Bought a Nikon D40x Need some advice

TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Canada - Toronto & Southern Ont.
-- Bought a Nikon D40x Need some advice

Posted by Cro_Addict on Dec-16-2007 21:40:

Bought a Nikon D40x Need some advice

Ok, so should I buy a regular SD card or should I buy one of those faster read/write ones like the extreme iii from Sandisk?

Also I got the kit lens (18-55mm) with the camera...now I was looking at buying the Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED AF-S DX VR. Would you guys recommend this lens? Is there a better option?

Posted by chinamon on Dec-17-2007 00:18:

wish i could assist you with the lens situation but im a canon guy and i think most dslr users here also use canon.

as for the memory card, i use the sandisk extreme3 and its great. i would never use a slow card.

Posted by eRRaTiK on Dec-17-2007 00:27:

I'm also a canon user. There's a few nikon groups on facebook you could check out.

Posted by krysx25 on Dec-17-2007 01:47:

Drop those two baby lenses and purchase the incredible '18-200mm VR'
Judging by your camera you're an amature, so this lens will be a great
over-all performer. Have fun.

I also hear the possibility of an '18-135mm VR' coming out soon.
But that so far is just a rumor.

As for memory card, go with high speed if you plan to shoot alot
of sports or other fast paced action in which you'll need to utilize
the fast frame rate.
But if all you're gonna do is shoot landscape or portraits, you can
save yourself the money and just go with a Kensington 2GB for like .. $25 bucks.

Posted by malek on Dec-17-2007 02:29:

as he said, faster cards are useless, save your cash.

Posted by Cro_Addict on Dec-17-2007 03:23:

quote:
Originally posted by krysx25
Drop those two baby lenses and purchase the incredible '18-200mm VR'

haha yeah thanks.. my friend has that lens.

only one problem. that lens is $800 a little too much for me.
the 55-200 VR is $200

i can deal with changing the lenses from 18-55 then 55-200

Posted by malek on Dec-17-2007 03:43:

changing lenses suck ass... in a few months you'll regret not getting the 18-200.

Posted by krysx25 on Dec-17-2007 04:42:

I have to agree with malek, hence an investment into the 18-200
would be most prudent. Especially since lenses hold their value extremely well.

I would sell the 18-55 and reinvest into a lens you'll be proud to own

Posted by mnemonic. on Dec-17-2007 04:54:

rob how much did you pay for that kit?

Posted by Ryan1524 on Dec-17-2007 06:32:

Ditto on the 18-200mm VR. I've been looking around for one as well. Best price I've found is $679 with AdenCamera. For the versatility, can't beat the pricepoint.

Posted by zokissima on Dec-17-2007 12:57:

Not sure how slower or faster memory cards really matter here. The camera never shoots directly to the card anyways. It uses an internal buffer and then goes onto the card...

Posted by malek on Dec-17-2007 15:23:

quote:
Originally posted by zokissima
Not sure how slower or faster memory cards really matter here. The camera never shoots directly to the card anyways. It uses an internal buffer and then goes onto the card...

exactly, thats why its irrelevant unless you do sports or catwalk photos.

Posted by Espresso on Dec-17-2007 20:25:

quote:
Originally posted by malek
as he said, faster cards are useless, save your cash.

Not if you're shooting RAW/RAW +JPEG or burst mode; it makes a huge difference.

Can't make a recommendation re: which glass to buy, although Ken Rockwell thinks the 18-55 kit lens is good enough and worth keeping link however generally KR's opinions are shitty but I believe he knows his Nikon stuff.

General rule regarding glass is wait, save your money and invest in good glass, if you go (semi-) pro you'll need it and you'll pay it off with the money you'll make with the pro gear.

If not, you can always easily sell the good glass with a little bit of loss, otherwise you'll have a huge loss for all the money you've payed for the mid-quality glasses and will be stuck with it, if you're just an amateur shooting for fun, then who cares if it's a really "good" lens or not? you can't afford good glasses anyway (as indicated by your choice of buying an entry-level D-SLR camera) so just enjoy what you have.

Posted by malek on Dec-17-2007 21:18:

yeah sure RAW+JPG are heavy, but we weren't talking about that.

I don't expect someone buying a d40x to start shooting in RAW. I very rarely shoot RAW and its been years i have been using SLRs.

Posted by krysx25 on Dec-17-2007 23:13:

See I always shoot RAW, but that's mostly since I love to drag my
work into Photoshop and stretch an image past its realistic boundaries.
I just don't trust built-in camera firmware presets for processing.

Either way, it makes no differance what speed your card is unless
you're shooting sports and etc ..