Buying a Kit for approx £5000 or $8000

[evejam]

Hi Folks

I have a budget of £5000 (GBP) or $8000 (USD). I am interested in three areas of photography
- Landscapes
- Portraits
- Macro (Close Ups)

I have been doing landscapes and close up for years, but recently taken an interest in portrait photography. I also like to have the flexibility to do general photography so want a nice range of lenses.

So I am looking to upgrade my nikon kit from DX (Half Sensor) to FX (Full Sensor). After doing my research I have come up with the following kit

Nikon D700
Nikon MB-D10 Battery Grip
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 G Lens Prime Lens
70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G AF-S VR Nikkor Standard Zoom Lens
Nikon 18-35mm F3.5-4.5D IF-ED Wide Angle Lens
Nikon 24-85mm F2.8-4D IF Mid Range Zoom
105mm f/2.8G AF-S VR Micro NIKKOR for Macro Work
135mm f/2D AF DC-NIKKOR for portrait

What do you think? Should I swap some of the lenses for a different lens?

I would be grateful for you contributions as this is a big purchase for me so want to make sure I get it right first time.

Many thanks in advice for your advice.

D

[sk66]

I think it's a mistake to try to decide on a complete kit and buy it all at once...

Why the upgrade to FX? For your primary interests I'd suggest a higher MP FF sensor (portraiture/landscapes) and for that I'd consider switching to the Canon 5D MkII. (Nikon is just stupid expensive for the high MP FF's)

[ZinhaEq]

I will give my opinion what I would do in your place. I agree totally with next things:

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 G Lens Prime Lens
105mm f/2.8G AF-S VR Micro NIKKOR for Macro Work
135mm f/2D AF DC-NIKKOR for portrait

Everybody needs a prime (in this case 50mm f/1.4 is great lens for the price), 105mm Nikkor is in my opinion the best Nikon macro lens in this moment and 135mm f/2 is born for prtraiture. But I have to disagree with these:

70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G AF-S VR Nikkor Standard Zoom Lens
Nikon 18-35mm F3.5-4.5D IF-ED Wide Angle Lens
Nikon 24-85mm F2.8-4D IF Mid Range Zoom

70-300mm Nikon is very cheap for an FX lens, but on FX is not very sharp, and very very soft at 300mm. And of course 18-35mm and 24-85mm lens are quite old now. Instead of these two I would get either 16-35mm f/4 VR or 24-70mm f/2.8 (for landscapes). As for 70-300mm you maybe should get 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, which is a great portraiture lens (and I use it for lots of landscapes too) and you could get it instead of both 70-300mm and 135mm f/2!

As for the camera, Nikon D700 is great. But Nikon D800 with I'd say very possible big improvements after three years is coming out this summer for sure. So think about that possiblity.

And for the last thing I would seriously think about getting all the equipment at once. You should geet in the FX waters a bit more slowly with those lenses, that you need the most. But that's just my advice.

[OsmosisStudios]

You've got some specialized stuff in there that could be more specialized:

Instead of the 18-35, get a 24mm f/3.5 PC-E lens.
Instead 24-85 get the 24-70 f/2.8
Instead of the 50/1.4 and 70-300, look at a 70-200 f/2.8
Unless you need f/2 at 135mm, the DC might not be the best bet.

I've got two different options for you.

16-35 f/4 VR
24-70 f/2.8
105mm f/2.8 micro
70-200 f/2.8 VR

or

24mm f/3.5 PC-E
24-70 f/2.8
105mm f/2.8 micro
70-200 f/2.8 VR

In either case you could swap the 70-200 f/2.8 for a 135/2 if you feel comfortable with a prime over the zoom and if youre ready to deal with a ton of Chromatic abberation shooting wide open

[zona5101]

what? no lighting gear?

also i'd get better lens even if that means buying fewer
dump the variable fstop lenses

as SK66 says, i think its not a good idea to get it all at once until you have some time to see what works and what doesn't unless you have more money to burn.

[evejam]

Thank you for all your comments.

For lightening, I already have the SB600 and SB900 speed light flashes, although I am thinking about getting a third.

I have thought about studio lights, but I live in a small house so storage is a problem :-(

I certainly like some of the suggestions given, and will give it some thought.

