D80 Accessories help

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Oreo

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For Christmas my far to generous grandparents are giving me their Nikon D80 + Nikkor 18-200mm DX VR lens. I'm a happy man to say the least !

Between now and then i intend to save up between £200 to £300 to buy a nice addition for the camera. Now i know that amount of money won't go particularly far in the world of photography but it is better than nothing. I just cant decide what to get. Tripod, flash, second hand macro lens, or what ?

If any of you have some "must have" accessory in that price range (it can be 2nd hand) please let me know :grin:
 
For Christmas my far to generous grandparents are giving me their Nikon D80 + Nikkor 18-200mm DX VR lens. I'm a happy man to say the least !

Between now and then i intend to save up between £200 to £300 to buy a nice addition for the camera. Now i know that amount of money won't go particularly far in the world of photography but it is better than nothing. I just cant decide what to get. Tripod, flash, second hand macro lens, or what ?

If any of you have some "must have" accessory in that price range (it can be 2nd hand) please let me know :grin:

I would say to grab a decent tripod and a nice Nikon flash.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, what should i look for in a good tripod ? and what benefits will a good flash have over the built in one ?
 
Arguably the best lens is a good tripod ^_^.

I know I just got a mid-range tripod and ball head for $100 (valued around $150 (~£100£)). So, they are not the cheapest, but they probably double the amount of shots you can take. You can get cheap ones, but often they are either unstable or very heavy. The mid-range ones are often alright, but it really depends. Or you can drop a fortune on one that will do everything. It really boils down to what you want to do with it. Will you be taking it hiking, or will you be using it in a studio? You should let these guys know, as they have their poop in a group here and they can tell you what you need.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, what should i look for in a good tripod ? and what benefits will a good flash have over the built in one ?

A real flash will let you take better exposed shots in the dark, will recycle much faster, has a much better range, and enable you to do things like bounce the flash off the ceiling.
 
Oh okay. Just some research on flash bouncing, I'm very intrigued. Seems to produce good results. The only thing putting me off these flash's is that some of them can be really quite large.
FoxMcCarther, good point. I'd ideally want a light and fairly portable tripod (that i can fit in a suitcase) as i like taking holiday photo's. And am in fact going on holiday just 5 days after i get the camera.

It's not at all cheap, but i was looking at these as a small kit:


tripod: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001CAQTPW/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ASDL50GT0I8UE
head: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001BRP1P0/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE
bag: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00191Z0W2/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE
 
I have really enjoy my manfrotto 190XDB with 486RC2 ball head. If you do some shopping around you can find them as a kit for under $150 (~£100£).

The tripod he linked above is also from what I am reading a good tripod. The maximum height should be the same, and the minimum height is actually smaller on the cheaper one, but the 'Folded Length' is the same(21"). The weight on the cheaper one is about 1lb greater (bringing it in to 4.5lbs) than that of the more expensive.

A brief feature comparison is below, I am not sure what you will be using it for, if you are not really hiking weight can be a good thing for stability.

I don't feel like making a table, so it will be in the following order
Feature: Voyager | Manfrotto

Max Height:--------58" | 57"
Min Height:---------11" | 14"
Fold Length:-------21" | 21"
Weight:-----------4.5lb.| 3.5 lb.
Load Capacity:----10lb.| 11lb.
Leg Sections:------3/4 | 3
Head:-----------3-way | Ball (Both quick release)
Spiked Feet:-------No | Optional

Like I said, it really depends on what you are doing, I personally would pick the manfrotto because I hike with it all the time, and the weight and ball head come in handy (obviously the head can be changed, but being sold as a kit, it is nice). Not to mention the spiked feet as an option. If you are planning on shooting from a level surface, and weight is not an issue, and the 10 lb' recommended for what it can support is ok, the cheaper one will float your boat. If you plan on shooting outdoors or go hiking, I can say you would be happy with the manfrotto, I got it for $100 with the ball head mentioned above, and it does everything I need it to and more. You can probably find one around for about $150 if you do some looking.

Ultimately it boils down to what you want to be able to do with it. Before you get anything though, wait for poizen or Mr. Switch to come in here, when it comes to the hardware aspect of photography from what I can tell, they know it all and they will probably be able to give you some other awesome options.

Oh, and the fold length on both of those is the same, and they should both fit in a suitcase.

Also, information on the Giottos GTMT 8246B is hard for me to find, but from the reviews I read, people seem to like it. Here is what I found out.


Leg Sections: 4
Weight: 2 lbs
Load: ~7-8 lbs
MAX Height: ~58"
MIN Height: ~8"
Fold Length: ~ 20"
Spiked feet: (Possibly retractable?, Unknown.)


From the reading I have done, Roughly in general, Manfrotto is the "Best Bang for your buck", and "Gitzo's" are the gold standard, if you will (usually costing around $400-$600). Concerning the Giottos you listed, I have not really heard much of the company, so I don't really know what to tell you beyond from what I have read, people that own them seem to be happy with them.
 
Thanks for all that.

I didn't really want to spend that much, but going abroad with it, it has to be light. Hence the carbon fiber one. I barely get under the luggage weight restriction as it is. Still i'll take a look at both of them and do some research.

Will these ball head models play nicely with a camcorder ? I have a decent camcorder as it is, and it would be nice if the tripod would work well with it too. I have a really cheap tripod already, but it's tacky not sturdy and the panning is jerky, not so much a problem for SLR's but video is a totally different ball game.
 
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