He needs to first determine his needs relative to the distances that he will be shooting at (zoom range), then determine how much he wants to spend. I have always preferred Nikkor lenses, but there are several other brands, usually cheaper, that may be suitable for him. A good website to review such things is DP Review. It might also be fruitful to read through the various Nikon camera and lens forums on that site.

I never said it ended in the field. I just don't agree with the whole "l'll fix it in post" attitude.....and let me make it perfectly clear since you are under the impression that I have something against shooting in RAW, I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING AGAINST IT! I just find it overkill in this thread about a guy just starting out. 9 times out of 10, someone who's just starting out in photography won't be able to use the extra data in a RAW file to their benefit. They'll spend hours adjusting every aspect and come up with an image that looks just as good as the jpeg. It would be like letting someone drive an F-1 car and expecting him to know what he's doing and achieve the results of a pro.

For a professional fotog, it really depends on what you're shooting. Some sports photographers for example, need the speed without slowing down the buffer. In a setting like fashion or portraits, shooting RAW is the obvious choice. It's a controlled setting and large file sizes isn't as much of an issue.

I shoot mostly in jpeg because for me, it's good enough. I'm not a pro, an artist, a seasoned vet, nor claim to know everything about this field. I wasn't even alive in the 70's. This is just a hobby to me. The closest my images will ever come to a gallery is my hallway... and I'm fine with that.

:iagree:

:tiphat:

:tiphat:

Yeah, that's where we disconnect. My belief is that editing one's images is every bit as valuable a photographic skill as shot composition and camera settings for anyone who is serious about their photography. The ability to do that easily and cheaply is one of the true advantages of digital photography and makes $180 for Nikon Capture or $100 for Photoshop Elements a worthwhile expenditure. Certainly one can tweak JPEGs, but if you're going to tweak, might as well do it in RAW where the data is more amenable. Post processing has been a key component of photography for over 100 years.

I simply don't share your view that it's some kind of crutch used as a means of correcting poor shooting technique. I don't buy the concept of turning over the final image quality to some Nikon engineer's algorithm that reflects his concept of what my images should look like. I understand your point of view...I just don't agree with it.

Then what's the point of spending $5,000 on a camera if you don't trust the engineering? Let's just agree to disagree and call it a day.

You speak as if in-camera image processing to get JPEGs is the major component of a quality camera. Yikes! There's a huge difference between trusting the construction, the sensor (the major expense component), metering, autofocus, and trusting the JPEG image processing firmware. Surely you must see that.

That's not what I meant

One buys a $5000 camera for the engineering execution I mentioned above (construction, sensor, metering, autofocus), not the JPEG image processing firmware.

Perhaps we can put this to rest by just saying that this is all just my opinion. Yours may be different. I have no problem with that...in the end, the OP will have to draw his own conclusions from the discussions.

So you're saying who whole heartedly trust the engineering the went into the construction, sensor, metering, autofocus...but there's no way you trust the engineering the goes into the software.....hmmm okay.

Based on years of experience with this camera, yes...that's what pretty much I'm saying, minus your hyperbole. The construction has proven to be quite robust, the sensor, autofocus and metering are astonishingly accurate, and I couldn't be more pleased with the camera. The JPEGs that come out of it don't usually meet my expectations, however. So I shoot RAW and edit the ones I care about. Pretty much that simple. Your expectations appear to be different. I buy a camera based on those hard engineering elements. I'm indifferent to the image processing firmware of the JPEGs it puts out because it's irrelevant to me.

You're trying to marginalize my argument by using words like "whole heartedly" and "no way". Clever, but not an accurate portrayal of my position.

Lol. This is so far off topic, it's not even funny.

:icon18::icon18::icon18::tup: thanks for the advice guys lol im now confused havent heard from my bro in awhile

Talk about thread high jacking. You photo dorks can take it to the bedroom already. The OP is not a professional, and he did not even take the shots. Geez get over your selves already.