D5000 good for Photography Business???

[Amandini]

Hi everyone!
I'm relatively new to photography, I eventually want to become a wedding photographer but I want to learn what ever I can before I get on that road. I've been studying it since the summer and playing around with a few DSLRs and mentioned to my husband that I really liked NIkon. So he decided to go out and buy one for me, the D5000. I'm going to take some photography classes and workshops starting in January, and I've been researching the D5000 and I don't know if I can use it to start a small photography buisness?

After my classes and around late next spring, I was thinking of starting by doing family/child photography this way I can learn how to do portraits, positioning and learning the buisness before going into wedding photography, (I know that you need a lot of experience, money and patience to get into that!!!)

I want to learn and build myself up, I can learn the equipment very easily. I really want the D700 but at this point, I don't want to spend the money on it. I want a camera that I can learn with, as a stepping stone, and use it (along with another lens it comes with the 18-55) to make some money towards my D700. I want something that I can profit off of in the mean time.

Any thoughts?

Thx!

[Amandini]

Ok so I'm stuck between the D5000/D3100/D90 and if I can get my husband to spluge on it the D7000, but thats a big maybe.

So preferably the first three I named above, which would be better for what I'm using it for?

[inkista]

I'd say D90 so you can autofocus with AF lenses, and have the flash master in the pop-up for doing studio lighting with CLS.

But I would also say put aside thoughts of going professional until you've mastered your gear, personal style, and have a thorough grounding in business management. Also, if you're going to shoot weddings, one camera body is not enough. Backup is going to be a major concern when you only get one chance to take a shot: bodies, lenses, batteries, cards, flashes--you'll need to have backups for all of them, and the ability to stay on your feet and frosty to do quality work nonstop for long hours.

[Amandini]

OH yeah I would need to work more before getting into weddings and I know the equipment requirement, I just wanted a really good camera to start with that its over 1000 bucks. And I could use to profit off of as well for the time being.

[Ella1267]

I bought the Nikon D5000 this year and am looking to sell it. I do alot of wild life photography and what I have discovered is that with a speedlight on I can't get the shutter to go above 1/200. Therefore I am missing stopping alot of action. I thought I would get a better flash, but it is the camera. The camera can't sync with a flash (even the new SB900 or SB800) to high speed. My mom has the D90, does everything. As soon as I sell mine I am buying the new D7000.
Good luck with your search.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by Ella1267

I bought the Nikon D5000 this year and am looking to sell it. I do alot of wild life photography and what I have discovered is that with a speedlight on I can't get the shutter to go above 1/200. Therefore I am missing stopping alot of action. I thought I would get a better flash, but it is the camera. The camera can't sync with a flash (even the new SB900 or SB800) to high speed. My mom has the D90, does everything. As soon as I sell mine I am buying the new D7000.
Good luck with your search.

Uh, the D90 and D7000 have flash sync speeds of 1/200 and 1/250-1/320 respectively. That's not a huge increase.

[kirbinster]

Originally Posted by Ella1267

I bought the Nikon D5000 this year and am looking to sell it. I do alot of wild life photography and what I have discovered is that with a speedlight on I can't get the shutter to go above 1/200. Therefore I am missing stopping alot of action. I thought I would get a better flash, but it is the camera. The camera can't sync with a flash (even the new SB900 or SB800) to high speed. My mom has the D90, does everything. As soon as I sell mine I am buying the new D7000.
Good luck with your search.

Wild life with a flash? Have not heard of that one. How close can you get to the wild life, as flash does not have much distance.

[Ella1267]

I am sorry if I stepped on a few toes. Just stating what I have discovered and is very upset by.
Yes, I use a flash for all my macro and wildlife shots....especially the hummers. I was very upset to find out that it wouldn't sync with my camera. I am still learning how to use all this stuff too. But I spoke with Nikon and this is what I was told. It is a setting in my camera that the Nikon D5000 does not have.

[OsmosisStudios]

Your D5000 doesn;t have the commander mode but you should still be able to get the High Speed Sync with the SB-800 and 900 on camera. If youre using them off-camera, then the D90/7000 would help as you can use the CLS system for the HSS feature.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by kirbinster

Wild life with a flash? Have not heard of that one. How close can you get to the wild life, as flash does not have much distance.

I personally haven't tried it (I dislike disturbing critters), but you might want to google "Better Beamer"--that seems to be the solution birders go for. When you only have to cover the FoV of a 400mm lens, you can "zoom" the hell out of the flash, focusing it with a fresnel lens (it's how lighthouses do it), for more distance.

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

Your D5000 doesn;t have the commander mode but you should still be able to get the High Speed Sync with the SB-800 and 900 on camera ...

Just googled this. The D5000 apparently doesn't talk FP mode. (sigh). No HSS, even with a high-end SB speedlight. Ditto the D3000/D3100. The D40 still reigns supreme at something.