buying Nikon d5000 - is this a good price?

I've been researching for nearly 2 mos and have made up my mind BUT....I'm leaving for vacation Dec 12th so want to get this ordered ASAP and want to have everything I need to take pics. (I'll take my familiar Kodak P&S too and not expect myself to master the slr for another few months at least! LOL.)

QUESTON: Is this the best route to go $ wise? (Kit lens and some free perks, tripod, cleaning kit, case, and screen cover)

http://www.us1photo.com/...d=8527&osCsid=ef02557661819e04fba7012a40589c92

I should prob get an SD card or two but do I really need the $$$$ ones? What type and size are good and where's the best place to buy? (Is the offer on this site, at the very top of the page a good deal? Buy one high speed card and get another free? They're like $144 each!)

Can't I get along without an extra battery for a while? ("til I really get addicted and have to go on week long shooting safaris?)

And I don't need to know about more lenses right away but I do wonder how I figure out what lenses fit this body and where the best place is to buy them. I'm not opposed to used at all but want to be sure they're not damaged or something.

Thank you!!! I appreciate this site and the forum folks for helping me get started. The shared info is wonderful!!

Your link goes to the main page so I don't know what package you're looking at. Can you list specs and price? Don't know this vendor. If it's a similar price at Amazon, B&H or Adorama, you're probably more safe going with them. Plus, B&H and Adorama have Bing Cashback to save you even more money.

You don't need an extra battery at the beginning. These batteries go the full day, recharge quickly and most people sleep at least once a day, when the battery can be charging.

In terms of SD Card, this card is $36, should be big enough for most people and is as fast as they come. You can probably go cheaper but others will know more about cards than I do.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/580124-REG/SanDisk_SDSDX3_004G_A31_4GB_Extreme_III_.html

In terms of packages that come with extra batteries, cards, camera bags, etc, these usually aren't worth it. The accessories are often cheap and have high profit margins. I would recommend to buy the body and lens and then accessories separately.

If in doubt, check reseller ratings. Their lifetime rating is 6.8 and the last six months 5.64 - not exactly stellar by any means. Personally, I would avoid them - seems to be a lot of bait and switch style selling according to some of the reviews, and any company with multiple names can't be good either.
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WSSA# 280
James

The kit with 18-55 VR Lens is $629.88 @ http://www.jr.com...It shows $749.95 until you add it to the cart

pic_chic said:

I've been researching for nearly 2 mos and have made up my mind BUT....I'm leaving for vacation Dec 12th so want to get this ordered ASAP and want to have everything I need to take pics. (I'll take my familiar Kodak P&S too and not expect myself to master the slr for another few months at least! LOL.)

QUESTON: Is this the best route to go $ wise? (Kit lens and some free perks, tripod, cleaning kit, case, and screen cover)

Click to expand...

The body is selling for less at Amazon when you put it in the cart an they are reputable.

pic_chic said:

http://www.us1photo.com/...d=8527&osCsid=ef02557661819e04fba7012a40589c92

I should prob get an SD card or two but do I really need the $$$$ ones? What type and size are good and where's the best place to buy? (Is the offer on this site, at the very top of the page a good deal? Buy one high speed card and get another free? They're like $144 each!)

Click to expand...

Sandisk Extreme and many other cards are great! I recommend a CLass 6 card.

pic_chic said:

Can't I get along without an extra battery for a while? ("til I really get addicted and have to go on week long shooting safaris?)

Click to expand...

I think that you should be fine in the beginning. You will get about 500 shots per battery and a month or two down the road, you can get second one.

pic_chic said:

And I don't need to know about more lenses right away but I do wonder how I figure out what lenses fit this body and where the best place is to buy them. I'm not opposed to used at all but want to be sure they're not damaged or something.

Click to expand...

For auto-focusing lenses, Nikon's AF-S, Sigma's HSM, and Tokina's Version II lenses will all auto-focus on the D5000...

pic_chic said:

Thank you!!! I appreciate this site and the forum folks for helping me get started. The shared info is wonderful!!

Click to expand...

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/artsvisions/

I just purchase a D5000 with the two kit lenses (18-55mm VR and 55-200mm VR) for $849 at one of our local stores, but if I had to do it all over again, I would have gone with Amazon. Their price today for a D5000 with 18-55mm VR lens is $641, which is up from $618 yesterday. I haven't tried it, but I've heard that if the price drops within x number of days, they'll refund you the difference.

^^ i dont think amazon has price protection

Thanks folks for the quick replies!

Quash, it's the kit lens and body I was looking at. The seller "us1" was one listed below the review on dp. That's how I found them. Thanks for the inital warning. Jimmybob for the gory details on that seller! LOL (Bought ONCE from a place that had bad reviews and regretted it! Will not do that again!)

Rod and Teksavvy, thanks for the links for links/ideas on better priced sites. I wondered if it might be cheaper to buy them seperately. I'll check that out. Appreciate the recommendations on lenses and SD cards too Tek. (Took notes for later.)

Austintx, bummer about the higher price BUT it was good to be able to see it in person first and I'm sure the locals appreciate the business and will be helpful to you later. I wonder what will happen to all the brick and mortar photo stores. I couldn't honestly tell ya where one is located in my area or even in a 150 mile radius!

Jeevn, I've bought from Amazon before and never heard of price protection but never really thought about it. Guess I didn't realize the prices could change so quicly. Hmmm...something to think about.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply!! Much appreciated!