Little advise please guys :)

[Tarrynh]

Hi Everyone,

Please may someone assist me?

I am just starting out and am a little clueless with what is the right way to go.

Where do i start with building my equipment?

Im thinking that either stobes or a better flash would be the best option for now!

I have looked at different strobes and flashes to buy but I’m a little clueless on which ones to go for.
Are strobes better than flashes ? ect...
Price is also an important factor for me.

I have a Nikon D3100 with 2 kit lenses and would really like to start building from that.

I like all aspects of photography so don’t really have one particular field that i would like to go into, eventually with time i would like to have my own studio but that is in the distant future.

Thanking you

Tarryn

[JFSanders]

I look at it like this, you can bring flash units into a studio easier than strobes into the field. To see what small flashes can do check out the strobist.com. I take it that you already have a quality tripod. What are your kit lenses? Do you have a teleconverter? Extension rings, ND graduated filter, polarizer? And start your library of books as they will help you decide.

[zona5101]

ditto what JF wrote.
You may want to start with a good external shoe mount flash like the sb700 or sb900. Lots of money but very powerful and perfectly matched to your nikon for effortless bounce flash and wireless ittl off camera flash. You can build your "strobist" kit with that as the foundation then add additional flash, stands, umbrella etc etc etc...

[Tarrynh]

Originally Posted by JFSanders

I look at it like this, you can bring flash units into a studio easier than strobes into the field. To see what small flashes can do check out the strobist.com. I take it that you already have a quality tripod. What are your kit lenses? Do you have a teleconverter? Extension rings, ND graduated filter, polarizer? And start your library of books as they will help you decide.

Hi,

Thank you for your responce, Yes you are correct i do have a very good tripod and you have really given me something to look at, as i was not aware of telecoverters.

I will start looking at prices of that ect.

My kit lenses are 18-55mm and a 55-200mm.

polarizers are already on my list of things to get, as well as a remote cord.

Thank you for your advise

[Tarrynh]

Originally Posted by zona5101

ditto what JF wrote.
You may want to start with a good external shoe mount flash like the sb700 or sb900. Lots of money but very powerful and perfectly matched to your nikon for effortless bounce flash and wireless ittl off camera flash. You can build your "strobist" kit with that as the foundation then add additional flash, stands, umbrella etc etc etc...

Hi ,

i have been looking at the the sb900 or the sb600, but wasnt sure if i would be waisting my money with getting that!
I understand that a the one is more practical than the other, but wasnt sure which way to go with it.

Thank you very much for your assistance this has really helped

[autofocus]

You really won't go wrong owning a speedlight as the previous posters recommended. I think, first, you may want to give some thought to what you mostly will want to be photographing. For example, if you do mostly landscape photography, owning a speedlight may be a poor investment, and you'd be better off starting by buying various filters for that purpose. Buying stuff that mostly sits in your camera bag could be money not well spent. If your interest runs toward available low light portrait work a faster lens may be a good item to get, as in the classic "nifty fifty." Word to the wise, it's real easy to become an equipment junkie (probably like most of us here)

[Tarrynh]

Originally Posted by autofocus

You really won't go wrong owning a speedlight as the previous posters recommended. I think, first, you may want to give some thought to what you mostly will want to be photographing. For example, if you do mostly landscape photography, owning a speedlight may be a poor investment, and you'd be better off starting by buying various filters for that purpose. Buying stuff that mostly sits in your camera bag could be money not well spent. If your interest runs toward available low light portrait work a faster lens may be a good item to get, as in the classic "nifty fifty." Word to the wise, it's real easy to become an equipment junkie (probably like most of us here)

Hi,

well i do i bit of landscape photography but not much. Mainly take pics of kids animals friends ect. so i think that a speedlight would be the better investment for now.
I will also be looking into filters ect. Atleast now i know what to start with.

and yes one day i will become an equipment junkie, you have to start somewhere, and then once i have all the stuff i wanted i will know what to use where and which i dont need ect.

Thank you for your funny comments they kept me intertained

have a lovely weekend !

[Jim Poor]

Aside from the suggestion for a speedlight, I'm going to go against the flow here and say you don't need ANYTHING until you've mastered what you have.

Learn what your current equipment will & won't do. Then, you'll be able to make educated decisions as to what to add next.

[vsa]

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

Aside from the suggestion for a speedlight, I'm going to go against the flow here and say you don't need ANYTHING until you've mastered what you have.

Learn what your current equipment will & won't do. Then, you'll be able to make educated decisions as to what to add next.

I'll go with what Jim said. Learn your current equipment inside and out. By that time you'll know what you can do with them and what you want to do with them.

But in the end you can't go really wrong with the 50mm whether it's 1.8 or 1.4. Some prefer wider lens, some don't. For a crop frame sensor the fifty might be a bit long for shooting inside. Based on my experience I can recommend the fifty as it's a great lens for portraiture and basic walk around stuff.

As for flashes if you're going for studio kind of things the cheap manual flashes will be great value for the money. You'll learn how the flashes work and then know how to deal with them if something doesn't go as you wished. With i-ttl you might not know what went wrong and then solving the problem will become that much harder. Although the forementioned Nikon flashes won't disappoint you but using manual flashes in the beginning is a good idea.

Plus one tip (took long for me to find out), if you're going with strobes/flashes: shutter controls the ambient light, aperture controls the flash.

[faeriegodess612]

I'd have to agree with Jim too. I've had my camera for 3 months now,...and I can tell you that I want three things. Another lens, one that has more reach than my 18-55mm kit lens, a remote release cord cuz I like doing stuff in low light, and a sturdier tripod. The tripod being the first thing I want to get. Seeing as my time at work and available funds for my hobby are preventing much of this,...it'll probably be a while before I'm able to get anything.