New to Nikonites, from Alberta Canada

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Fortkentdad

Senior Member
Hello Nikonites;

I've been a Nikon user for a couple of decades now. First serious camera was a Nikon F60, now shooting with a D5100.

I'm an enthusiast, every now and then I muse about shooting pictures for money on the side, but not a serious business (I'm nearing retirement so just something to supplement my pension income). But then I come to my senses and remember an old learning from years ago "Nothing ruins a great hobby like making it your job".

Enjoy "playing" with pictures in Paintshop Pro (Adobe is just too pricey for my taste, and I live in rural Canada with slow internet so on-line based services are really not optimal). And Corel is Canadian and I am patriotic.

Recently started playing with HDR - nothing worth sharing yet. But it's fun to play with new ideas and approaches.

I'm into my PC too and have a three screen array - I've created a batch of nice panoramic images that I like to view on my 54"x10" display.

Recently added a second flash (Metz 58 AF-2 - which I found I could not include in my profile??) And a light stand and umbrella, looking forward to an Easter Bunny Shoot tomorrow with my grand-daughter. (Grandma has volunteered to wear the bunny costume).

And I'm although my D5100 is only a few years old now, I'm already thinking of upgrading, not sure if I'll go to a D610 or D800, ... or save some money that I could spend on a good lense and go for a D7100. Or do I wait and see if Nikon comes up with a fabulous mirrorless DSLR? (Dream on?).
 
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fotojack

Senior Member
Welcome to Nikonites, fellow Albertan. I take it you're up by Fort Kent? You're quite a ways from me then. :) Hope you enjoy it here, so have fun. :)

Go for the D7100 and buy better glass. :) Cheaper in the long run.
 
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Fortkentdad

Senior Member
Right now I'm leaning much more towards the D7100 and some good glass. I have an older film (FX I guess) 300 mm Sigma lens that does mount on the D5100, manual focus, but works well. I understand the D7100 will focus these older (circa 2001) lenses and that with the crop factor the 300 becomes a 400 (or better if I go to the D7100's own cropped mode). That would be good use of an old lense. I also have the old kit lens that came with my F60 Nikon film 35 mm camera (goes up to 100mm I believe) so that would give me a better range over the DX kit lens I have now. And looking at the D600 I'm not sold - top of the line DX, or bargin basement FX? They cut corners to get the D600 (610) price under $2000. As I look at it I'm really comparing the D7100 or take the big jump to a D800. That is only 3x the price, $2 grand more. Thats a nice bit of glass. Researching it on line I've found sites that post comparative pictures with the D7100, D600 and D800 (and one included the D5200 too). And frankly I could not see the difference in image quality, even when they enlarged as small cropped section of an bridge. Details were just fine. I also read that some semi-pro's use the D7100 for a variety of reasons (budget is probably one). So the D800 is on my "when i win the lottery" list, the D7100 is one I may be able to save my pennies for.
 
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Fortkentdad

Senior Member
And yes, Fort Kent, between Cold Lake and Bonnyville, about 3 hrs NE of Edmonton, up near the Sask-AB border. Not Fort Kent, Maine for those eastern seaboard Nikonites from the States.
 
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