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New Pro lens or new D300 body?

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koobaba

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I currently use my D70 to do mainly family/kids portraits. My Nikon lens collection includes a 50 mm f/1.8, 24-120 mm VR, and 70-300 mm VR II. I actually find the 24-120 mm to be a great range for portraits but the images tend to be on the softer side.

Hence, I'm thinking about investing in a professional lens, either the 24-70 mm f/2.8 or the 28-70 mm f/2.8. But on the other hand, I've heard many great things about the D300 as well, how it is leaps and bounds much better than the D70.

So the question is, what should I invest in? Getting a better lens or a better body? The price of these pro lenses are comparable to that of the D300 body. Obviously I cannot afford both. Will the D300 improve the IQ of the 24-120 significantly?

Thanks in advance!
 
The pixels are so much more dense in the D300 that your 24-120 won't grab much more detail.

You could argue the ISO point, but there will be newer and greater bodies every 2 or so years. The lenses you are looking at now probably won't get much better in the time that it would take for a new body to come out
 
I found the opposite - I had a D70 + 18-70 and got a D300 - the difference was amazing - I was finally able to print high quality A3 prints. I then got a 24-70 and that was a big improvement again . . . on the D300. On the D70, the difference between the 18-70 and 24-70 was marginal. I'd get the D300 first (as I did) then get better lenses later
 
I'm curious. Exactly what kind of image quality differences did you see in your pictures going from D70 to D300? Wouldn't getting a new faster lens for the D70 result in the same differences?
 
The increase in pixels allowed larger 250-300dpi prints, as you'd expect - much of the benefit was due to this. But images were also more detailed, better, 'cleaner' contrast and no CA. I rarely used the D70 beyond iso 800 whereas I can go to 1600 with better noise levels with the D300.

There was a thread here yesterday comparing the 18-70 and 24-70 on the D70s showing virtually no difference; my findings were the same on the D70.
 
As long as you don't need big prints go with a new lens. The D70 produces sharp out of the box images. The bigger files of the D200/300 need more sharpening. You can always uprez your images in case you need a bigger print. In case you really want a new body, wait until the photokina trade show in autumn. The D300 is already nearly half through it's life circle, and new cheaper/better models will always follow.
 
Actually as D 300 has CMOS sensor, I moved from canon to Nikon, and I happy with it. Noise and image quality is beyond my imagination. It's just different technology. So you can sell the 24-120 get the kit lens and enjoy D300. You more than happy to try low light capability of D300.
 
to improve the quality of your family kids photos you may need a faster lens yes. I say get a tamron 28-75 or a 50 or 85 1.8. These lenses will give you an edge at the apertures you probably find yourself using for such subjects plus some headroom for lower light or less dof as well. Getting a top of the line nikkor pro zoom will give an iq improvement that will not be particularly noticeable for most photos you take, probably nothing over those cheap primes. (sacrelidge!! how dare I ? )

Why the new body? You dont need more pixels, 6 is plenty. What you will gain is faster more accurate focus and better responsiveness that simply means a better hit rate, less throwouts, more useable photos. Also better auto exposure and AWB has to help too. They are all just tools, choose what will give you the best results, think the whole process, including the taking of the photo, not just what you see at 100% on a monitor.
 
The 24-120 isn't that good a lens, soft and over priced.

That said, the D70 ain't that good a camera. It was relatively good for its time but leaving aside the 6mp aspect I was never all that impressed with the sensor output or its AF. You can get good images out of it but it requires more work than a modern body like the D300.

The 24-70 or 28-70 seem excessive for what you want, whereas the D300 doesn't.

A third party lens such as a Sigma or Tokina on a D300 may be a better choice.
 
phototext said:
That said, the D70 ain't that good a camera. It was relatively good for its time but leaving aside the 6mp aspect I was never all that impressed with the sensor output or its AF. You can get good images out of it but it requires more work than a modern body like the D300.
Click to expand...
Totally agree. Like some posters here, intuitively I would have thought better glass is always the best way to go - this was always the case with film cameras. With digital the rules have changed; unlike what a previous poster said : a D70 with good glass is poorer than a D300 with mediocre glass
 
I would suggest buying the D300 AND the 18-70mm Kit lens.

You will be so happy with the D300, the difference between the D70 and the D300 is big (on the performance side).

The software correction built in the D300 helps bad lenses - quite good.

Another thing, the Kit lens, like the 18-70mm are cheap and very sharp lenses. My 18-70mm than par even much more expensive lenses that I have tested it against.

