Holiday Toys

[Scott]

Okay, if you got a cool new toy for the holidays, list it here. Me, I got my Xbox 360, and I also built a Windows Media Center PC to replace my HTPC.

What did you get?

[zelig2]

I just bought a new hard drive for my mac along with another gig of ram. After that I'm planning on getting a copy of Noise Ninja for photo work along with Apple's Apeture photo software. I got them all myself since no one would really know exactly what to get for me.

[snodgrass23]

Between Alie and I, we got a GPS unit for the car and a digital camcorder. I'm still working on the Xbox 360. I gave up on Target last week after we went there all through the week and they never had them. I stopped in today and talked to someone about it and they said they got 16 in on Saturday, which was the first day after I gave up last week. :(

I'm also working on getting a Nikon D50 camera in the very near future, so that will somewhat count as being for the Holidays!

[zelig2]

Any chance you're interested in getting a Nikon D70 instead? I'm thinking about upgrading to the D200 and will be looking to sell my D70 at that point. I've taken about 12000 images so far with the camera in about 1.75 years.

My birthday is in the begining of Feburary and my mom just said she'd get me a Wacom tablet for my computer to help out with the photo work. Woo hoo!

[snodgrass23]

Any chance you're interested in getting a Nikon D70 instead? I'm thinking about upgrading to the D200 and will be looking to sell my D70 at that point. I've taken about 12000 images so far with the camera in about 1.75 years.

My birthday is in the begining of Feburary and my mom just said she'd get me a Wacom tablet for my computer to help out with the photo work. Woo hoo!

That depends on the price. I usually prefer to get new stuff even if I pay a little more, but it depends on what you're looking at getting out of it. The D200 is really calling my name too, but I figured since this is my first SLR, I'm going to spend the extra on lenses and an external flash. When are you looking at selling it? I was planning on buying one pretty soon.

Wacom tablets are really nice. I have a small Graphire right now, but have been eyeballin a nice Intuos for a while now. I'm sure I'll break down eventually and get one.

[Scott]

OOh! I love Christmas toys after Christmas :D I'm looking really hard at the Canon Digital Rebel XT.

[snodgrass23]

OOh! I love Christmas toys after Christmas :D I'm looking really hard at the Canon Digital Rebel XT.

I'd go somewhere that has that and the Nikons to look at. Many people, including me, find the Nikons much more comfortable to hold. They also seem much more robustly constructed. I'm sure there would be no problems with the Canon, just personal preference.

[zelig2]

I imagine it wouldn't be until the begining of Feb that I would sell my camera for a D200 (that's when I tend to get birthday cash). I have no idea what people are getting for their D70 cameras currently. Looks like about $600 is the medium on eBay. I take great care in keeping my equipment in good condition. What type of stuff are you thinking about shooting?

I never tried out the Canon stuff since I've had Nikon film cameras for a while so I already had invested in Nikon glass. I have a few friends with Canon cameras. I completely understand about buying new stuff. I'm fine with buying lenses used (if availible) but I wanted my D70 new (only option as I got it the week it was released). I would definately recommend investing in good glass & the SB-600 flash to start off with.

[snodgrass23]

I imagine it wouldn't be until the begining of Feb that I would sell my camera for a D200 (that's when I tend to get birthday cash). I have no idea what people are getting for their D70 cameras currently. Looks like about $600 is the medium on eBay. I take great care in keeping my equipment in good condition. What type of stuff are you thinking about shooting?

I'll probably already have purchased a camera by then. I'm expecting to get one in the next couple of weeks unless something comes up. I still haven't decided which one I want. I was leaning towards the d50, but this morning I looked up more info on the d70 and decided it would probably be worth the extra money for its additional features. Then, of course, I thought I could go a little higher and get the d200. I was talking to my girlfriend over lunch, and she thinks I should get the d200. I think I change my mind everyday. I'm sure I'll be pretty happy with any of them, but I get the upgrade bug quickly, which is another reason I'm looking at the d200.

