens but will never be quite as sharp as the primes. Excellent lens for a beginner while you develop your style and composition skills. Probably the better choice in your circumstances.

mario said:

what about the 18-105mm? is it any good?

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From reviews, it seems that the 18-140mm is the star of medium range Nikon zooms, but it's not cheap.

skene said:

Bill just pretty much summed it up.

D90 > D3300

Sure it has less MP
Sure it's a few years old
Sure it weighs more

But you have a built in AF motor
Full adjustability on the fly (Don't have to flip through a menu to adjust settings)
Consumer friendly MP
Everything else that the D3/5XXX bodies are not.

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For me the built in AF motor was a HUGE factor. My wife shot Nikon when film was the norm and so she's got a couple nice lenses that I just couldn't use on my D40x. Although I could have upgraded to a 3000-series for a similar price I still would have been locked out of using those lenses. Additionally, I've got to say that I'm really loving the button/wheel combo for ISO, focus style, single/burst, and other settings. It really beats navigating through menus like I did on my D40x and my daughter's D3100.

RON said:

I went to a D7000 from a D90, but could go back to a D90 tomorrow, if necessary, without shedding a tear. The D90 is a totally solid, well made camera of near professional quality and is an excellent starter dslr. Your choice of lenses is going to be more critical to future success than your camera body. Start with a 50 1.8 d and build from there with lenses that best suit your photographic needs.

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I still have my D90 although I've just bought a D7000 as I got a great deal on a new body, but the D90 will not be shut away un-used, it's a cracking camera with a lot of functions, and well built, I'd prefer the D90 even though the newer D3/5000 series of camera's have more megapixels, it's not all about how many of them a camera has, the D90 will be able to use a lot more lenses than the D3000/5000 series can ever because of the built in focus drive motor, and has already been said you don't have to keep going into the menu to keep changing functions, you can do that on the fly by pressing a button an using the command dials, a lot easier when you out in the field.
The 35mm lens is a DX lens, but will still give the same field of view as a 50mm on a full frame camera, the 50mm will have the same field of view as a 75mm, the 50mm will give you the same field of view as the human eye see's, for a good portrait lens I would go with the 50mm, the 50mm f1.8 is a very good lens, I've had no experiance with the 35mm, but reading a few reviews, it's not a bad lens.