--



http://www.hondurasart.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=2180
 
koobaba:

1. The three lenses you already have: "50 mm f/1.8, 24-120 mm VR, and 70-300 mm VR II", are good enough for use on the D300/D700/D3. And, I just recently, purchased the 24-120 VR lens, specifically for use on the D700 (it's also, the D700/Kit Lens).

2. Therefore, I would, contrary to some advice of others, say that in your specific case, simply purchase a D300; use the lenses you already have, and perhaps look into getting a super-wide lens, eventually to cover a wider low end than your current lenses will allow on a DX Body, such as the D300. I, also, like that you already have 3 good Nikkor lenses that can be used on DX or FX Nikon Bodies, :-)

3. Good luck, and enjoy your new D300, when you get it; and, by the way, the D300 is sold as a Kit with the Nikkor 70-300 VR Lens, so it's an additional plus that you already own this lens, :-).

--
BRJR ....(LOL, some of us are quite satisfied as Hobbyists ..)


koobaba said:
I currently use my D70 to do mainly family/kids portraits. My Nikon
lens collection includes a 50 mm f/1.8, 24-120 mm VR, and 70-300 mm
VR II. I actually find the 24-120 mm to be a great range for
portraits but the images tend to be on the softer side.

Hence, I'm thinking about investing in a professional lens, either
the 24-70 mm f/2.8 or the 28-70 mm f/2.8. But on the other hand, I've
heard many great things about the D300 as well, how it is leaps and
bounds much better than the D70.

So the question is, what should I invest in? Getting a better lens or
a better body? The price of these pro lenses are comparable to that
of the D300 body. Obviously I cannot afford both. Will the D300
improve the IQ of the 24-120 significantly?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
 
DaiG:

And, it should be a no-brainer that lenses used on the DX D70, can likewise be used on the DX D300, with all the advantages of a more advanced Nikon DX DSLR Body, :-)

--
BRJR ....(LOL, some of us are quite satisfied as Hobbyists ..)


DaiG said:
I found the opposite - I had a D70 + 18-70 and got a D300 - the
difference was amazing - I was finally able to print high quality A3
prints. I then got a 24-70 and that was a big improvement again . . .
on the D300. On the D70, the difference between the 18-70 and 24-70
was marginal. I'd get the D300 first (as I did) then get better
lenses later
Click to expand...
 
About three years ago I was in sort of same situation as you. I had a D50 with kit-lenses and 3000$ to spend. Back then it was tempting to get a D200 or D2h and some less expensive lenses (two years ago a D200 was all the camera anyone could ever want - not anymore it seems). Eventually I kept my D50 and spend the money on pro lenses instead (17-55 and 70-200). Today I'm very happy I did that. The lenses is still worth the same as when I bought them, but I can now have a used D200 for next to nothing and by that have both the pro lenses and the body I wanted.

For thoose of us on a budget, spending as little as posible on the bodies is the way to save the money. You can have the same gear as the pros - just two years later than them.

So get the pro lens now. In 10 years it will still be made and you will enjoy it on all the different bodies you get down the road.
 
I have a D70s so I am somewhat in the same boat that you are, at least as far as the body goes. I would suggest that you look at a used Nikon 35-70 f/2.8 or one of the f/2.8 Tamron or Sigma lenses as they will get you Pro-quality glass at much more reasonable prices than the 24-70 or 28-70 (or 17-55). I have the 35-70 and it is an awsome lens, despite the limited range. It is really great for portraits and the difference in image quality between this lens and the 18-70 that i used to have (or my 18-200) is stunning. I haven't used the Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 but I have seen some outstanding images posted from that lens as well. I am not as sure about the Sigma options.

By purchasing one of these less expensive f/2.8 lenses (all of them run in the $300-$450 range) you will probably have enough left (compared to purchasing the D300 or one of the expensive f/2.8 lenses) to purchase a D90 body when it comes out. You also could look at a D200 body, which were recently on sale at Roberts Imaging for $995.
 
Thank you everybody for all your wonderful comments. I really learned a lot from your insights. I'm actually kind of leaning towards a new D300 body based on the new features (51 focus points, HDR, Fine-tuning, color aberration correction, less noise at higher iso, etc) which may contribute to better pictures with my existing lens. But of course everything sounds good on paper. I'll probably rent a D300 from a local camera shop (they actually have a D300 to rent) and test it out for myself. I want to see if the new features make that big of a difference.

Then again, I'm curious to see what the D90 brings to the table.

Thanks again everybody!
 
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