I shoot alot of different subjects. I like architectural and landscape shots. I also take a lot of pics of my car and others because I'm into cars. My favorite thing to shoot is probably poeple though. I've taken a lot of pics of my neices lately.

For lenses, I'll probably start with the kit lense until I decide which range I use the most. I'll probably get the 50mm 1.8 that is highly recommended as well (plus it's only @$100). I'm also planning on picking up the SB800 flash.

[zelig2]

I'd recommend sticking with the d70/d70s and getting better lenses than going up and spending a lot on the d200. The lense I use the most would be the Nikon DX 17-55 f/2.8, I find myself leaving it on my camera most of the time. I think I might pick up a 35mm prime lense soon to compliment the rest of my bag. You might be able to find a 17-35mm f/2.8 for a reasonable price which would be great for architectural/landscape stuff.

As much as I want the d200 I think I might wait a while and focus on taking more photos. Maybe when I pass the 20,000 mark I'll look to upgrade.

[snodgrass23]

I'd recommend sticking with the d70/d70s and getting better lenses than going up and spending a lot on the d200. The lense I use the most would be the Nikon DX 17-55 f/2.8, I find myself leaving it on my camera most of the time. I think I might pick up a 35mm prime lense soon to compliment the rest of my bag. You might be able to find a 17-35mm f/2.8 for a reasonable price which would be great for architectural/landscape stuff.

As much as I want the d200 I think I might wait a while and focus on taking more photos. Maybe when I pass the 20,000 mark I'll look to upgrade.

Yeah, that's been my thought process too, which is why I was leaning towards the D50 since it was the cheapest. I figured I could practice with it while I bought better lenses and then upgrade the body later on. The thing that makes me think otherwise though, is my intense desire to always upgrade. I've studied the differences between the models enough that there is a good chance I'll be reminding myself what I could be doing with the d200 and counting the days until I upgrade. If I didn't know anything about the d200, I'd probably be very happy with either the d50 or d70.

Like I said though, I change my mind almost every day so it just depends on what mood I'm in when I decide to get one.

[stevec999]

My new Christmas toy. Sony HDR-HC1 HDV camcorder :D

[snodgrass23]

My new Christmas toy. Sony HDR-HC1 HDV camcorder :D

Very nice!!

[Captain_Rob]

My new Christmas toy. Sony HDR-HC1 HDV camcorder :D

:twisted: Very envious :twisted:

[snodgrass23]

Well, I gave in today and picked up a new Nikon D70s camera. I got it with the kit lense (18-70mm). I also picked up a 50mm 1.4 lense and the SB-800 external flash along with a few other misc bits. I haven't got to play with it much yet, but I love it so far.

[zelig2]

What compact flash card did you get?

[snodgrass23]

What compact flash card did you get?

I got a 1gb Sandisk Ultra II. I also editied my last post. I got the 50mm 1.4 lense, not the 1.8. I've taken lots of random pics in the last day and am really liking this camera. That 50mm lense it awesome too. It allows me to open the aperature pretty wide allowing me to take pics in dimly lit areas without a flash and still use a relatively quick shutter speed. When I do decide to use a flash, the sb-800 is awesome giving really even lighting using its diffuser and bounce lighting.

Here is a 100% crop of a picture I took just sitting on my couch while looking through the manual. I had to compress it a little so the file size wouldn't be too big (though its still @300k).

http://www.snodgrass23.com/misc/can.jpg

[zelig2]

Sweet, glad to hear you're loving it. I have an 85mm 1.8 that I love to shoot with. Having a wide aperture like that helps out so much. I have the SB-800 flash but hardly use it as I prefer to use natural lighting in all my shots. Still nice to have though.

[snodgrass23]

Lens Lust Disease has struck already. My longest lens is only 70mm at the moment, so I went ahead and ordered a Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 lens.

I've probably already taken almost 1000 pics since I got the camera.

[zelig2]

You should really go check out Midwest Photo Exchange on North High Street. The main guy who works the 35mm section, named Abdi, is very knowledgable. They have a small but nice selection of used nikon lenses that you should check out. I don't know if they still have it but they've had an 80-200 f/2.8 there before. Their website is www.mpex.com