Help me decide which deal is the best!

Hello!

I'm a beginner to the DSLR world and I've been searching for reviews and all that so I can make a better decision.

I'm not from US and I'm going there for Christmas. It's my only chance to get a DSLR because prices are horrible where I live. Summing it up, I cant wait any longer, got pick the best deal and live with that, because I'll only go to US again in 1 year.

So far I have 2 options (dont hesitate giving me more):

My budget is approx. 1500$ and i'm buying my stuff in Miami, at WolfCamera.

I- D90 body only + 18-200 = 1500$

II- D7000 kit with 18-105 = 1500$

I travel often so I like taking landscape pictures, wild nature, cities, villages, buildings, ruins. I also like taking my own picture near these places, just for showing off .

I enjoy some zoom for a close shot, maybe just a person's head, birds or symbols/signs from streets.

Lastly, I absolutely love those plants/insects pictures that the main object is focused and the background is all blurry!

Thanks in advance!!!

I would get the D90 with the 18-200mm lens.

Either will do what you want to do.

D7000 being the latest of the bunch, offers extra features compared to D90.

Meanwhile D90 is a major work horse. I love it. And in my opinion up to ISO 3200+ it is on par with D7000.

But it will always be the old model, for future resale or upgrade buying the D7000 with 18-105 lens makes more sense. You can add additional lenses later on.

zumbalak said:

Either will do what you want to do.

D7000 being the latest of the bunch, offers extra features compared to D90.

Meanwhile D90 is a major work horse. I love it. And in my opinion up to ISO 3200+ it is on par with D7000.

But it will always be the old model, for future resale or upgrade buying the D7000 with 18-105 lens makes more sense. You can add additional lenses later on.

Click to expand...

But if a get the d7000 with the 18-105, wouldnt i have to replace that lens in the future for the exact 18-200?

What would be the right move to make later on: replace the 18-105 for the 18-200 or get other lenses to fulfill the gaps?

Because I see the 18-200 versatility as a very good point, as a beginner I dont want to carry lots of lenses with me.

What do you think?

You may find that you don't get a warranty outside the US when you buy a US camera. If so I would probably not go for the D7000 which seems to be having its share of teething troubles.

Not sure on the warranty thing but definitely worth you looking into.

richiebee said:

You may find that you don't get a warranty outside the US when you buy a US camera. If so I would probably not go for the D7000 which seems to be having its share of teething troubles.

Not sure on the warranty thing but definitely worth you looking into.

Click to expand...

O_ O really? I thought it was just the dead pixel thing, which was already fixed.

What else is going on?

Do you often work hand held or off a tripod?

If Tripod I would lean to the D7000 kit. If hand held, I would lean toward the D90.

Sensor size and the need for "Best shot practices" would be my determine factor here. The d7000 will be a bit more unforgiving to less strict disciplines.

I would also look at the 16-85VRII. Based on you liking landscape work and travel, city work....having a little wider lens might lent itself to more interesting shots with perspective.

Also be very careful of not buying gear in the area you might have to be serviced in. Grey market cameras are often hard to get service commitments from Nikon.

Good luck with whatever you get...and happy shooting.

Roman

sneak3 said:

Hello!

I'm a beginner to the DSLR world and I've been searching for reviews and all that so I can make a better decision.

I'm not from US and I'm going there for Christmas. It's my only chance to get a DSLR because prices are horrible where I live. Summing it up, I cant wait any longer, got pick the best deal and live with that, because I'll only go to US again in 1 year.

So far I have 2 options (dont hesitate giving me more):

My budget is approx. 1500$ and i'm buying my stuff in Miami, at WolfCamera.

I- D90 body only + 18-200 = 1500$

II- D7000 kit with 18-105 = 1500$

I travel often so I like taking landscape pictures, wild nature, cities, villages, buildings, ruins. I also like taking my own picture near these places, just for showing off .

I enjoy some zoom for a close shot, maybe just a person's head, birds or symbols/signs from streets.

Lastly, I absolutely love those plants/insects pictures that the main object is focused and the background is all blurry!

Thanks in advance!!!

Click to expand...

--

“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.”
~ Ernst Haas

We are officially live!!!!
http://www.commercialfineart.com/
Old Web Site
http://www.pbase.com/romansphotos/

RomanJohnston said:

Do you often work hand held or off a tripod?

If Tripod I would lean to the D7000 kit. If hand held, I would lean toward the D90.

Sensor size and the need for "Best shot practices" would be my determine factor here. The d7000 will be a bit more unforgiving to less strict disciplines.

I would also look at the 16-85VRII. Based on you liking landscape work and travel, city work....having a little wider lens might lent itself to more interesting shots with perspective.

Also be very careful of not buying gear in the area you might have to be serviced in . Grey market cameras are often hard to get service commitments from Nikon.

Good luck with whatever you get...and happy shooting.

Roman

Click to expand...

I'll work hand held.

So you recommend me buying the 16-85 instead of 18-200?