While I would agree will buying equipment bit by bit, one of the reasons for buying it all in one go is greater buying power leads to bigger discounts.

Will reply once I have had the chance to explore your suggestions further.

Many thanks

D

[LoveDSLR]

I preferred high MP FF for landscape & portraits and the Canon 5D Mk II is a good buy.

If you wish to stay with Nikon then D700 is a good choice. For portraits, you can pick 24-70 f/2.8, 85 f/1.4 and 70-200 f/2.8 as your starter kit. Add 24 f/1.4, 35 f/1.4, 105 VR, 105 DC, 200 f/2 in according to your future budget and/or needs.

For landscape, you can look at 14-24 f/2.8, 16-35 f/4 VR or 24 PC-E.

BTW, I use my 5D Mk II for portraits and D3 for everything else.

[evejam]

Thank for your suggestions about Canon however I am very comfortable with the Nikon and would prefer to stay with the Nikon. The number of MP is not a primary concern as I have read that the higher number of pixels doesn't reflex the quality. Also the reason for having a large number of pixels is if you want to print out large size posters. I can just about get a decent get A3 size picture with my 6MP D40 camera at 240 dpi. So 12MP will be more than sufficient for my needs.

However as I already have a Nikon D40, which I am very happy with, from your suggestions I have changed my direction.

Will keep the D700 (or the future D800) for spe******ing in Portraits, Landscapes and Macro work, and the D40 for everything else.

Will go and review the lenses you have suggested and post my new selection as soon as I can.


Many thanks for all your thoughts.

D

[evejam]

Hi all

Here is my new shopping list.

D700 or D800 £1647.14
Nikon MB-D10 Battery Grip £219
SB-900 Flash £296.3
Giottos GTMTL8361B Tri-pod £174.98
Giottos MH5001 3 Way Head £39.65
Giottos Tripod Bag £20.21
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 G Lens Prime Lens £295
105mm f/2.8G AF-S VR Micro NIKKOR for Macro Work £614.95
135mm f/2D AF DC-NIKKOR for portrait £809.98
AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II £1598.95
AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR £887.99
Total £6604.15

Unfortunately this is way over budget by approx £1,600

You will notice I have added a tripod, as I have just realised this morning my cheap tripod is not fit for purpose and I have read that it is silly to buy a top quality camera and put a rubbish tripod on the bottom!!

So my thinking/options is/are as follows:

For extra flexibility for portrait photography I feel I need an extra flash to compliment the two speed-lights I already have. I could reduce this to a speed-light SB 600 which would save approx. £100.

Macro photography is not a priority for me right now and have a macro lens for my D40, which will do for now. So I could dump the Macro lens for now which would save £614

The 50mm I think are essential lenses for portraits and could useful for landscapes and everybody should have a prime lens. So needs to stay I think.

The 135mm is probably the best lens for portrait photography at the moment so needs to stay. It may even be useful for landscapes?

The 16-35mm is probably an essential wide lens for landscape. So need this to stay, but may have to drop this lens if I cant find an alternative solution.

The 70-200mm is also useful for both portraits and landscapes. so this needs to stay and is probably more essential than the 16-35 mm lens as it has more flexibility.

To sum up if I change the flash and drop the Macro Lens I still need to save a approx £900.

May be the alternative is to look at different brands lenses, such as Sigma or Tamron?

Many thanks for all your help so far and look forward to reading your comments.

D

[LoveDSLR]

I haven't used my 50mm for over three decades. 50mm f/1.4 is good for low light.

Depending on your shooting distance and portrait subjects, I would start with a 24-70 f/2.8 and 85 f/1.4 instead of 50, 135 and 70-200. Do you know 135 (head and shoulder) is really a Canon thing? While 105 mm is Nikon (back in the old days).

FYI: 105 VR is a micro and a very sharp lens. It is good for children and teen. The 85 f/1.4 (cream machine) is the standard portrait lens for most wedding & portrait photographers. Personally, I shoot with the Canon 85 f/1.2 and Nikon 105 AIS. Plus Canon/Nikon 24-70 & 70-200. I have the 14-24 for UWA.