Finally got a DSLR

[Philbo]

Hello all,

Well, it's finally time to put my trusty (and brilliant!) old Fujifilm S5600 to bed.

I treated myself to an early Christmas present today and got a Nikon D3100 with 18-55mm VR Kit lens and a Tamron 70-300mm Tele-Macro lens.

I think I got a pretty good deal on the Camera and kit lens with a voucher code from jessops (which they let me use in store) £444. I then got the Tamron lens for £99 (another web deal they let me use in store). All on 12 months interest free finance.

Unfortunately I can't use the camera yet as I refused to pay the ridiculous prices Jessops charge for their memory cards. Hmmm, £49 for a SanDisk 8GB 20MB/s Extreme HD Video SDHC Card from Jessops or £17.99 for exactly the same thing from Amazon. No brainer really but not going to like the wait!

Anyway, just thought I would a share my joy

Expect some first shots in the next few days (or whenever I get the memory card!)

 

[CFC1]

Congrats ... look forward to seeing some pics (memory card permitting!)

 

[shotokan101]

Congrats ... look forward to seeing some pics (memory card permitting!)

+1

JIm

 

[ziplex]

Good luck with it, i'm sure you'll be delighted

 

[Darthchaffinch]

welcome!!

 

[tcr4x4]

Still anoys the hell out me that camera manufactures dont at least include a 512MB card for you to get going straight away. You've spent that much money and you cant even use it straight away without spending a load more.
I can understand it on the higher end bodies like my D700 as you more than likely already have a stash of cards, but on the beginner/lowend bodies I think they should be included.

Look foward to some shots!

 

[Prize78]

+1

jim

+2!

 

[Philbo]

Still anoys the hell out me that camera manufactures dont at least include a 512MB card for you to get going straight away. You've spent that much money and you cant even use it straight away without spending a load more.
I can understand it on the higher end bodies like my D700 as you more than likely already have a stash of cards, but on the beginner/lowend bodies I think they should be included.

Look foward to some shots!

Yea tell me about it!

I raided the house for anything that might have an SD card in it tonight with no luck, and am fed up with staring at the camera, turning it on, looking at the settings, changing over the lens and looking through the viewfinder then turning it off again!

My amazon order looks like its delayed anyway and they are having stock issues and I am the most impatient person in the world so I have reserved another 8gb memory card from Argos for collection tomorrow!

It never hurts to have a spare now does it?!

I just want to take some pictures dammit!

 

[Mat-O]

Nice one, I had a look into this but opted for the D5000 in the end. I'll be interested to hear your comments!

 

[Jammyb]

If you were serious about your photography you'd drive to a 24hr tesco and pickup a memory card right now.

They've probably got some good stuff reduced at this time of night, maybe a tube of cheese and pickle melton mowbray pork pies.

 

[pandemic]

I have brought the same camera myself a few weeks ago, the Nikon D3100. Can anyone here recommend some lenses preferably with auto focus (AFS) and image stabalisation (VR), the former being more important to me though.
Looking for a 35mm fixed lense or similar and a "all in one" lens like a 18mm to 200+mm zoom lens.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Philbo]

Nice one, I had a look into this but opted for the D5000 in the end. I'll be interested to hear your comments!

Yes, it took me ages to decide between the two of those to be honest. I did like the idea of the swivel screen, but read good things about the D3100. I shall certainly let you know tomorrow. Hopefully have some first test shots up on here tomorrow night after I have picked up my card.

 

[Philbo]

If you were serious about your photography you'd drive to a 24hr tesco and pickup a memory card right now.

They've probably got some good stuff reduced at this time of night, maybe a tube of cheese and pickle melton mowbray pork pies.

Haha, I know. The funny thing is I went into Argos on the way home and checked stock of the cards then decided I should be patient and wait. wish I didn't now, Balls to patience!

Mmm I could do with a pork pie now as well. They usually only have crappy celery sandwiches on offer when I go there though...

 

[Mat-O]

I have brought the same camera myself a few weeks ago, the Nikon D3100. Can anyone here recommend some lenses preferably with auto focus (AFS) and image stabalisation (VR), the former being more important to me though.
Looking for a 35mm fixed lense or similar and a "all in one" lens like a 18mm to 200+mm zoom lens.

Thanks in advance.

Well they do a 35mm F/1.8 AFS for about £170, gets good reviews and good value apparently. It will be my next lens purchase for a couple of reasons. I think that 35mm will be more useful than 50mm. Also, the 35mm F/1.4 is way out of my price range (~£1700 ) so I probably won't be replacing a 1.8 until my lottery ticket comes in.

The 50mm F/1.4 is around £250, not a lot more than the 50mm F/1.8. I don't think that 50mm F/1.8 would be such a wise purchase - at least for me.

 

[nikonuser11]

welcome to Da Family- Da Nikon family

look forward to your 'virgin' pics

Def get the 35mm AF-S f1.8 DX - on a crop it's similar to what the human eye views at
For portraits the 85mm AF-S f1.8 is also hard to beat.
the Nikon 16-85 is an excellent walk-about lens and very sharp for the money- great reviews also.

you can pick up mint copies of these here and at TP way under retail prices

 

[Beximus]

I love how the stores can put such a huge markup on their accessories when they're so much cheaper elsewhere. Not all of them, but Jessops is a prime example.

 

[CFC1]

What pee's me off with Jessops is that they quote a price for some items, e.g £199.99 ... then say in the smallprint that the price includes Canon's/Nikon/Pentax £40 cashback ... so you really have to pay Jessops £239.99 upfront!

JUST QUOTE THE BLOODY PRICE THAT I ACTUALLY HAND OVER TO YOUR SHOP ASSISTANT! ... but then again, that wouldn't stack up too well against the competition, would it? ... RYANAIR? ... Getting that way!

 

[Beximus]

I noticed this at the weekend - make it more obvious that the price you're quoting, is the price that you're actually selling at.

So has the memory card arrived yet??

 

[Philbo]

I noticed this at the weekend - make it more obvious that the price you're quoting, is the price that you're actually selling at.

So has the memory card arrived yet??

Yep, I picked it up yesterday.

Still getting to grips with the mass of settings on it and went out briefly in town for a couple of snaps. A bit difficult though as it was dark and snowing a bit!

Anyway, here's one I was happy with. Did a bit of processing on PS which seems to have affected the black sky too much. Only noticed when I looked on another monitor today. Here it is for now anyway! Will try and get some decent light shots this weekend!

Picking up a monopod on the way home tonight too!

Badly needed I feel!

 

[Jammyb]

great shot, weird effect with the snow

 

[shotokan101]

Very nice

Jim

 

[senu]

Very nice

Jim

Quite so

 

[Beximus]

Yeah, I like that picture. Good start

 

[robo]

Yeah agreed nice photo. Looks very good quality Camera. Getting one for xmas