To Buy or Not To Buy?

Squidgy Black

I sold an old guitar earlier, and I've a nice sum of 100 quid just waiting to be spent

I'm not too sure on what though, it's between a tripod, a cheap flash or a 50mm manual focus lense.

I'd love the tripod for long exposures and indoor shots.

The flash would be good for portraits as the flash in my d3000 is weak.

The 50mm i hear is great for portraits, which is where my 18-55 and 70-300 really lack sharpness, and i'd really like to work on my portraits.

Has anybody got any advice on which would be the best option, or any alternative's?

Thanks,
Stephen

TelePaul

Is the 50mm f1.8? If so, buy it now. Buy it now and be amazed

Squidgy Black

yeah it is
http://www.adverts.ie/319909/lenses/for-saletrade-nikon-mf-50mm-18/
so i should go for it yeah?

TelePaul

stetyrrell wrote: »

yeah it is
http://www.adverts.ie/319909/lenses/for-saletrade-nikon-mf-50mm-18/
so i should go for it yeah?

Hmmm. Canon man myself but the 'nifty fifty' Canons can go for under a hundred new on ebay, and they're AF. Can't really comment as to the Nikon equivalents though.

DaireQuinlan

stetyrrell wrote: »

yeah it is
http://www.adverts.ie/319909/lenses/for-saletrade-nikon-mf-50mm-18/
so i should go for it yeah?

If it's an absolutely mint condition AIS, not series E or AI/pre-AI then I guess at a push I might fork out €80 for one. You can get them cheaper on EBay though. I think I paid about €50 or so for mine. New af models are 150 in conns, and cheaper again online.

Squidgy Black

would i be better off getting this: http://www.berminghamcameras.ie/store/index.php?target=products&product_id=3359

or get this http://www.berminghamcameras.ie/store/index.php?target=products&product_id=1991 use it as a manual focus and then have it as an autofocus when i eventually upgrade?

Heebie

stetyrrell wrote: »

would i be better off getting this: http://www.berminghamcameras.ie/store/index.php?target=products&product_id=3359

or get this http://www.berminghamcameras.ie/store/index.php?target=products&product_id=1991 use it as a manual focus and then have it as an autofocus when i eventually upgrade?

On a digital camera that's not full-frame, the 30mm is going to be closer to what a "nifty fifty" would give you on a 35mm camera.

A 50mm is going to "act" more like an 80mm or so.. which would be a fairly wide-angle portrait lens. (80-135mm area.)

I'd recommend the 30mm at 1.8. (I just got a 30mm f1.4 myself... it's sweet so far) =D

DaireQuinlan

I'd echo heebie's advice there. Shell out for the 35 if you have the cash, it's the digital equivalent of a standard lens, plus it'll AF on your camera.
One thing about the AIS lenses that you might not be aware of is that you obviously won't have AF, but you'll lose metering as well. For that reason if nothing else,
if you don't have the readies for the 35mm then the 50mm AF is probably what you should get, you won't be able to AF but you'll maintain metering.
Do get it in gunns though, it's likely to be cheaper than bermighams, and they're an absolute pleasure to deal with.

Heebie

I try not to use flash for portraits.. if I had a bit set of proper studio strobes with umbrellas and gels to use.. I might think differently.. but generally an on-camera flash makes for much too harsh a contrast.

Of course.. it's hard to get the warm glow of an incandescent lamp anymore..since the bulbs are illegal for stores to carry.. and they can often be too warm... but we get a lot of somewhat cloudy days, and diffuse light like that can be great for portraits. "daylight balanced" fluorescent light isn't too horrible.. but I really like natural light for portraits.

Some kind of gel'ed reflector would probably be nice to warm things up a bit. (Or you can tweak the color temperature in PP... or mix down to black & white.)

stetyrrell wrote: »

The flash would be good for portraits as the flash in my d3000 is weak.

Squidgy Black

I'll look into the 35mm then, I think I'll have to go down the secondhand route as they're a bit out of my desired price range new.