Digital SLR w/ standard & macro lens for £500
- Thread starter Blzebub
- Start date
cliffpatte
Speed camera anarchist
At new prices, I don't think its possible. The Nikon D3100 kit with the 18-55 lens is already around £450 before you start looking for your macro lens. You could probably find a second hand D90 with the 18-55 zoom for a bit under £500 and then add something like the 60mm AF-D micro nikkor for £100 or so.
If you don't mind me asking, what are you looking to photograph - I can then doff the thinking cap ...
If you don't mind me asking, what are you looking to photograph - I can then doff the thinking cap ...
cliffpatte
Speed camera anarchist
IIRC you're in Scotland aren't you ?
www.ffordes.co.uk is pretty good
if you don't mind hiking up to "the smoke" then there are specialist dealers like www.graysofwestminster.co.uk (Nikon) and more general ones like www.apertureuk.com
cheers
Cliff
www.ffordes.co.uk is pretty good
if you don't mind hiking up to "the smoke" then there are specialist dealers like www.graysofwestminster.co.uk (Nikon) and more general ones like www.apertureuk.com
cheers
Cliff
vuk
\o/ choose anarchy
bub.
to take macro pictures properly, you really have to know what you are doing. part of it is understanding the focal length required for subject matter, which requires experience. on top of it all, given that this is a niche market, prices for quality are going to blow your budget. i would hold off on the macro thing until you get the fundamentals sorted. the good news is that the standard lens (50mm) you want is the easiest thing to produce and $75 (second-hand) can be enough (i've done it for $25), given that you're prepared to go manual--if not,then you're no better than users of speakerettes.
vuk.
to take macro pictures properly, you really have to know what you are doing. part of it is understanding the focal length required for subject matter, which requires experience. on top of it all, given that this is a niche market, prices for quality are going to blow your budget. i would hold off on the macro thing until you get the fundamentals sorted. the good news is that the standard lens (50mm) you want is the easiest thing to produce and $75 (second-hand) can be enough (i've done it for $25), given that you're prepared to go manual--if not,then you're no better than users of speakerettes.
vuk.
Hi fox.
Very good, but I'm an iPhone refusenik.
Hi vuk,
Thanks for the advice. I know nothing about digital cameras. I used to have an Olympus OM10 35mm SLR (I think that's what it was) and I know about f-stops, exposure times and ISO. I assume those principles carry across to digital? The macro stuff will be photos of watch movements, dials and hands.
Any good budget bodies, or are they all much of a muchness?
Very good, but I'm an iPhone refusenik.
Hi vuk,
Thanks for the advice. I know nothing about digital cameras. I used to have an Olympus OM10 35mm SLR (I think that's what it was) and I know about f-stops, exposure times and ISO. I assume those principles carry across to digital? The macro stuff will be photos of watch movements, dials and hands.
Any good budget bodies, or are they all much of a muchness?
RichardH
Bodging pleb
It also depends how macro you want to go, and how well you want to do it. Some of the kit lenses (look away vuk) have the ability to work in "macro" mode - i.e. they will focus up very close and give you a reasonable result.
If you're prepared to go second hand, then you could do worse than a Pentax *istDS for around £125 with standard kit lens. Add a manual Pentax 50mm 1.4 (or 1.7 - not as nice IQ but still pretty good) - remembering that there is a "zoom" factor due to sensor size - i.e. a 50mm lens for 35mm is more like the equivalent of 75mm on a digital body (unless you go full frame).
I'm sure everyone who has "bought" into a particular system (Nikon, Canon, whatever) will be happy to recommend similar things.
Nice thing about Pentax is you can buy pretty much any Pentax mount lens from the last 50 years and it will work - though of course it will be manual focus. However, for close ups & still subjects, frankly I prefer manual focus anyway.
Don't forget a decent tripod and consider lighting too.
If I get a minute I will try taking a couple of "macro" shots with my kit lens to give you an idea of what you can do.
If you're prepared to go second hand, then you could do worse than a Pentax *istDS for around £125 with standard kit lens. Add a manual Pentax 50mm 1.4 (or 1.7 - not as nice IQ but still pretty good) - remembering that there is a "zoom" factor due to sensor size - i.e. a 50mm lens for 35mm is more like the equivalent of 75mm on a digital body (unless you go full frame).
I'm sure everyone who has "bought" into a particular system (Nikon, Canon, whatever) will be happy to recommend similar things.
Nice thing about Pentax is you can buy pretty much any Pentax mount lens from the last 50 years and it will work - though of course it will be manual focus. However, for close ups & still subjects, frankly I prefer manual focus anyway.
Don't forget a decent tripod and consider lighting too.
If I get a minute I will try taking a couple of "macro" shots with my kit lens to give you an idea of what you can do.
Bub,
As has been mentioned previously, the current entry level offerings from canon/nikon are very capable - which is better is very much a matter of opinion, and realistically, they will all take fantastic photos.
As has been stated, extension tubes with the right lens will give you a macro ability, but the lens correction will not be ideal, so quality will be somewhat compromised. It really does depend on how macro you mean, and what quality of result you are after.
Just as an example, the canon standard kit lens for cropped cameras, the 18-55 IS, has a magnification of 0.34x. Basically the sensor image is 1/3rd of the size of the item you are photographing. If this is enough magnification depends on the application. General purpose lenses are optimised for inifinity focus, and will have softness and chromatic problems at close distances. Again, this may or may not be a problem depending on application.
So my advice? Get a standard canon/nikon intro camera setup, with their standard kit zoom, and see if the macro ability is good enough. Get extension tubes first to give you more macro, or if you decide you want to go properly macro, a nice macro telephoto, maybe the tamron 90mm macro which is generally considered a fine optic.
Oh, and one other thing, canon do a MP E 65mm macro lens which is a very odd beast. It goes from 1x to 5x magnification, so it's really a microscope in canon EF lens mount. It costs lots though, but if that's your thing, worth thinking about.
Cesare
As has been mentioned previously, the current entry level offerings from canon/nikon are very capable - which is better is very much a matter of opinion, and realistically, they will all take fantastic photos.
As has been stated, extension tubes with the right lens will give you a macro ability, but the lens correction will not be ideal, so quality will be somewhat compromised. It really does depend on how macro you mean, and what quality of result you are after.
Just as an example, the canon standard kit lens for cropped cameras, the 18-55 IS, has a magnification of 0.34x. Basically the sensor image is 1/3rd of the size of the item you are photographing. If this is enough magnification depends on the application. General purpose lenses are optimised for inifinity focus, and will have softness and chromatic problems at close distances. Again, this may or may not be a problem depending on application.
So my advice? Get a standard canon/nikon intro camera setup, with their standard kit zoom, and see if the macro ability is good enough. Get extension tubes first to give you more macro, or if you decide you want to go properly macro, a nice macro telephoto, maybe the tamron 90mm macro which is generally considered a fine optic.
Oh, and one other thing, canon do a MP E 65mm macro lens which is a very odd beast. It goes from 1x to 5x magnification, so it's really a microscope in canon EF lens mount. It costs lots though, but if that's your thing, worth thinking about.
Cesare
cliffpatte
Speed camera anarchist
AF-D and AF-S lenses should work fine on the D90. If you're going to get a DX or APS-C sized sensor, you might want to look at the new Nikon Macro lens for DX bodies - the AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85mm f/3.5G ED VR
Hi Cliff
No speaka da lingo. WTF is a DX or APS-C sized sensor? Does the D90 have this? Is it a desirable thing to have?