p.1 #1 · Best lens for nikon d7100 for walk around and wedding
I am convinced in buying a d7100 and need some help for a walk around lens and portrait lens and later photography . Any suggestions ? I'm also looking to buy a nikon d7100
p.1 #3 · Best lens for nikon d7100 for walk around and wedding
I was at first going for the nikon d800e but through a intense thread , and since I am new to photography . I was told not to get into a full frame until I know the basics . I do agree with them and I should start off with something to see what I'm getting myself into .
For a little more than $1000 you'll have a setup that will let you learn a lot. As you start to figure things out, you can then decide where to invest more money - maybe you'll want to buy flashes, or a long zoom, or maybe your desired D800 . But it'll be a great, lightweight, inexpensive setup to start with with a couple focal lengths.
p.1 #6 · Best lens for nikon d7100 for walk around and wedding
Finally made your decision huh? Back when I had a D7000 I found myself using 35mm 1.8 more than my 50mm. It's wide enough for almost everything and it's very lightweight. Plus since it's a fixed focal length prime, you'll learn how to move around to fix your composition.
Sal picasso wrote:
I am convinced in buying a d7100 and need some help for a walk around lens and portrait lens and later photography . Any suggestions ? I'm also looking to buy a nikon d7100
p.1 #8 · Best lens for nikon d7100 for walk around and wedding
I am using the 50mm F1.8G and the 85mm F1.8G on my D7000. There was a thread discussing the 40mm F2.8 Micro which I like. I borrowed one to try it out.
p.1 #9 · Best lens for nikon d7100 for walk around and wedding
Agree with the 35mm 1.8 - I'm new to photography and not only is this lens easy to carry and give you extremely sharp images, it also is great in low light settings. Having to use my feet for zoom lets me really think more about composition than fiddling around with the lens.
p.1 #10 · Best lens for nikon d7100 for walk around and wedding
16-85 VR on for the D7100. It's an excellent all round lens, optically strong, ergonomically way better than most any other consumer zoom lens I've tried. Compared to other mid-range zoom lenses, it is among the market leaders for range, optical performance consistent across the range, focusing speed, handling and a far better designed zoom ring than on most consumer zoom lenses. This last feature is actually very important; the 16-85 zoom ring is logarithmic by focal length, and that means that it will appear to zoom at a roughly constant rate in the viewfinder and it's as easy to make fine adjustments on the wide-angle end as at the telephoto end; most zooms zoom much faster at the wide end than the telephoto end, and even a tiny adjustment makes a huge difference at the wide-end, making it difficult to frame your picture accurately. No such problem on this little beauty.
Add a 35/1.8 DX to this and you're in good shape for a lot of different situations.
p.1 #13 · Best lens for nikon d7100 for walk around and wedding
I shoot a D7100, and do weddings. I also do a lot of "general" photography. Some thoughts. Remember what I said previously, the whole idea is to match the lens to what you are doing. "Walk around" is general purpose shooting, and weddings are very specialized. Ideally you use different lenses for them and no one lens is going to be a good match for both. For general purpose, the Nikon 16-85mm VR is excellent because it has a wide range, is small/compact, and has good image quality. It is NOT a good lens for weddings though, since it's too slow and it won't shoot wiht shallow enough DoF. The Nikon 17-55mm f2.8 or Tamron/Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 OS is fast enough for weddings and versatile. It's not the ideal "wallk around lens" though because it has a somewhat limited zoom range and is a bit bulky. The single focal lenses (i.e 35mm, 50mm) are fun to use casually, but there's is absolutely no way they'd work for me doing weddings. Too liimited.
So, what should you do? I suggest buying a used D7100 and used Nikon 16-85mm VR. Shoot with it, learn photography. Just one camera body and one lens is not enough to start shooting weddings--you NEED a back up body. That's essential. You need to shoot in the real world to learn Light, and what you are doing. You can always sell the 16-85mm later and buy a lens for weddings later, when you can afford a back up body and SB-900 flash.
Here's what I recommend for you. Buy a used D7100 and maybe a Tamron or Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 OS type lens, or the 16-85mm VR. Learn it, and add an SB-900 flash as you get more cash and REALLY learn how to use flash. Meanwhile, get a job with one of those leased dept. portrait places. You will find them at Walmart, JC Penny, etc. One of them is called "Picture This." Work for one of these places for half a year or more. They don't pay a lot, but you WILL learn the important things--how to deal with people, how to sell photos, how to pose, how to use basic lighting. This is likely your best way to get the experience you badly need. You will also get a much better idea of what you're going to need. Even if you don't take one of these jobs, do go by and look at what camera and lens, lights they have. It's pretty basic--you'll be shocked. the camera will be a very cheap Canon Rebel with a cheap "kit" lens such as 18-55mm, and the lights will be a pair of Alien Bees B400. It will be very inexpensive entry level gear, and yet they run a highly successful business. As I've been saying, the gear is the least important thing. Weddings are more about fast zooms, and back up gear is essential.
p.1 #14 · Best lens for nikon d7100 for walk around and wedding
dhou wrote:
Agree with the 35mm 1.8 - I'm new to photography and not only is this lens easy to carry and give you extremely sharp images, it also is great in low light settings. Having to use my feet for zoom lets me really think more about composition than fiddling around with the lens.