I didnt get what you meant about that grey market thing, is Wolfcamera a bad place to shop?

sneak3 said:

zumbalak said:

Either will do what you want to do.

D7000 being the latest of the bunch, offers extra features compared to D90.

Meanwhile D90 is a major work horse. I love it. And in my opinion up to ISO 3200+ it is on par with D7000.

But it will always be the old model, for future resale or upgrade buying the D7000 with 18-105 lens makes more sense. You can add additional lenses later on.

Click to expand...

But if a get the d7000 with the 18-105, wouldnt i have to replace that lens in the future for the exact 18-200?

What would be the right move to make later on: replace the 18-105 for the 18-200 or get other lenses to fulfill the gaps?

Because I see the 18-200 versatility as a very good point, as a beginner I dont want to carry lots of lenses with me.

What do you think?

Click to expand...

If you have no previous experience, you have a lot on your plate, really. Sports, pano,s lowlight, The insects-shots with blurry background need a macro-lens anyway. Wildlife needs more reach, a 70-300VR at least.

So to start off with, the 18-105VR does all you need. 18-200 gives extra reach but not functionality. As for choosing between D90 or D7000: If you persevere and read and learn, in a year there's a fair chance you'll master the D7K. If you think "WHAT? LEARN?? READ??" then you may be better of with a compact, less costly.
Some reading and tutorials:
http://www.cambridgeincolor.com

It's only one sentence, but will take time: understand relation between Aperture, Shutterspeed, ISO and how this influences Dof.

------------------------------------------------
http://s259.photobucket.com/albums/hh315/alex_837/
Just trying to get better.....

I was just thinking that wider would be a bit better if you shoot a lot of landscapes and more options if your close to a building to capture it all with a wider lens while traveling. It is a better quality lens too. The 18-105 would be my next choice if the 16-85 is too short of a lens for you. It has almost identical quality to the 16-85. both are two of the better non pro lenses you can get from Nikon.

As far as "Grey Market" Nikon monitors regions where the cameras are sold and if you buy in the USA and try to get it serviced in say...Spain...or Africa, they can be finicky on honoring the warranty. Grey market means it wasn't sold in the area it was intended to be in service. f we buy a camera that was intended for Europe here in the states...we would get flack from Nikon if we put it in a US warranty facility. They are kinda weird that way.

Roman

sneak3 said:

RomanJohnston said:

Do you often work hand held or off a tripod?

If Tripod I would lean to the D7000 kit. If hand held, I would lean toward the D90.

Sensor size and the need for "Best shot practices" would be my determine factor here. The d7000 will be a bit more unforgiving to less strict disciplines.

I would also look at the 16-85VRII. Based on you liking landscape work and travel, city work....having a little wider lens might lent itself to more interesting shots with perspective.

Also be very careful of not buying gear in the area you might have to be serviced in . Grey market cameras are often hard to get service commitments from Nikon.

Good luck with whatever you get...and happy shooting.

Roman

Click to expand...

I'll work hand held.

So you recommend me buying the 16-85 instead of 18-200?

I didnt get what you meant about that grey market thing, is Wolfcamera a bad place to shop?

Click to expand...

--

“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.”
~ Ernst Haas

We are officially live!!!!
http://www.commercialfineart.com/
Old Web Site
http://www.pbase.com/romansphotos/

Ok so let me get this straight:

Does that grey market issue applies to DSLRs bought in IS that need warranty in South America? Cause I've read something in nikon's site that talked about the warranty being valid for South America and the Caribbean.

I'm kind of afraid of getting d7000 if there are really problems going on. Being eligible or not for warranty, I wouldn't like to be in that process of sending and replacing my camera knowing that I could have avoided it.

So you all think I should get the 18-105 instead of the 18-200, and maybe a 70-300 or a 35/50 mm also?

Get the D7000 now, sell the 18-105 when you're ready to upgrade, and put that $250 (or so) toward the 18-200 (or whatever newer/better/cheaper lens is on the market by then).

Do you have any friends in the states? if so, you can order from Amazon right now and get the D90 + 18-200mm lens for about $1200+ That's what I did about a week ago.

D90 + 18-200 is not a problem, I already know the place im buying it.

My concern is with the so-called d7000 problems! I'm kind of afraid of them!

Any more thoughts on that?

Don't worry. The Nikon-forum does the disecting of new cameras. It's aproved, believe me ;-)
--
------------------------------------------------
http://s259.photobucket.com/albums/hh315/alex_837/
Just trying to get better.....

If I had to choose between the D90+18-200 or the D7000+18-105 for $1500, I would get the D7000 kit.

You may want to consider a good condition used D90 (going for around $600-$650 US) or a refurbished for a little more. You can then get a used 18-105 for around $200, new 35mm f1.8 for $200, and new $70-300mmVR for around $500. Just depends on how you want to spend your $1500.

Keep it simple if this is your first round w DSLR. I have had a D40, D90 and now D7000, but have been doing for many five decades before that. (And I worked with high tech sensors at NASA for 3 decades.)

