new camera

[putty]

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-3-5-5-6G-55 ... 973&sr=8-2

what do y'all think of this deal? after looking around a lot, it sounds pretty sweet to me.

i'm going to be taking real estate photos (inside and out) with it.

my main concern is getting good wide angle shots, but it seems that you can't get a true wide angle lens anywhere near these prices, and i can't afford anything more expensive.

after i get the camera and lenses, lighting is my next step. i can't afford a good flash yet, so i'm thinking about getting some natural light light bulbs that i can hang off something (maybe a tripod). any other suggestions for lighting?

[etahn]

That looks like a sweet deal indeed. The Nikkor 18-70 gets better reviews than the 18-55. If all you're going for is the wide end, it makes sense to get one better lens in that range than two worse lenses that give you more range, at least to my mind. Of course, if you're serious about wide, there's the 12-24, but that's in what I consider a good price range for a car.

Here's some good places to look up camera equipment reviews:
http://www.bythom.com/nikon.htm
http://dpreview.com
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/nikkor.htm
http://photo.net

Rockwell's awfully opinionated, but at least he's speaking his own mind instead of the marketing department's.

the d40 sounds like a really great body, especially for those of us who can't afford more. I have a d50 myself, but I think that's just because I found it slightly cheaper.

Best of luck with it. I'm a total newb, but I'm having fun.

[putty]

well, i got it. the full kit, with the two lenses.

i figured two is better than one, so what the heck.

i think this will give me plenty to work with and learn on for a while, before i need to step up to a different lens.

i like that rockwell guy. he makes me feel really good about buying this camera, since he loves it. i can't wait to take some photos!

so, what's the best photo site on the net? shutterfly, kodak, etc.?

[Phrazz]

There are tons of photos sites, some are better at different things (style, interface, learning, forums, etc).

Photo.net is one of the oldest and one of the best for learning technique, but also has a large amount of content and used gear ads. Maybe the most experienced photographers (debatable).

Flickr is widely popular and I like their gallery options, but it's not as customizable in the options.

Picasa (Google) is the fastest for publishing, hands down. ACDSee with the Flickr plug-in comes close. ACDSee Pro Photo has all kinds of editing features, one of the best for batch editing (but I haven't used Adobe Lightroom yet)...but that's a desktop tool that ties into photo sites.

PBase is one of the largest and I still have a few old shots up there.

Kodak, Shutterfly and a few others are good for high-quality prints (I use Adorama...they or B&H is where I get most of my gear).

Pick-a-boo is great for wedding albums.

DPReview and Bob Galbraith have awesome for camera reviews. There are plenty of other fine photographers with excellent write-ups, but I find these two to be on the cutting edge of releases and technology.

How's that Nikon D40 working out for you? Got any samples?

-Phrazz

[putty]

thanks for the tips. i've been mainly just trying to get comfortable with it in my spare time, but there are a few photos up on my athens real estate blog.

thisweekinathens dot blogspot dot com

i love the camera. it's incredibly light (feels like a toy), and takes great photos. more than adequate for what i'll need it to do. and as time goes by, i'll be able to get better lenses, but the two that came with it are fine right now. i just love how you can easily take it anywhere, and come away with great photos.

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practicin some shutter speed!