Hello photography forum,

Now that high season is over (for me) I am considering to start photography as a hobby. I have no experience but I really want to get into this.


Starting from gear, I am getting this month Nikon d3200,with the supplied 18-55 lense. Also one tripod and a remote trigger.

I plan to shoot sky (night as well),sunsets,sea,basically landscape-nature pictures and afterwards some portraits.


What else I need? (equipment-lenses)
Is internet-books enough to guide me into this?



Any opinion is greatly appreciated.

Check out the Nikon 35mm prime lens. I like mine.
Next on my list is a wide angle like the Tokina 11-16 (i think its 11-16 at least)

Plenty of videos and sites for info, just google anything your unsure off. First thing you need to learn is how aperture, shutter speed, and iso are related.

http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=68878293&f=265

everything in here was done with what you already have. don't need much more

Prime lenses that are worth looking at:
35mm 1.8G - $200
50mm 1.8G - $200
85mm 1.8G - $500

Personally I find the bokeh on the 35mm 1.8G to sometimes be a bit of a headache, and at other times it's amazing. When it focuses properly, it's an excellent lens (I had a defective model, probably not the usual experience). The 50mm 1.8G is supposed to have better bokeh, but it's a 50mm, so you need to decide what focal length you like. The 85mm 1.8G has unbeatable bokeh, but it's more on the telephoto end (more for portraiture, and for particular styles of walk-around photography).

Anyway, a prime lens is what you want. You could try renting something like the 70-300 VR to see how you like telephoto work on landscapes, nature, etc. I am very happy with every penny I spent on that lens. I find I get a huge range of shots out of it, and at $400 + tax, it was a steal.

The reason why you want a prime is because it offers a quicker aperture (the lower the number beside the f, the quicker the aperture: more is blurred infront and behind of your focus subject, and more light is let in so you can take a shot quicker).

You should go out and shoot with your 18-55 lens, and see what else you want. Either a 35mm or 50mm 1.8G lens is going to be a must-have. You're going to probably want to try out a telephoto lens to see how that works out for you. An external flash is really going to allow you to expand your creativity later on, but don't worry about that until you feel you need it, or you have the desire to explore more options (flashes aren't just about lighting up a person in the dark... you can get a lot out of them with landscape-ish shots).

Right now you don't need to spend a penny. Just get to know your camera, its limitations, etc. Make a prime lens your next purchase, and pay attention to focal lengths and how you enjoy shooting. Get a feel for the limitations that you encounter, and figure out what will help you push past those barriers.

This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Oct 6 2013 08:15pm

enough said... i would add good tripod under consideration.

thanks a lot for all the feedback, really appreciate it!

Im currently in a big dilemma, d3200 or d5100? i wont print any posters soonish so the 24 vs 16 megapixels difference doesnt matter for me

D600 > D7100 > D5200 > D3200 > D5100

Whichever you can afford.

You don't just get more mp (and more mp doesn't just mean bigger prints, it's underrated by a lot of photographers to have more mp... the benefits are real). You get a better sensor, better internals, etc. Don't get the D5100.

This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Oct 8 2013 03:10pm

Get a for dummies book so you can learn all of the basics it really helped me out the most while I was starting out.

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-D3200-Snapshots-Great-Shots/dp/0321864433/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381288936&sr=8-1&keywords=d3200+snapshots
This book is camera specific and it will teach you A LOT. I purchased the camera specific for mine.

yes ty for the tip man, I already plan to get one book specialised on the camera that I will purchase

Just waiting now to find the best camera deal

refurbished nikon is the way to go!