Hi, I am trying to prioritize what to buy next.  I have a Nikon D80 with a 18-135 lens and also a 70-300 lens.Looking for soe opinions and advice!

I love outdoor on location pictures.  I'm in Sarasota and have some amazing beautiful locations to shoot at.  I also have some budget considerations. I also would like to take those beautiful newborn and baby pictures. 

I am consdering these two lenses

Nikon 50mm f/1.4 approx $300 or Nikon 50mm f/1.8 approx $100

It's is a $200 price difference.  I could start looking at flashes for the difference in price. 

 

 

 

 

If you not doing this pro way, get the 1.8 and the flash.
It will do far more service to you than the faster 1.4 version.

Tomas

tommas4:

If you not doing this pro way, get the 1.8 and the flash.
It will do far more service to you than the faster 1.4 version.

Tomas

I agree! Most people cannot tell the difference between photos taken with either lens... Get the flash instead!

Dan

Thank-You for your input.  I was leaning that way.  I do think I have the talent to go pro, I just need to study hard on the technical aspects so I can do my best work!  If I make money someday I will upgrade.

Another question:

If you were buying a flash for your Nikkon D80 and you had a dream of being a pro but are not one yet.  which one would you buy?

Nikon  SB-800  &369

Nikon- SB-600 $229

Quantaray QDC900WA Digital Zoom Flash approx $180

Looking for opnions and advice!  Thank-You Julie 

the SB-600 would have everything you need -   cameta camera ( check their ebay store)  sells it for  $180 (ish)

the 600 has a lot of features for you to use.

 

 

P

Get the f/1.8 lens.  It is a very sharp lens and so inexpensive.  Pick up the SB-600 with your extra cash.  In the future, you can always get an SB-800 and use Commander mode and use the SB-600 as a slave. 

Hi,

Thank-You for all your feedback.  I am going to buy the SB600 Flash and the 50mm1.8 Lens.  

Another question:

Do you put a UV filter on your lenses to protect them for everyday use?  If you do what brand to you feel is the best image quality? 

On the D80 it has a commander mode built into the camera already.  It is the same mode built into the sb800.  I bought the sb 600 and really wish I would've spent the extra.  My friend has the 800.  It a faster light and it also has a sync socket that can come in handy.  If you watch ebay you can pick them up for a little under $300.  I am working my way towards picking one up but, I have other things I want more 1st.

Well, I would say the 1.8 on the 50mm too, and I would suggest the SB800 if you're going to be using flash.  You can always turn it down, but you can't turn it up if you need it on the 600.

Always use a UV filter to protect the lens.  I use Hoya Pros on all my lenses.  Check ebay, there are some good bargains on filters.

Filters and filters - mmm, good question.

Putting filter in front of 70$ lens is no brainer, especially with front lens element recessed in so much. Use without filter unless in hars conditions /salt water mist, sand storm. Other will disagree, I accept that.

Putting filter in front of your 1000$ lens, that is about protection.

However, putting el cheapo made in who knows where fake 10$ Hoya filter from ebay in front of your lens is not a wise thing to do, regadless if it's 70$ or 1000$ lens.
If the filer sucks, (or is fake - or shipped from China, btw), the image quality suffers, therefore you don't have to bother spending money for the lens; and use el cheapo lens without filter, image quality will be about the same.

So, filters - (UV for protection) - yes, or no, it's up to you. But if you do, quality is the key word here. Look for B+W brand, Hoya - yes, but the multicoated top line (black box).
Filters for effects are different story, however, the quality things apply.

Tomas

Tomas nailed the filter question.  Don't waste good glass with a cheap filter in front of it. 

As for protection, although it is common to do, I'd say skip it.  First off, you have the lens hood which offers quite a bit of protection w/o affecting the image.  And then, the front element of your lens is probably quite a bit tougher than the filter... and I'm guessing that a shattered filter could probably do some damage to the glass itself in a worst case scenario.  Use the lens, and use some common sense.  Use filters for their intended purpose when needed... That's my philosophy.

Good luck!

Oh, and I hope you decided to pick up the 1.8 and sb600.  Great bang for your buck! 

ThankYou so much!  All of your responses have made my decision making so much easier! 

Sincerely, Julie

 

FloridaJewel:

Hi, I am trying to prioritize what to buy next.  I have a Nikon D80 with a 18-135 lens and also a 70-300 lens.Looking for soe opinions and advice!Jewel, 

At only $100, every Nikon shooter should have a 50 1.8 in their bag. I don't think the additional $200 for a 50 1.4 is justified or needed by most people, unless you've got $$$ to burn, and don't mind the additional size and weight of the 50 1.4.You,ve got the focal length range to 135 covered with the 18-135, but it is non-VR. You may want to swap out your 70-300 for the new 55-200mm VR. $300 for this lens is an absolute bargain if you use telephoto in available light on a regular basis.Having said that, even before getting more glass, I think your best, next purchase would be a SB600 or SB800 speedlight ( I'm assuming you already have a good tripod and remote ML-L3).DO NOT get a third party flash! Nikon's CLS (creative lighting system) is the main advantage Nikon has over the other DSLR's, and a Nikon speedlight is essential to your system. The popup flash on your D80 can act as a commander for either the SB600 or SB800 in wireless iTTL slave mode.For shooting babies (with a camera), an SB off camera with light modifiers (umbrella, reflectors, bounced) will open new worlds for you. One important note: when using flash for portraits, NEVER use redeye reduction. The preflash spooks or startles your subject. If you get redeye, fix it in PP instead. The further the light source is from the lens, the less chance of redeye, so this is another advantage of using an SB off-camera. Learn about FV lock with a speedlight. iTTL uses a series of rapid preflashes in setting exposure/flash duration in wireless iTTL. This sometimes has the same distracting effect on your subject as using redeye redux, spoiling their expression. FV lock eliminates the preflashes.Happy shopping and happy shooting!