Nikon D3200

[OldBloke]

Having read all of the recent posts on camera buying advice I decided I too would like to get my first DSLR. I eventually plumped for the D3200 as it gets very good reviews and I liked the way it felt in my (large) hands.

I fretted for a bit on whether to buy the standard kit (body + 18-55 lens) or body + 50mm. I say this because most of the reviews tend to give the kit lens a write-down compared to the 50mm but the cost of the fixed lens is considerably more and I'm guessing that I probably won't even notice the difference in results. So the kit was purchased.

So I've got my camera, a book on how to use it, a nice fast SD card, the WiFi dongle, a case and a desire to learn how to take better photographs. It is inevitable that I will be firing off some questions to the experienced togs so I apologise in advance if I become a pest

So first question ...

Should I be fitting a filter to my lens for protection? A bit of searching shows a polarized community with half saying 'yes - why wouldn't you?' and the other half (purists I guess) saying 'no - just be sensible'. What's your take?

[smilodon]

You WILL bash the lens against something at some point. Which would you rather replace a £20-30 UV filter or a £300 lens? I have UV filters on all my lenses

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

[DrunkenZombiee]

There are many types of filters that you can put in front of your glass.

Any UV protection is now a throwback to the film days as a digital sensor is not sensitive to this so its not very useful, saying that a lot of people use a light UV filter or even just a bit of plain glass to protect the front element of the lens from knocks and bumps as if you mount a £20 filter to the front of a £1000 bit of glass and it gets scratched you can buy another one for £20, screw it on, while the replacement lens is £1000. However if you have a sharp lens adding another bit of it can decrease the image quaility and can also cause flaires and image artifacts which you may not get with no filter. Most pros would not use them as they are insured and want maximum image quality, however most novices do as they want to protect their considerable investment in their hobby. I use a filter on some of my lenses, my expensive long ones I will but my cheaper more stubby ones there i am less likely to wing it into something I will not. Kit lenses are relativbely inexprensive so Personally I would not bother and a decent UV will cost you about £30+ and when you can buy a lens for £80 there is not much in it.

There are types of filters which are very useful for shooting outdoors such as circular polarisers, which manipulate the light to get the desired effect and is mainly used for landsscapes where the sky can get blown out. You manipulate the angle of the light coming into the lens can get some of the colour back. I have fount this very useful in bright sunlight with the sun reflecting off the water, this will change the metering and blow out all of the lowlights in the shot so a circular polariser is pretty damn useful for dealing with that.

Its a marmite thing and is personal choice.

let me know if you need more help.

One other thing i would highly recommend that you go for the 50mm as the next lens to your collection. The kit is great as it has the zoom but allows a lot less light into the lens due to its maximum aperture and therefore you can do less with it in terms of isolating the background etc. The Kits lens will be great for the money but not that sharp, the 50mm will be one of the sharpest lenses you buy and cheap. No zoom on the 50mm but thats why its so good to learn as it makes you think about the shot and move your feet, but not as flexible as a kit zoom. Nifty 50 for learning your camera is the best choice with very little investment.

DZ

[Jamin]

I'm novice, my dslr came with an adjustable depth of field lens but the pictures weren't as sharp as I expected, for the type of creative picture taking I want to do, I bought a 50mm lens and straight away my pictures improved and there were less things to mess about with, I leave the aperture wide open and let the camera decide the exposure time which leaves me to focus on manual focusing as the things I want in focus aren't the things the auto focus thinks I want. The next lens on my list is a 28mm for wider shots and I have a UV filter for protection.

[DrunkenZombiee]

I'm novice, my dslr came with an adjustable depth of field lens but the pictures weren't as sharp as I expected, for the type of creative picture taking I want to do, I bought a 50mm lens and straight away my pictures improved and there were less things to mess about with, I leave the aperture wide open and let the camera decide the exposure time which leaves me to focus on manual focusing as the things I want in focus aren't the things the auto focus thinks I want. The next lens on my list is a 28mm for wider shots and I have a UV filter for protection.

