Looking to buy some new gear

[Jonbar18]

...and lots of it

I'm on a budget, and can't afford all of this now, but there is a lot of stuff I'm going to be looking into over the next month or two. I'm having a little trouble finding stuff with in my budget, and was hoping some of you would help out.

What I need:

glass
I'm looking to expand into a wider aperture (as of now, I can't go father than 3.5). Any level of manual is fine, though preferably it will be able to meter. I mostly shoot landscapes and still life, which aren't going anywhere (or at least not too quickly) so I have no problem with focusing/exposing manually. I'm looking for a sharp, fast prime, somewhere in the wider range (35 would be great) for less than $40-50. (Did I mention I was on a puny budget?)
@ Inkista (or anyone else with old, manual lenses): Where do you buy you lenses and/or any adapters needed? A vigorous search turned up nothing except some instructions on converting lenses.

Lighting
Finding myself at a standstill with lighting. Up until now, I've been using flashlight and cell phone flashes as my lighting, and it's very inconvenient, not to mention sub-par.
I found a used SB-10 on B&H For a very reasonable $30. Does anyone have any information about this? Will it work on a D3100? Can it be used off camera? Or at least rotated?

ETA: Ok, did a little research, doesn't look like the SB-10 isn't for me. Anybody know anything about the Vivitar SF 4000?

Battery grip
As great a camera the D3100 is, it PUNY. I have pretty big hands, and it is really hard to hold. Extra battery wouldn't hurt, but I haven't really had a problem with it yet. The problem is that Nikon didn't make a grip for this camera, and any other grips need an external cable to use the portrait shutter release. Not a huge deal though as I barely ever shoot portrait. Does anyone know of a reasonable grip for the D3100 that I can get for no more than $40-50? Used is fine for a grip.

TIA everyone

[OsmosisStudios]

Im just gonna go ahead and say the obvious.

Wait.

Save up some more and get something better. It'll cost a bit more later, but it'll be well worth it.

[TheMoons678]

Wow.............

K if you are that strapped for cash, craigslist/garage sales/estate sales will be your best bet. Maybe you'll stumble upon a good deal. It will take more money than you listed, but you can get killer deals if you buy a package with, for example, 1 film camera 2 lenses for $100. You buy it for $100 (or even offer $80), and then sell the camera with 1 lens for what you paid. You now have 1 lens for free.

[Jonbar18]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

Im just gonna go ahead and say the obvious.

Wait.

Save up some more and get something better. It'll cost a bit more later, but it'll be well worth it.

Easier said than done. On the other hand, I did a little math, and if i forget the grip (it was more of a novelty anyways), a month will get me enough money to buy a Vivitar DF-483 or Sigma EF610. Still a little pricey, but you can`t put a price on photography Any thoughts on those two?

Originally Posted by TheMoons678

Wow.............

K if you are that strapped for cash, craigslist/garage sales/estate sales will be your best bet. Maybe you'll stumble upon a good deal. It will take more money than you listed, but you can get killer deals if you buy a package with, for example, 1 film camera 2 lenses for $100. You buy it for $100 (or even offer $80), and then sell the camera with 1 lens for what you paid. You now have 1 lens for free.

I`ve been watching a whole bunch of sites: ebay, kijiji, craigslist, some local used dealers. Haven`t found anything TOO interesting, and most stuff I found on B&H or w/e for like $5 more. I did make one interesting find: YN460 Flash. Know idea who makes it, but there`s a whole bunch of them, and a few look half decent.

As for the lens, I think I`m just going to keep my eyes out on kijiji/craigslist for a deal like the one you said, or maybe just go for a used 50 1.8 (about $60)

[inkista]

On the glass front, I think you're asking for the impossible. If the lens doesn't have a CPU on it, it's not gonna meter on a D3100. Them's the breaks. And if you do find a lens at the pricepoint you're looking for it's probably gonna be a 50mm prime. You are shooting Nikon F-mount. You have pretty much zero choice outside that mount, because any mount adapter is going to eat your budget (not that you have much choice among adapters without glass elements if you want to focus to infinity). I buy my manual glass from B&H, Adorama, and KEH, but they're all mostly in the three-figure pricerange and rising these days.

OS is right: save up some more money.

The YN-460 is made by Youngnuo in Hong Kong. It's ok, but fully manual (no TTL anything), but there's no zoom, no sync port, and build quality can be iffy (2nd metal foot version of the 460-II is probably your best bet, there). It's also completely manual. I prefer the YN-560, myself (comparison).

[TheMoons678]

Maybe you should look into DIY continuous lighting/diffusers/reflectors to get you by in the mean time. A little money goes a long way

[scootermcq]

Jonbar.... aren't you in Ontario? If you get out my way ever, I have a manual flash you could have.... it will work on the camera, or you could put it off camera. Anyway, if it help you out.....

[Jonbar18]

Originally Posted by inkista;1343994 I buy my manual glass from B&H, Adorama, and KEH, but they're all mostly in the three-figure pricerange and rising these days.

The YN-460 is made by Youngnuo in Hong Kong. It's ok, but fully manual (no TTL anything), but there's no zoom, no sync port, and build quality can be iffy (2nd metal foot version of the 460-II is probably your best bet, there). It's also [I

completely [/I]manual. I prefer the YN-560, myself (comparison).

I was not expecting that...

So do you think the YN flashes are something to look into, or go for something by Nikon or some other big name that will have some automation?

Originally Posted by TheMoons678

Maybe you should look into DIY continuous lighting/diffusers/reflectors to get you by in the mean time. A little money goes a long way

I've been using flashlights/cellphones, wax paper, tin foil, bristol board, and lego (I can name like 50 different uses for it) The problem is it's very inconsistent. At one point, I had to use 3 lights, so I had a flash light bounced off glossy paper, on camera flash with wax paper, and I got this app that puts a really bright white on my phone. It's a huge screen so it works great. But its three different lights (the flashlight is blue :O ) and it looked terrible. I was looking into a set of good flashlights, but honestly, its not much cheaper than a cheap flash.

Originally Posted by scootermcq

Jonbar.... aren't you in Ontario? If you get out my way ever, I have a manual flash you could have.... it will work on the camera, or you could put it off camera. Anyway, if it help you out.....

Yes sirrie bob. But aren't you in Ottawa? that's a little far from Toronto. And either way, thanks, but I think I'll just keep that in mind as a backup.

P.s. being socially awkward, you just made me feel a little something like this embedding disabled... (skip to about 0:55)

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by Jonbar18

Yes sirrie bob. But aren't you in Ottawa? that's a little far from Toronto. And either way, thanks, but I think I'll just keep that in mind as a backup.

He's in Oshawa: If he'd been in Ottawa Im sure I'd have pestered him insufferably already. As it is, I'm moving to the GTA soon: He'll be getting a call

[ArmySoldier777]

Originally Posted by Jonbar18

I've been using flashlights/cellphones, wax paper, tin foil, bristol board, and lego (I can name like 50 different uses for it) The problem is it's very inconsistent. At one point, I had to use 3 lights, so I had a flash light bounced off glossy paper, on camera flash with wax paper, and I got this app that puts a really bright white on my phone. It's a huge screen so it works great. But its three different lights (the flashlight is blue :O ) and it looked terrible. I was looking into a set of good flashlights, but honestly, its not much cheaper than a cheap flash.

There are posts here on DPS with Great DIY lighting projects. You can make your own studio light setups for relatively cheap that work just about as good as anything you buy. The only difference is they don't look as nice. I'll post a link below to a very good post here on DPS about it.

DIY Lighting Hacks for Digital Photographers


David