[tomtom]

Yup - you're right - just fancied something a bit different.. 

Thanks Gents,

[Scraggadoo]

Let us know what you do in the end - I've been monitoring this thread with interest and may decide on a nikon DSLR as well...!

[tomtom]

Finally ended my dithering (I'm normally much more decisive - honest - well usually.... the again... )

Went for a D5000 with the 18-55vr etc.. £505 from Currys Online (bluergh) and an extra £50 of cashback to come off that as well... as many people here reccomended these gusy are good for tracking the price http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/

WHy D5000? Well, for £90 more than the D3000 you seem to get quite alot more for your money (live view, better sensor, AF, video) but I couldnt justify the £700 a D90 would have cost (that includes the cashback)...

So looking forward to having a play with the new camera 

[Tris]

Nice one Tom, I'm sure you will have hours of fun (after reading the manual  ).

[tomtom]

Some pictures from the new toy...
Only downside (so far) is I've not managed to find a shutter speed greater than 30 seconds.. though I suspect theres an option buried in the depths somewhere.

[Johnny Brown]

Its called a 'B' setting. One tap of the shutter to open, one to close. Exposures long as you like.

[dave]

On my D70 the next shutter speed in manual along from 30sec is "bulb", where the shutter stays open as long as you hold the release. To get "time" which is what JB describes, you use the remote, where its one tap for open, one for close.

[Johnny Brown]

Ta. I can't say I ever use it on a electronic release.

[tomtom]

Yup - my old film SLR's had a B setting - but cant seem to find it here... gets to 30 secs then no further.. which surprises me. Its probably hidden somewhere - though the menu's are pretty good.

[dave]

You are in manual mode not shutter priority right?

[Tris]

Nikon announce new super telephoto lens

[dave]

I think that's just a minor upgrade to the existing 200-400 rather than a new lens, updated vr etc.

[Tris]

New in the sense of not being old or having been seen before 

a new addition from Nikon

The new AF-S NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G ED VR II lens weighs in at 7.4 lbs

this new lens affords a constant maximum aperture of f/4

this new NIKKOR lens features Nikon VR II image stabilization

The new 200-400mm f/4 lens

I think it's a new lens?

[tomtom]

I've ordered two, just in case.......

[Johnny Brown]

What Dave said.

[Tris]

I've ordered two, just in case.......

I'm gutted I recently wasted £50 on a 400mm Tamron lens from Ebay, I knew I should have held out a bit longer...

[tomtom]

No worries Tris, bung me - erm lets say £2500 (half the upgrade cost) and I'll send you a insta-VR (tm) vibration reduction kit. Its universal as well, so you can use it on all your lens'

[chummer]

Due to totally fucking my shoulder I think it's a good time to other things so am looking to replace my old Pentax 35mm with a DSLR and have seen this:

Nikon D90 Digital SLR Camera 18-105 VR Kit, for this:

£599 brand new.

done some research and seems pretty good for me, what do the knowledgeable folk on here think? I have no specific preference for Nikon, I just want a rite good DSLR that'll do me for a good few years without spending more than about £600. It would be nice to have good quality 'video' but not essential.

Any other suggestions at this price range. (Not bothered about compatibility with my old Pentax lens)

Cheers
Jon

[chummer]

not getting into the Cannon V's Nikon shit too much what would the Cannon equivalent be and what are the pro's and cons?

[JamesD]

D90 is good, but I can't stand plastic camera's.
I would say a secondhand D300 is better because it will last you longer, yes you get the ever so slightly older sensor, and no video, but you get:

Far better speed of use
More manual controls available which helps facilitate the above ^
Super durable pro quality body
Better weather sealing etc

Canon equivalent I guess would be something like a 7D in terms of image quality, however I think the Nikon still trumps it at higher ISO's, but the 7D does have the higher resolution.

[chummer]

cheers for that James, the only thing I thought about the D300 was that maybe it may be less user friendly to a punter like me as opposed to a proper keen photographer with less scene modes, etc. I maybe selling myself a bit short there admittedly.

[JamesD]

cheers for that James, the only thing I thought about the D300 was that maybe it may be less user friendly to a punter like me as opposed to a proper keen photographer with less scene modes, etc. I maybe selling myself a bit short there admittedly.

Scene modes?
I can't even remember what they are lol, but the sooner you learn to start "seeing" shots in terms of exposure colour temperature, and balancing/altering the above the better your photography will get, if you mean shooting modes then they are all manually accessable from the controls on the D300.
At first the D300 may seem a bit more daunting with all it's extra buttons and so on, but after a month or so you will love just how much faster everything is to access, you just can't underestimate how much nicer it is having the majority of your camera's controls sitting intuitively at your finger tips as opposed to being stuck in shitty long winded menus for half the time, it helps you focus on "just shooting" rather than spending ages faffing around with menu's to try and change the most basic of settings.
I picked up a D90 a little while ago, and I think I lost my patience with it within about 20 seconds, all I could think was menus, menus, more bloody menus, I just have to push one button on my D300 and I could have done this 30 seconds ago!
If you're not fussed about video, bin the D90 idea off and get a D300, it will seem scary at first, but a few weeks in I guarantee you will come back and thank me, if someone gave me a D90 now and expected me to shoot all day with it, whether for fun or professionally, I think I would throw it away and pick up my D300 after 5 minutes, it's just so much slower to operate in every way, and the lack of a durable body and decent weather sealing just make it such a crappy alternative IMO it's not worth purchasing.
So in summary: D90 great at first until you grow out of  shooting in automatic modes,
D300 will feel slightly daunting and sketchy at first if you are used to shooting in various non-manual modes, or in an automated fashion, however once you better understand shooting manually (which you will need to if you want maximum control over your images), and get to know the controls, it is awesomely fast and quick to use, has a durable pro quality body, and will give you years of great service and not split into pieces if you knock it around a bit.

[JamesD]

Ok I just saw what scene modes are, I always shoot RAW so just do all that stuff in Lightroom/photoshop, if you want the best image quality that is the ideal route to go with your images.

[chummer]

Bugger! You totally have me sold on the d300 but in the end it's all come down to cost. I can't find one for anywhere what i can afford, the d90 deal i got was almost half price at £600, still more than I can really afford but it's such a good deal, new and unused its cheaper than the second hand deals I've seen. It seems I may wait for the prices of the 300d to come down even more or just buy a body at a later date and sell my d90 on when i out grow it. The menu thing is definitely a put off but on the plus side I can start to play around with video for the first time.
Thanks for your input James, I'll let you know how I get on with it.
all the best
Jon

[Paul B]

Errr Canon 550d a contender here?
I'm in love with mine. Shoots great footage which in most tests comes out comparable with the 7d in full blown HD.
Colours seem much more true than they did straight out of my 1000d, it can even handle my bright pink rope without going all mental red on me.
I think its all pretty intuitive to use, Johnny B didn't throw it back in my face when he was fiddling on with it and he's a Nikon user.
It seems to get glowing reviews just about everywhere I've seen. Its within budget given the EOS spring cashback offer.
I know over on HV20 a lot of the users that have shot with any kind of 'scene' mode have since stopped as now and again they've found they can't colour correct properly for skin tones in post processing (this is in video), most seem to shoot on the default or at the very most the 'neutral' setting.