Wide open wont be that sharp on a 50mm f/1.8 or even 1.4 compared to around f/4 - f/8. Most lenses are sharpest at around f/8 but it can vary. It may be worth stopping it down a bit if you are looking for maximum sharpness, f/4 is a good bet. Fixed focal length lenses (Primes) are often optically superior to variable focal length zoom lenses as they only need to perform well at a single focal length and there are less moving parts etc. They are also often cheaper to make so you get more bang for your buck and a awesome lens to shoot with. My 50mm f1.8 is my sharpest and widest lens and it paid £70 for it new, a bargin! I use it for low light and macro, it rocks!

DZ

[OldBloke]

Thanks for the replies, chaps. The 50mm is on my Christmas list :thumb:

[smilodon]

Then there's the 16-35mm f4, the 200mm f2, the 12-24mm f2.8, the 24-70mm f2.8, the 70-200mm f2.8, the 10.5mm fish eye, and either the 85mm f3.5 macro or the 105mm f2.8 macro..... best get both to be safe. You'll need a flash gun, that would be the SB910 (£300). Then there will be a tripod, monopod, some portable lighting, mobile back drops, umbrellas, soft boxes, diffusers, light stands, battery packs and chargers, a fist full of memory cards, a load of unnecessary Adobe Photoshop software, replacement camera strap, lens filters and cleaning equipment.

And then it will be time to buy an upgraded camera body.............. welcome to photography :norty:

[OldBloke]

Then there's the 16-35mm f4, the 200mm f2, the 12-24mm f2.8, the 24-70mm f2.8, the 70-200mm f2.8, the 10.5mm fish eye, and either the 85mm f3.5 macro or the 105mm f2.8 macro..... best get both to be safe. You'll need a flash gun, that would be the SB910 (£300). Then there will be a tripod, monopod, some portable lighting, mobile back drops, umbrellas, soft boxes, diffusers, light stands, battery packs and chargers, a fist full of memory cards, a load of unnecessary Adobe Photoshop software, replacement camera strap, lens filters and cleaning equipment.

And then it will be time to buy an upgraded camera body.............. welcome to photography :norty:

Oh my God :doh:

[suicidal_monkey]

I never bothered with a UV filter, but then my lenses aren't too expensive and have survived enough bashing. I would suggest getting a "circular polarising filter" instead as it's just as protective but allows extra creativity (UV filter doesn't help your photos in any way AFAIK). It is adjustable and cuts out a variable amount of reflection. Very useful if it's a sunny day and the sky behind your subject is too bright or if you want to cut out reflections when photographing something through glass or if it's underwater

P.s. 50mm ftw!

[sulky_uk]

i bought a £5 UV filter for each lens, and replaced them twice on each, better than a scratched lens

[Dingo]

Then there's the 16-35mm f4, the 200mm f2, the 12-24mm f2.8, the 24-70mm f2.8, the 70-200mm f2.8, the 10.5mm fish eye, and either the 85mm f3.5 macro or the 105mm f2.8 macro..... best get both to be safe. You'll need a flash gun, that would be the SB910 (£300). Then there will be a tripod, monopod, some portable lighting, mobile back drops, umbrellas, soft boxes, diffusers, light stands, battery packs and chargers, a fist full of memory cards, a load of unnecessary Adobe Photoshop software, replacement camera strap, lens filters and cleaning equipment.

And then it will be time to buy an upgraded camera body.............. welcome to photography :norty:

.............................and we all thought Golfers were mugs for buying everything they really didn't need!!


Bought a K1000D with three lenses, a K5 with stock lens and I'm good to go.....all for the outrageous price of £360!!.................as in all things in life, talent surpasses the need for indiscriminate spending!!

[DrunkenZombiee]

.............................and we all thought Golfers were mugs for buying everything they really didn't need!!


Bought a K1000D with three lenses, a K5 with stock lens and I'm good to go.....all for the outrageous price of £360!!.................as in all things in life, talent surpasses the need for indiscriminate spending!!

Thats awesome mate. I do like Pentax and I own 2 camera from them an old K1000D and my little Pentax Q whuich I love. You have yourself a fairly bombproof camera there as its all mag alloy if I remember correctly and some cheap manual lenses which should also be pretty indestructible. I love to shoot with full manual lenses and they are a great way to better your photography skills as the camera can do less to compensate for your muck ups and you learn through failure and experimentation.

What full manual lenses did you get?

DZ