Building a D7200 system, need advice

Don't buy anything than the kit lens, the SD cards and a bag.

After a while you can buy:

• An external flash
• A good tripod
• A telephoto lens
• Fast primes
• A ultra wide angle lens
• A second battery

You can prioritize based on the experience you have with the initial kit. It may be that you run out of battery in the middle of a day shoot so second battery is top of the list. It may be that you need more advance lighting for your photos and an external flash can be high ranked.

Regarding initial setup buy more SD cards with lower capacity (8 G or 16 G) rather than one of high capacity (32 G or 64 G). You spread the risk and maybe it will be cheaper. If you don't know what speed you need take a single SD card of lower speed (it will be way cheaper) and decide if it hampers you or not. Here in Romania a 40 MB/s costs 33% less than one with 60 MB/s (from the same company).

Go out an take photos. In this way you will learn quickly what your equipment can do and what it wants. Some good books on exposure and composition is quite good. You can learn also from Internet.

OP: Baloo_buc has given you good advice and I endorse what he (she?) says. Find out what you need by doing photography and buy what you need as and when the situation demands it.

If your money is burning a hole in your pocket and you must buy something then I suggest a good flashgun: it will really help you expand your creativity and competence. A SB700 would be good, secondhand if needs be, failing that maybe a secondhand SB800 (hard to find) or SB600.

David

BillyBobSenna said:

Since you mentioned backpack I would recommend ThinkTank. I have multiple ThinkTank bags and could not be happier.

ThinkTank Backpack

I am a fan of the Black Rapid strap. This is very comfortable when walking around.

BlackRapid Strap

After you by an standard fast prime like a 50mm, a great lens for walking touring and landscapes is the Tokina 11-16mm. I regret every day that I sold it. You can get used for under $400.

Tokina 11-16 mm

Do not get cheap memory cards. Always buy at least 95 mb/s.

Sandisk

Insure your equipment. Insurance is cheap. About $12 per year per $1000 dollars of equipment. No deductible and covers new replacement cost. Theft, drop, etc.

-- Bill - Beverly Hills, MI
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wgulker/albums

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Are you referring to home insurance?

FrankTheTank1 said:

BillyBobSenna said:

Since you mentioned backpack I would recommend ThinkTank. I have multiple ThinkTank bags and could not be happier.

ThinkTank Backpack

I am a fan of the Black Rapid strap. This is very comfortable when walking around.

BlackRapid Strap

After you by an standard fast prime like a 50mm, a great lens for walking touring and landscapes is the Tokina 11-16mm. I regret every day that I sold it. You can get used for under $400.

Tokina 11-16 mm

Do not get cheap memory cards. Always buy at least 95 mb/s.

Sandisk

Insure your equipment. Insurance is cheap. About $12 per year per $1000 dollars of equipment. No deductible and covers new replacement cost. Theft, drop, etc.

-- Bill - Beverly Hills, MI
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wgulker/albums

Click to expand...

Are you referring to home insurance?

Click to expand...

Check your home owners policy and or personal propriety insurance to cover camera gear. you may want to change deductibles as needed. if not covered you can look for an umbrella policy for coverage

My home owners is with State Farm. I have a separate State Farm policy for the camera equipment. I dropped a $5k setup on the pool deck once and was lucky. I bought insurance after that.

Wally Brooks said:

FrankTheTank1 said:

BillyBobSenna said:

Since you mentioned backpack I would recommend ThinkTank. I have multiple ThinkTank bags and could not be happier.

ThinkTank Backpack

I am a fan of the Black Rapid strap. This is very comfortable when walking around.

BlackRapid Strap

After you by an standard fast prime like a 50mm, a great lens for walking touring and landscapes is the Tokina 11-16mm. I regret every day that I sold it. You can get used for under $400.

Tokina 11-16 mm

Do not get cheap memory cards. Always buy at least 95 mb/s.

