Journal

Camera Quandary

Of course I wasn’t seriously considering the M9. In fact, I’m hoping to step up with a serious-pro sort of set, having messed around with my D40x and jack-of-all-trades 18-200mm lens for quite a bit now. (My very first photograph from the D40x was put up on Flickr on the 1st of January 2007 [via Flickr], so it’s been almost three years.) It’s been a wonderful learning experience, but I thought I ought to settle for a configuration that I could get comfortable with over the next decade or so, with maybe the occasional update.

I think there are some rumours of a Nikon announcement this month or the like, so I’m just going to hang around and wait for that before I decide on a plan, but here’s the likely set-up. I started with the rather famous AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor ED 70-200mm f/2.8G IF, although the imminent update AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II will fit the bill too. This being what I suppose is one of the strongest Nikkors will be what I hope to build my kit around. It’s costly, but I guess you get what you pay for. (Most of the time, anyway.)

Then I tried to cover the short end, with a AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED. Reviews that I could find were generally very positive, though again, you pay for what you get, so this doesn’t come cheap. I’m supposing that I won’t need the very short end (say, 12-24mm), with this sort of money going in (and out of my bank account), so it all looks pretty good.

This notion is helped by the fact that I should probably get that macro lens that I’ve always talked about. I’m waiting to see if there’ll be a 200mm update (with VR), so that will be on the backburner first. And maybe, just maybe, to round it off at the other end, we’ll get to 300mm with the Nikkor 300mm f/4D ED IF AF-S, though this I think won’t be too important.

I’m thinking of a flash, but I don’t think it’ll be too useful given my flavour of photography.

This set-up looks good for whatever I’ll be doing even ten or twenty years from now. I suppose I may sometimes be tempted to get an exotic telephoto or a tilt-shift or the like, but those are easy to bat away.

Now for a body, and I’m thinking, as most everyone is, that there’ll be an update to the D700, so I’ll keep an eye out for that.

Being a poor kid, however, I’m going to have to depend on some quite ruthless spending cuts and excellent second-hand deals to get me through. It also unnerves me slightly that this plan is founded on the thought that these things should see me through for a decade or two, with maybe the odd change of camera body. I’m just not used to planning like that.

I reckon I could garner enough money for one second-hand lens by selling my D40x and a lens or two (Jolie!), plus maybe my 360. I suppose I can also pass on presents and ask people to contribute to my camera fund instead. And a part-time job or short-term assignment wouldn’t hurt either, though given the stuff I do, that’s actually a bit difficult.

The stuff I won’t compromise will include books, gaming (well, at least not too much), and stuff for friends. I think that’s fair, although I’d probably save quite a bit per year if I cut out any one of those. I’ll just be more careful with the random spending, and also reduce some of these things by a bit. I’m just afraid that I’ll get used to this miserly lifestyle.

But that’s the plan. We’ll go for the 24-70mm and the 70-200mm first, preferably some second-hand deal with a slightly reduced price. I’m pretty sure I can find a second-hand body if I want too, and even if I don’t take it all the way to the D700 (or its update), I’m fairly sure I’ll do fine with a D300 second-hand.

On a side note, I’ve just learnt that quality telescopes are in general much cheaper than camera lenses. It caught me by surprise, really, but I reckon it’s down to simpler optical technologies being in a telescope than a camera lens.

d

© 2009 a modest odyssey.