Upgrade camera or Lens?

[Tom]

The D90 is about to be replaced. IT is a very good camera, but now is a really bad time to buy one.

[tertius]

The latest rumor is D90 announced replacement on or near Sept. 15th (announcement not on the shelf date).

[garykohs]

Originally Posted by Susan

I'm currently shooting with Nikon D80 with Nikon 50mm 1.8 lens and the Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 lens.

Susan, the Tamron 17-50/2.8 is not a full frame (Nikon "FX") lens. It's an excellent lens for a 1.5 crop (Nikon "DX") camera - D80, D90, D300 - but it won't work with a D700. [Well, I guess it will work but you'll only be using about 5 MP of the D700 sensor, which is not a good idea.]

[I'm not a Nikon user so someone correct me please if I'm wrong about this.]

I think you are more camera limited than lens limited right now so I would opt for a new (or different) camera as your next purchase.

A used D700 would make a wonderful wedding camera but you'll have replace the Tamron. So perhaps a new or used D90 would make more sense for you. It is a lot better in low light/high ISO situations than your D80. So I'd wait until that D95 comes out and either get it or buy a D90 on sale.

[chemisti]

Ditto on the DX lens thoughts...

That is why I posted this:

Scenario 1:
D90 = $750
80-200 f2.8 = $1000 (or a used 80-200 f2.8 AF-s)
SB-900 = $450
Already own Tammy 17-50 f2.8
Keep D80 as back-up body (Important for wedding photogs)
Cost (approximately) $2200 (no shipping or tax)


If one was looking for a capable wedding kit and you assume that the had ~$2300 to spend (if considering a D700), this kit gets you capable now and leverages the existing equipment.

17-50 f2.8 - good fast lens, DX, already own
80-200 f2.8 = $1000 (or a used 80-200 f2.8 AF-s) - can be used on FX or DX
SB-800 or SB-900 - IMHO you can't rely on natural light exclusively, can be used on FX or DX, never seen a wedding photog without at least one capable flash unit.
D90 - gets you an improvement in noise at higher ISO (I would look for refurb or used with a low shutter actuation count.
D80 - second body for backup or to avoid changing lenses

This seems to me to be a direct path to a capable wedding photog kit in the shortest amount of time with the perceived budget. It also commits the least amount of resources to the DX format. It is NOT the state-of-the-art, but it is the kind of kit that very good wedding photogs have used for years. It also leverages a lot of the little things that are necessary that add up - like batteries and memory cards...

Changing over to the FX format would allow the use of the D80 as a backup body, but essentially would require a new normal zoom to fill the place of the 17-50 f2.8 lens.

If you are wanting to exclusively shoot weddings and portraiture, then the D700 might well be the way to go over the long haul - but will require a significantly higher outlay - FX capable, high quality lenses in addition to the body. (Something like the "holy trinity" of lenses). This kind of investment could well start running you up into the $8000 - $10000 range and will also significantly increase the weight of the kit. IT IS, however, world-class capability.

And we haven't considered "kicker" capability like a 85 mm f1.4 "cream machine" portrait lens or backups for all the critical pieces of equipment. Remember, weddings are not "do over-able" and reputable wedding photogs generally have a backup plan for the unexpected events or equipment failure.

Good luck.

[garykohs]

Susan, Jeff gives good advice. What I like about his advice is that he doesn't assume that you are comfortable with spending many thousands of dollars on photo equipment right now.

If you are charging people for your photography, though, you need to be honest about what equipment you have and price your services accordingly. If you follow Jeff's advice you can produce excellent wedding photos. Will they be as good as what you could offer with a D700 and the best lenses? No.