Sandisk

Insure your equipment. Insurance is cheap. About $12 per year per $1000 dollars of equipment. No deductible and covers new replacement cost. Theft, drop, etc.

-- Bill - Beverly Hills, MI
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wgulker/albums

Click to expand...

Are you referring to home insurance?

Click to expand...

Check your home owners policy and or personal propriety insurance to cover camera gear. you may want to change deductibles as needed. if not covered you can look for an umbrella policy for coverage

Click to expand...

I'll look into it, thanks for the suggestion.

I think I've narrowed it down to pretty much to:

• Camera kit (D7200 + 18-140)
• Bag
• SD cards (smaller rather than larger)
• Maybe an extra battery (if I can make a saving from ordering from same store, to save on delivery charges)

Later on as I get more experience, I'll invest in other nice things such as a tripod, external flash, fast prime, and so on.

Apart from that, for now I'd really like a couple of filters to play with. My better half wants to gift them to me, and who am I to refuse her

Portugal has a nice seashore, so I do plenty of beaches, bright sunny afternoons on gardens, water dams and the like. I'm thinking about a couple of NDs to play with water effects and so on. Maybe a 3-stop and a 6-stop, or 2-stop and 4-stop what do you think?

Would also like to play with a polarizer. I like my polarized sunglasses.

I'm wondering about filter sizes. The 18-140 kit lens uses 67mm filters. Should I buy larger filters and use adapter rings? Do many of you do that? That way I don't need to keep buying separate filters for every lens. I'm not really going to buy other lenses for now, but in the future when I do, it would be nice to reuse the same filters. Or is this a bad idea? More expensive for starting.

I've read about Formatt Hitech filters, 85mm square with a holder. Some people here recommended B+H, and I'm wondering if Hoya is any good too?

Also on the matter of filters: resin vs glass, is there much difference?

Thank you all for the great advice

Regards,

Israel

Use your D7200 + 18-140mm for a few months before you think of filters (or not).

I only put clear filters on my two most expensive lenses. I use B+W.

ilugo said:

Hello all,

I'm going to buy a D7200 towards the end of the month, as my first DSLR, and would appreciate some help building my system.

I'm buying the 18-140 kit, as I've read good things about that lens. Seems to be a nice and versatile zoom, with decent quality. I'll probably want to buy more glass sometime in the future, maybe a fast prime or so. But I don't want to spend all the money at once

I'm a novice enthusiast. Right now I have a Sony HX200V superzoom. I like to take my camera on weekend trips, shoot landscapes, small town streets, castles, fairs, stork nests, portraits, vacation portraits... a mix of street and travel photography. I'll usually go somewhere by car, hang the camera on my neck, and walk around sightseeing and taking pretty photos.

What do you think I should buy now to start using the camera? I'm thinking I'll need some kind of backpack, big enough for the camera+lens, and maybe a future 2nd lens. Maybe a good strap? How's the stock Nikon strap?

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The Nikon strap is sturdy even with big glass but it has zero padding so with heavy lenses it will dig into your neck. I still use it but some people will want to look for something padded.

As for bags, there are many options out there. I'm partial to Lowepro. I have a flipside 300. The size is decent for at least 1 body and 2 lenses plus a bunch of smaller things. It doesn't have an all weather cover. I also use a Pro Runner which has one and the cover is well worth it when the weather gets nasty. In fact, I would never buy another bag without some type of rain cover built in. I'm not sure Lowepro still makes the Pro Runner series though. It's my favorite bag. It's smallish but I can almost as much stuff in it as the flipside and it's lighter and better configured.

ilugo said:

I think I'll need some filters. One or two NDs? Would a polarizer be useful? Perhaps an UV to protect the glass from scratches? The 18-140 uses 67mm filters.