How well does using your feet for zoom work when you are doing paid weddings? What if the room is too small or too crowded to move quickly enough to get the shot?
p.1 #16 · Best lens for nikon d7100 for walk around and wedding
I'll throw a wrench into things- look at Sigma's 17-70/2.8-4 OS | C (that's the newest one) as a lens that may be fast enough, sharp enough, and light enough for both uses. Do not consider an older non-'C' lens. I rate this lens above Nikon's 17-55/2.8G, as that lens is neither terribly sharp wide-open nor is it stabilized, which can definitely help at the longer end of standard zooms for those still learning their technique.
Also consider Sigma's 18-35/1.8- it replaces a handful of primes, just understand that you pay in bulk for it. But add these two lenses plus a 50/1.8G, which every serious Nikon shooter should have, and you'd be golden starting out. You'll want to put your other money into flashes, straps, batteries, and support equipment.
And as mentioned above, do not shy away from a good used or refurb D7000. It takes a lot of work to make good use of the extra resolution offered by the D7100, and dark environments are one place where the advantages will be truly minimized; walk-around shots that won't make it further than say an 8x10 won't care either. Get the most utility for your money.
p.1 #17 · Best lens for nikon d7100 for walk around and wedding
Two23 wrote:
How well does using your feet for zoom work when you are doing paid weddings? What if the room is too small or too crowded to move quickly enough to get the shot?
Kent in SD
Agree with you 100% Kent regarding the 35mm and weddings - would be inadequate and perhaps inappropriate. I did not realize that that OP was necessarily thinking about weddings based on his initial post - only that he was new to photography and looking for a general "walk-around" lens. My apologies to the OP for a poor suggestion in regards to wedding photography, which I have no experience with!
p.1 #18 · Best lens for nikon d7100 for walk around and wedding
dhou wrote:
Agree with you 100% Kent regarding the 35mm and weddings - would be inadequate and perhaps inappropriate. I did not realize that that OP was necessarily thinking about weddings based on his initial post - only that he was new to photography and looking for a general "walk-around" lens. My apologies to the OP for a poor suggestion in regards to wedding photography, which I have no experience with!
You were certainly on target with the idea of a 35mm for street photography. I use either a 35mm or 28mm on my old Leica IIIc for that. It will certainly do if your first goal is to learn Light. It's just not a primary wedding lens.
p.1 #19 · Best lens for nikon d7100 for walk around and wedding
Since Sal is interested in learning how to become a Wedding Pro I don't see the point of directing him to slow, consumer zooms (I had the 16-85 VR and whilst it's a good lens it in no way compares to a f2.8 high quality lens, whether prime or zoom).
By all means learn, as he must, about light, composition, direction etc. but IMO he should do it with lenses he may be using in the future for paid work, learn what a f2.8 zoom or a fast(ish) prime can do in ambient light, in low light, in artificial light indoors and work that lens with flash.
Everybody has been telling him to forget about the D800 and concentrate on quality lenses (in the other thread) instead and then he gets suggestions to buy Nikon's cheapest zoom. If it were me then I'd be looking at a FF pro zoom that will work perfectly on his 7100 and a fast prime both of which will be even better when/if he ever makes the step up to FF (which as Two23 has shown is not always necessary).
The other serious option - if he doesn't want a mid-range f2.8 zoom as suggested above, is the Sigma 18-35/1.8 and the 85/1.8G (incredible value for money) and he already has a 60mm Nikon micro that will work very well too. These aren't necessarily walkaround lenses, for that the f2.8 mid-range zoom is better, but they will encourage greater versatility and a greater understandings of what the lenses can do, and what he will need, in a greater variety of situations and are more in line with the direction he wants to take.
Now he has the lenses to learn a variety of skills (from group and environmental shots to portraits to children to low DoF and to shots of pseudo wedding objects - rings, glasses, detail in both people's dressing, people themselves and dining) and can compare how these totally different lenses operate and the completely different results he'll get from them, with and without artificial light. No chance of boredom or lack of incentive creeping in either !
p.1 #20 · Best lens for nikon d7100 for walk around and wedding
Interchangable lens camera. Only makes sense if you intend and expect to use more then one lens for different occasions.
The D7100 is a great camera. Using the huge advantage of the access it offers to a large range of Nikkors will only work by finding out which focal lengths and apertures work best for you. Buy a camera with kit zoom, start using it and go from there. Pick up the 35mm f1,8 DX Nikkor to see how well shallow DoF and primes work for you. It's inexpensive and a nice little lens.
Do not forget that the Nikon system also offers remote wireless flash with the D7100 and it's internal flash and that a tripod will even widen the range of possible subjects you can effectoively make spectacular photographs of (nightscapes, macro)
So do not think that your budget should cover a camera and lens, but also filters, tripod, flash, carrying bag and some miscellanious items.
EDIT:: spend a bit of money on some books about photographic technique as well. It's money well spent
. But it'll be a great, lightweight, inexpensive setup to start with with a couple focal lengths.