Well I went with a Nikon d50. I got a great price, 490.00 shipped two day and comes with 18-55 lens. I figured for my first SLR this will do. It will be a good camera to learn with. What lenes do you guys suggest?

 

I don't have a Nikon SLR, but often it is very helpful to start with a standard 50mm lens. It is a great lens for taking photos of a single car... it's usually pretty cheap, even when you buy the camera makers lens... and it will be pretty fast, so you can shoot in low light... and it will usually be very sharp, because the camera maker will make so many of them.

Glad to see that you're getting a nice camera... Your cars sure merit it!

 

Seconding the recommendation for the Nikkor f/1.8 50mm lens. Quite possibly the best lens you will ever have, cheapest ($110 on B&H I believe), incredible quality. *Get that lens first*. Filters for the 55m threading (which is the same as the kit lens) are also cheap.

Right now I just got a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8. Yes, the extra 1mm on the wide end really *does* make a difference (and of course the f/2.8 makes a very big one), but that is after many months of just the kit lens and the 50mm f/1.8. There's also an f/1.4 for $249 available as well.

Careful with the D40 though, not all aftermarket lenses will work with it (not sure what the change is, but google/digital photo forums will help).

[Edit: sorry, it's a Tamron, not Tokina]

 

tokina 17-50 is a great lens the tokina 12-24mm f/4.0 is awesome, very sharp lens! this is a very good wide angle lens and it takes great scenery and awesome for automotive too! using the 18-55mm you can learn a lot from but these are some good lens. a 50mm f1.2 is good too and its super fast but its like 1k haha! lens are bank but worth it if you are serious! the tamaron 24-75mm is also good

 

but yah d40 u might be limited a bit but yah! careful not all of them fit! im a canon user but yah i know nikons too! man you should of forked out for the d50! solid solid camera! but yah nikons are good!

 

You should check out the forums on www.nikonians.org. There is a D40/D50 section.

 

Thanks guys. I read a BUNCH of reviews on the d50 before I bought it. I was looking at a lot of others but for my first SLR and not knowing jack about shooting pics I thought it would be a great learner. Shooting pics looks like a cool hobby, Its always intreaged me. Theres just so much to learn Ive always felt intemidated by the whole thing. I guess Ill check out some forums and try to pick up as much as I can. I know glass isnt cheap, Ill just buy em over time.

 

Photography is a fun hobby!

The only thing I'd say to be careful of, is that you don't get discouraged in the beginning. Sometimes it seems like you can take better pictures with a fully automatic camera than you can with a SLR. There are a lot more options with an SLR and the learning curve is much steeper.

Another good, friendly forum is Steve's Digicams. They also have a Nikon Digital SLR forum and a Nikon Lenses forum. Steve's is a good place to start after you get a new camera.

Have fun...

 

Thanks, I also just bought a learning video
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...8653&rd=1&rd=1
I hope it gives me a good start. I think Im also going to buy a fish eye wide angle. With that and the lens it comes with should be a good start, I hope,lol.

 

I have 10.5 and a 12-24, both great lenses, and fun to shoot with!

 

Anyone have pics? If so can you list the lens you used for the shot?

 

Not any of G. I do have some off road shots taken with both...lemme see what I can find...

 

http://flickr.com/photos/strlen/tags/tamron1750f28/ <-- Pics I took with the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8
http://flickr.com/photos/strlen/tags/50mmf1.8 <-- Pics I took with the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8

Digital photography is a great hobby. With an SLR camera, it can easily become just as expensive, if not more expensive, as car modding; it is, however, even more rewarding :-)

 

yah DSLR can be a little intimidating at first but once you give it some time and a world you wont regret learning about it. in fact you will want to know more and more about it and you will probably want to spend more and more on camera gear like myself. but yah i have some photos of a canon 10-22mm which is in the same range as the tokina 12-24mm and its a awesome ultra wide angle lens dude! very very sharp the both of these but since you have a nikon the tokina only works with it! but when i get around to it ill get yah some pics! but dont worry about it just try things out, you'll have fun once you got the basics down! =)

 

Digital photography rocks!

No more film... no more waiting three days for your pictures...