I have for some time decided that I’d really like to develop in a several areas of photography. The first being in portraiture. To this end, I’d like to add one or more remotely controllable strobes, as well as the adapters, light stands, and modifiers necessary give me project flexibility. Ideally, that would be at least one more Speedlight which would give me a portable and powerful flash that’s compatible with the Nikon CLS system that I use. This would give me great flexibility in being able to set up multiple light sources in virtually any location at any time. In the same vein, I’d really like to have a relatively short zoom that would make a good balanced match on my D300. When shooting portraiture, I rarely if ever need the 18-200mm “do everything” super-zoom, and I just think that a smaller range lens is a better physical fit on my camera, especially when I’m not using it without the battery grip. Another eventual photographic target would be a “super-wide”, which would be something in the 24mm (35mm equivelant) range, that would give me the ability to set up and shoot interiors. I’ve been interested in lighting and shooting architectural interiors for some time. Maybe I might even be able to turn that into a business opportunity with real estate at some point in the future. Which brings up another item that would probably become a “need” down the road. For my own needs, not having a backup isn’t an issue, but when you are being paid by others for a specific job, non-performance due to equipment failure isn’t really acceptable, which means that there’ll probably need to be a “backup” camera at some point in the future.
This time of budgetary frugality where I’m just planning and not buying anything can be critical in helping me get the equipment that I need/want without make costly mistakes. So let’s look at the areas of future need and what I might want to keep tabs on now.
Lenses: Basically, I need something in the medium, norm-short telephoto range for a primary portraiture lens. Of course the most obvious would be to get into something with a nice wide aperture like f2.8, however after looking into it, I found that you can get more than adequate background blur by using f4 which bring the much more common f3.5 maximum aperture lenses into play. This one change alters the cost landscape by dropping the price by $200 or more. Typically the most flattering focal length used for this type of photography runs in the 75-105mm range which for a DX camera like mine comes out to be 50-70mm after the 1.5x conversion factor. In that case, there are a number of nice old Nikon lenses which are generally pretty inexpensive. In this group there is of course the 28-80mm that Nikon began producing in mass almost as soon as they started making auto-focus film cameras. There are of course others such as the 35-70/35-80mm range as well. These are full-on consumer lens, while-functionally and optically adequate, are often lacking somewhat in build quality, typically having lightweight plastic barrels as well as mounts. That being said, they can often be had for a song…down to the sub-$50 range. One factor for me though, is that I find myself increasingly using the wider focal lengths while shooting portraits and those lenses have ranges that translate to having starting points of 42mm and 52mm converted focal length respectively. Which brings us to the 18-70mm Nikon AF-S. This lens converts to a neat 27-105mm focal length that covers what I’d want to do very well. Plus this lens is considered to be optically very good, a mid-line lens with a metal mount AND was made in relatively large numbers since it was a “kit” lens often included with the D70, D70s and some D200s. This brings the typical price to be somewhere in the palatable $135-150 range. So why not theinexpensive and optically decent 18-55mm? Not much cheaper at around $100, plus hate the “cheap” feel of the build and on top of that, the 18-70mm is thought to be significantly superior on the optical front.
Now the "wide" lens. A long-standing buggaboo for DX cameras due to the smaller than 35mm sensor creates a 1.5x conversion factor often turning a very nice and wide optical formula into something "mid-range"! My widest lens goes down to 18mm (27mm converted) which isn't very wide to start with and at that setting comes with a VERY complex "mustache" shaped distortion as well. What I'd really like to be able to have to shoot indoors or covering large groups is something in the old 24mm range as related to 35mm film cameras. This is fairly wide without introducing a lot of distortion. Nikon makes such a lens, however it sells for a hefty $1000 + or -, used! Luckily, this is an area that all the independent manufacturers out there have had a lot of experience designing in and there are lots of choices. After quite a bit of internet research, I've found that all of the "big three" (Sigma, Tamron & Tokina) have well thought of lenses in this category, and the best balance of optical quality, cost and build is generally acknowledged to be the Tokina 12-24mm/f4. They tend to sell in the $325 to 425 range, but sometimes can be had for slightly less.
Most of the lens research is done and all that really needs to happen is for me to monitor it over time so I can detect trends and be able to differentiate any anomalies. Next on the agenda is the flash. Nikon has 4 flashes that are compatible with their Creative Lighting System (CLS): the current SB-900, SB-700 and the older SB-800, SB-600. They are all great and love the SB-600 that I've had for a couple of years now. Although, I have an old SB-26 with the built-in optical trigger, it's not CLS capable and therefore not directly controllable from the master. And although, the SB-600 has been a revelation, it can't be a "master", nor is it as powerful as the 800/900 strobes. Obviously, since the SB-900 is the newest and biggest, it's also the most expensive. Which leave the SB-800. This is one powerful and flexible flash! If you have any doubts; do yourself a favor, go over to YouTube and watch some of the Joe McNally videos on what can be done with these things. I've found that they routinely sell for $300+, so clearly I'm going to need to find a "deal" or save lots of money!
Which brings us to the last item: the back-up camera. As a back-up, there are certain criteria that it needs to meet. The main one that causes a difficult decision is whether or not you want it to be part your "system". I've decided the answer is YES and in my case, that's Nikon, CLS, and possibly "screw-drive" capability so it can function with the older non-AF-S Nikon lenses (of which I have 2). Of course ideally, a "back-up" should be identical or as much like your primary camera as possible. But obviously, I'm not in a position to buy another D300, or even a D200, nor could I see myself being able to rationalize it in my wildest dreams! This leaves the D70s, D70, D50 and D40. You guys that read this blog on a regular basis already know that I've owned both the D70 and D70s and liked them a lot, so those could be considered no brainers, especially given that they can take the same lenses (screw-drive), flashes (CLS), batteries as well as memory cards as the D300. Unfortunately, there's a downside to them......in that they are virtually identical in size to the D300.....although quite a bit lighter. Of all the candidates, the D40, is by far the smallest, lightest, and the newest (read: most advanced). There are downsides though: that small size and light weight comes at a price, which is the missing screw-drive motor and by extension an inability to focus older lenses. It also takes a different battery as well as SD memory cards instead of the CF cards of the D70/D200/D300. Then there's the D50. Essentially, it's a slightly more modern (but de-featured) D70, which is both smaller and ligthter, but as a consequence, uses the SD memory card as well. On the plus side though, it does have the screw-drive focusing motor and will take the EN-EL3e that the D300 uses. My research has shown that it typically sells in a similar range as the D70 so there's not much to give there. This price point seems to run in the $150 to 200 area so it's a good candidate from a budgetary standpoint.
My reality is that, at the moment, I can't spend much money, but I can plan, plot and watch. So when the time comes, I can pounce!
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