Cheapskate DSLR Gear – What’s Good
Many people find that the world of digital SLR’s is an exciting, but very expensive field. The news isn’t all bad though, as a Nikon fan I believe some of their best camera gear is the cheapest. So, for someone who is looking to buy their first digital SLR, here is a little bit of advice on what I think is excellent gear to have.
Nikon 18-55mm II
These are supplied as kit lenses on many Nikon models including the D3000/D5000/D90. It really is a workhorse of a lens; it covers a wide enough zoom range to shoot almost anything, is mega sharp and weight almost nothing at all. It also focuses close enough not to need a macro lens. It really is quite an amazing all round lens, i’ve currently had (and regularly used) mine for about 5 years, it’s taken a battering on a number of occasions and still works like new.
Nikon 35mm f 1.8
Probably the best DX lens available today, in my opinion. With a huge aperture of f1.8 it is perfect for low light shooting, and works especially well for music photography. It also makes a wonderful portrait lens, with the wide aperture giving a narrow depth of field creating great brokeh. At only £150, it is one of the best deals ever.
Nikon D40
Unfortunately, the D40 was discontinued some time ago, as it was a great all rounder. It has been replace by the D3000, which is rubbish. The D40 had features that are now lacking in the newer models. An example of this is the flash sync of the D40 is 1/500 sec, whilst the D3000 is only 1/200 sec. As well as this it contained all lovely Nikon features from the top end models, good menus, bright screen and very low weight indeed. It was also supplied with the fantastic 18-55mm lens, mentioned above. So my recommendation for a cheap camera setup would be to go online and find a used (or new if you can) D40 with the kit lens, yo can’t go wrong architectural photography!
That’s pretty much it. There are lots of other lenses that deserve a mention, the 135mm and the 12-24mm are just two. However, these lenses will show little change in image quality, and are up to five times the price of anything mentioned above. Basically, these are specialist lenses (either telephoto or super wide angle) for professionals, and you pay a premium for them when the kit lens will do perfectly well. If you do want to go for the next step up, the combination I would recommend would be the D90 with the 18-200mm VR DX lens. This would give you maximum versatility, but for probably two or three times the price of the D40 setup.