The 18-105mm is a fine lens. It's also bundled as a "kit lens" with either camera, so you will save $150 or so. If you get ANY OTHER LENS and not the kit lens, you just lost that $150.

The D90 is a fine camera, and it will save you about $450 over the D7000. If that matters, get the D90.

The D7000 is a better camera. No doubt about it. The improvements may or may not matter to you. If you can afford it, you have to do a bit more work.

=+=+=+=+=+==+=+=+=+=+=

What do you get with the D7000 over the D90 (listed in order of importance in my judgment)?

1) D7000 works much better at low light levels. If you like to shoot without flash inside, this is a biggie. Roughly equivalent to getting a two f-stop larger lens. Your kit lens at f/3.5 will capture images like an f/1.8 would, simply by increasing the ISO. D90 is excellent at it's standard 200, very good at 400, questionable at 800, bad at 1600. The D7000 is excellent from 100 to 400, very good at 800 to 1600 & becomes questionable only at 3200-64000.

2) Larger dynamic range. D90 is great, D7000 is greater. If you don't know what this means, then it probably doesn't matter. (It matters to me a lot.)

3) Autofocus is supposed to be better & probably is, but both are great.

4) More pixels on the D7000 is helpful when you crop the picture a lot.

5) Exposure metering seems to be the same, notwithstanding the ongoing dialog about over exposure. I set them up side-by-side and got essentially the same results for a range of scenes.

6) Movie can go to 1080p on the D7000 vs 720p for the D90. Not really the way to shoot video anyhow, but D7000 is better.

Items 1 & 2 are important (and 2 is only important in limited situations). The remaining items are relatively minor in my opinion.

All of the turmoil over hot pixels, back focus etc seems to represent a few real problems and a lot of finely tuned angst from those of us who are really in to it. I have yet to see a convincing problem with hot pixels here, but I am sure there are a few. (And likely also with the D90.)

When they make the CCD or CMOS sensors, they have some good and some bad. The Quality Control (QC) process should take care of the bad ones. And when they slip through, Nikon seems to make good on them. Since the D7000 sensor is new, there may well be a few more problems than in the settled production line for the D90 sensor. So do some real world testing (don't shoot the lens cap with a long exposure) before you leave the country. If there is a problem take it right back.

Bottom line (from me): don't worry about the complaints on this forum. If the extra $ matters, get the D90. You will have a fine camera. If you can afford it, the D7000 will be better in the long run, if you pursue this seriously.
--
Bob in Baltimore

A D7000 that is intended for US markets is only protected by warranty in the US.

The same goes for other regions. If a camera is intended for Asia, it is only protected under warranty in Asia.

If you buy a camera designated for a certian market region, and it breaks in another market region. Nikon for some reason give their owners a hard time when it is put in for warranty. A camera being used/serviced in a region it was not intended in being sold in is considered...."Grey Market"

So for example...when you go to the US and you purchase it here. You take it back to your home land. If that homeland is not in the same market region as the US you will have troubles getting warranty work performed in your area.

For some silly reason, Nikon monitors and often refuses to do legitimate warranty work on cameras if they are requested service not in the area it was purchased.

Roman

sneak3 said:

Ok so let me get this straight:

Does that grey market issue applies to DSLRs bought in IS that need warranty in South America? Cause I've read something in nikon's site that talked about the warranty being valid for South America and the Caribbean.

I'm kind of afraid of getting d7000 if there are really problems going on. Being eligible or not for warranty, I wouldn't like to be in that process of sending and replacing my camera knowing that I could have avoided it.

So you all think I should get the 18-105 instead of the 18-200, and maybe a 70-300 or a 35/50 mm also?

Click to expand...

--

“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.”
~ Ernst Haas

We are officially live!!!!
http://www.commercialfineart.com/
Old Web Site
http://www.pbase.com/romansphotos/

sneak3 said:

Hello!

I'm a beginner to the DSLR world and I've been searching for reviews and all that so I can make a better decision.

I- D90 body only + 18-200 = 1500$

II- D7000 kit with 18-105 = 1500$

Click to expand...

Avoid option I.

If you go the D90 route, get the 18-105mm VR. Then you can either pocket the savings or get another lens such as 35mm F1.8 or 55-200mm VR. In the later case the focal range will match the 18-200mm, optics will be superior, and cost will be less (but build quality is not as good).

Incidentally those prices aren't too good.

Amazon: Nikon 90 + 18-105mm VR = $920
Adorama: refurbished 55-200mm VR = $130
Adorama: refurbished 70-300mm VR = $350

Hell you could pick 18-105+70-300 and even squeeze in a SB-600 for $1500. Don't you think that's better than a 18-200. Option 1 is a sucker price.

As a rookie dSLR owner (D90), I agree with the idea of getting a 18-105mm kit lens and using any extra budget for a speedlight, either an sb-600 or an sb-700 would be fine.

If I was not in a grey market situation, the D7000 would be very tempting (though I've no plans to upgrade from my D90. In a grey market situation, the track record of the D90 is comforting.