Thinking of Buying a Nikon D5100

pumaz

pumaz

pumaz

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I was browsing HUKD last night and noticed the Nikon D3100 with Kit lens was available for under £300 with cash back. Now it had already been decided before we go on holiday again we would replace our trusty Lumix TZ7 with an SLR as both me and the wife love taking pictures and want a bit more quality :)

So I spent the night reading up on the Nikon and came to the conclusion that it would be best to spend a little extra on the D5100. So this is what I want to go with.

What I'd like to know though, should I buy just the D5100 body and a separate lens like the 35mm 1.8G or should I just get the D5100 with kit lens?

I like taking pictures of landscapes, people, buildings and the occasional macro. Is there a single lens that would do all this? I'm on a tight budget (£600 max) and want to use as few lenses as possible to achieve my goals.

Any advice gratefully received :)
 
You'll be hard pressed to find a single lens that can do all of that and for under £600.

Personally I have a D5100 with 18-105mm and 35mm lens, both highly versatile in their own ways.

You can buy the D5100 with the 18-105mm kit lens for £470 from Jessops and get the 35mm for £118 after cashback, and you'll have a fair few cash left to spare.
 
the D5100 and the 35mm 1.8g is a good combo
body only from jessops £287 after £55 cash back and the lens £139 after £20 cash back
im sure you could probably get it cheaper elsewhere I just didn't look at the ones that ship from hongkong as I like to buy here in uk on stuff that cost this much for my piece of mind
 
Thanks guys :)

Lemonade - if I had the two lenses you have "18-105mm and 35mm" what would I not be able to do or do well? Sorry if this is a dumb question, I honestly have no idea

ShakenNstirred - I'm the same as you and would rather spend a little extra for piece of mind and buy from reputable UK suppliers
 
From on top of my head, you won't be able to do proper macro stuff, as neither of those are macro lens, as well as things like taking photo of sports you need fast zoom lens etc.

Otherwise they are perfect for taking pictures of landscape, buildings, people, portraits and the occasional macro shot.
 
Just been doing some more research and seen a couple of reveiws saying that the "18-105mm" pretty much covers everything and is as fast as a 35 or 50mm prime.

I've seen a Nikon D5100 With 18-105mm VR for £499 delivered from DigitalRev. Couple of question - is this a good company i.e. not grey importers and will I be able to claim further cash back from Nikon?

Lemonade - which of the two lenses do you find yourself using the most? have no real interest in taking sports shots and only play at taking macro's so I'm just wondering now if I can get away without having a 35mm as well.

I had a Sony A200 for a while but didn't really appreciate what I had at the time and hardly ever used it. Ended up selling it to fund some silly hardware upgrade. One thing I did learn from from the A200 is dust is a nightmare to get rid of so the fewer times I have to change lenses the better!
 
The 18-105mm is a really nice versatile lens, but is not as fast as the 35mm nor as sharp, although not exactly far off. The 35mm 1.8 IMO is a must have, it's fantastic in low light and creates some awesome bokeh, and if you want to get into photography this lens will make you be more creative and learn photography. It might be sensible to start of with the 18-105mm and get 35mm at a later date, but the cashback offers might not be around then.

Your choice really, the 18-105mm is a great lens and will serve you well, you don't "need" the 35mm but it's nice to have as mentioned before. I haven't had the 35mm long enough to say I use it more, I will probably use both equally as they serve different needs, the 18-105 being a better walk around lens due to the versatility of the zoom, but I really do like the 35mm as it makes you "think" more creatively.

As for DigitalRev they are a grey importer based in Hong Kong, you won't get any cashback and Nikon UK will not deal with you with warranty etc. Cheapest place is Jessops which is £470 with the cashback.
 
I have had a D5100 for 6 months now, its my first DSLR, self teaching photography as a hobby at the moment and doing the odd job for friends & family. Its a great camera for a beginner.

I can't comment on the 18-105mm. I own the 18-55 VR Kit Lens, the 55-200 VR & the 35mm F1.8. All seem great lenses to me but I'm not exactly a pro. I would love to get rid of the 2 zoom lenses and replace with an 18-200 but the cost is just too much for me at the moment. I just have to change lenses more often. Although the 35mm stays on the camera 80% of the time.

Another must IMHO is a hot shoe flash. I bought the small & light SB-400 new for around £85 and it is a great flash for simple shots, no settings just mount and snap. This is a landscape only bounce flash which is a must for shooting indoors, it makes an unbelievable difference to your images.

I have recently purchased an SB-700 as I found myself out growing the SB-400 quite quickly as its can be quite limiting when taking portrait shots etc. The 700 is much better but is much bigger and heavier.

Just something to think about really when considering your budget as the pop up flash it pretty pointless. Also be aware that the D5100 doesn't have the commander built in to fire remote flashes, the SB-700 does though but means you would need more than one. If this is far beyond what you expect to do with the camera I wouldn't worry. Its still a great camera.
 
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Could I cover everything with the Nikon 35mm and a sigma 70-300mm F4? The sigma is going for £100 on the rainforest so I could get the D5100 and these 2 lenses for around £500 after cash back.

What's your thoughts on the Sigma 70-300mm over the Nikon 18-105mm
 
Even more confusion lol

So is the "Canon EOS 550D Digital SLR Twin Lens Kit - £449" a better option than a Nikon D5100 + Nikon 35mm and a sigma 70-300mm F4 for around £500?

I just want a good starter kit that I'm not going to grow out of within a year that will also cover as many of my requirements as possible for under £600!
 
The d5100 is the better camera imo

You could go and hold each of them and see wich you prefer, each will feel different, personally though I can learn to live with a cameras feel so generally my decisions are based on which has the better technology , image quality ,features and value compared to the nearest competition


Ps I used to have the sigma 70-300 for a 20d and I didn't like it , It's cheap though ,but if you need the reach and don't want to splash out on mega expensive lenses then it's worth trying
 
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I feel exactly the same as you JBuk, I can adapt to the camera, so how one feels on initial use is of no concern :)

Yeah I would like something with reach if possible, for example I'd like to be able to take sharper pictures of the the ancient lycian rock tombs in Turkey than I achieved with my TZ7.
 
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