Want to buy some more gear for my D60

[ambrya_nell]

Hi all.... I'm looking to get a new lens and maybe a flash for my D60... looking to do more portraits... any suggestions on the which ones i should get? Don't have a large budget... I see a lot of posts around here on the "nifty fifty"... interested in that.
Any help would be very much appreciated...

[ambrya_nell]

no suggestions?

[OsmosisStudios]

24 hours on a very broad question on a sunday night isn;t much time. Just be a bit more patient.

Which leads me to my next point:

What about your current gear do you find lacking? What do you feel you need to change? Whats holding you back? Can you focus a lens manually, reliably?

[mschwarz]

Also - what gear do you currently have?

[ambrya_nell]

okay... sorry, i'm impatient :P hahaha.... just trying to learn as much as possible right now....
I can focus a lens manually just fine.. i'm used to my old film canon... all manual.. lol
I think what's lacking is clarity, focus, bokeh, DOF and just overall lighting and making my portraits look professional.... like i see others post here.....
Right now i just have my D60 and two lenses that came with the whole kit... 18-55mm and 55-200mm
no lighting or flash other than build-in flash......
i hope that helps... lol i guess i should've said all that in the beginning....

[Mpow]

I recently got the Nikon 35mm f1.8 to use on my D60. It is an AF-S, so it will auto focus. I haven't had much time for shooting since I've had it, but what I have taken I've been VERY happy with. Loving the ablility to shoot in lower light situations without flash, which was my main reason for wanting the new lens, getting great dof, bokeh, etc. Being that the D60 isn't a full frame DSLR, the 35mm is basically "eqivolent" to what the 50mm would be on a full frame DSLR.

I found that this was out of stock in a lot of places and that there were a number of internet sellers charging close to double the msrp. I went to my local camera shop, got put on their list and ended up with the lens in 3 or 4 days at msrp. I think Nikon is shipping them, but there is high demand, so no one retailer is getting a lot of them. (Just my opinion based on when I was looking . . . )

Good luck!

[OsmosisStudios]

Ambrya:
"clarity", as it is often referred to, is actually something called micro-contrast and it's very hard to get on the cheap. The easiest way is with a proper prime lens as suggested by Mpow, but I find that the 35 is too "clean" to give proper contrast.
Focus is something you achieve with any lens. Its not a factor in the lens itself, its technique.
Bokeh is not SOMETHING. Its the quality of the blur caused by the depth of field phenomenon.
DoF is something you can control fairly well except if you need super shallow DoF, in which case you need fast lenses.

What you're looking for is CONTROL over these, something that new gear may not be able to provide or that you may simply not be doing right. If you could show us examples of things you think arent sharp and clear, dont have the right DoF or nice bokeh, and we can then help with suggestions.

The reason for this is that many people make the mistake of getting all sorts of equipment but dont know how to use it to the best of it's abilities. It's by no means a slight.

[GreatMoloko]

having a D60 I would recommend a flash at least the SB 600 (which is what I got) or the SB 900.

This made a HUGE difference in all my pictures. If you're planning to be controlling multiple remote flashes then, to be somewhat limited understanding, you need the 900.

[ambrya_nell]

thanks everyone.....
definitely gonna get the 50mm .... i've seen 1.4 and 1.8.. is there really that big a difference?
and from other places i've looked and asked the SB600 sounds like a good bet for starting out....
we'll see how it goes..