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I used UV's and stopped at one point. They will protect the glass but might introduce flare and affect contrast. For protection I'd rather use the lens hood at all times. If you decide on a UV or clear filter, buy a good one that's easy to clean. The cheap ones will affect optical quality negatively. I would definitely buy a polarizer especially if you are into landscapes. Again, you get what you pay for. Check online for polarizer reviews here and there.

ilugo said:

I've read in a thread here about a filter system where you can use larger (square?) filters, fitted on an adapter to screw on the lens. Would this be worth it? It would help if I ever want to buy a lens with a different filter diameter. That way I can reuse the same filters.

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A good square filter system is expensive. Depending on the type of landscape photography you do, you might never need one. You can put the HDR capabilities of your D7200 to work instead but then you will need software to process the pictures used to achieve greater dynamic range.

ilugo said:

I would appreciate your advice. I'm probably forgetting something useful, and maybe am considering stuff that I won't really need. I'd like to not spend too much money for now apart from the D7200 kit itself, so it would be nice if you could help me a bit with some priorities. That way I can buy a few accessories for now, and more later.

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I would consider a tripod if you don't already have one. If you want to get into HDR or shoot landscapes in low light (early morning or dusk) you will need one for maximum sharpness. There are some pretty decent aluminum ones that are not too expensive.

ilugo said:

Thank you,

Israel

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when you get around to get filters if you get a 77mm filter and you have 67 you can get a step down ring or up so you do not need a filter for each lens and if you get 6 stop ND you can stack it with a Polarize and it will give you about 10 stops and good effects as well the big thing to remember is have some fun with the D7200

if you are going to get filters get the best quality.,,low cost plastic filters on a lens does nothing for image quality.

robulater said:

when you get around to get filters if you get a 77mm filter and you have 67 you can get a step down ring or up so you do not need a filter for each lens and if you get 6 stop ND you can stack it with a Polarize and it will give you about 10 stops and good effects as well the big thing to remember is have some fun with the D7200

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Yes, I was thinking of doing that, buying large and adapting down. So it does makes sense, then.

I remember you mentioned the Cokin holder system. I also read in another thread about Formatt Hitech 85mm square https://www.formatt-hitech.com/en/products/Aluminum-Holders~75.html

Thing with these systems is, are their actual filters good? I see people talking about BW and so on (maybe Hoya too, not sure). I'd like of course to get decent quality filters, to make the most of the camera and lens.

Would it be best to go with e.g. 77mm BW and step down, or go for one of the holder systems above?

Regards,

Israel

Go for the best you can afford. Lenses make a lot of difference, more so than cameras, these days.

I'd get the new 16-80 f/2.8-f/4, excellent range and much faster than the cheap kits. IQ should also be much better than any other current standard zoom available. Don't waste your money on cheap zooms.

Once you start paying more attention to photography, my bet is that you will start using the WA end more often, so a ultra WA zoom is the next option. If you like to use long focal lengths, then a 70-300 is the best option among Nikkors.

Primes are more specialized lenses, it depends on what you really shoot more frequently, landscapes, portraits, indoors, sports, etc.

Good luck.

Start out slow. I would get the camera and lens as soon as possible and practice using the camera and learning what to check when it is not working as expected. You do not want to be learning on a trip about basic controls and functions and settings.

The only drawback to the kit lenses is that they are slow and so need more light. OK outdoors but can be a problem indoors. I do not know about the kit lens you mentioned but the longer lenses can block the camera's internal flash - important to know that in advance.

The only filter to get at this point is a good circular polarizer.

Add to your list a good flash like the SB-700 if you want to expand your photography. Being able to hold the flash off to the side will do great things for your images and the D7200 has the Commander flash that will control the external flash wirelessly.

[email protected]

this is the email of graham clark who heads a program called Kickstart and they developed top of the line ND filters if you drop him a email he will give you a link to were you can get one i got one at half price but that deal is no longer their they review excellent at http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/10-Stop-Neutral-Density-Filter.aspx

I'll offer a different approach and that is to bu a really nice wide DX lens and then go FX glass for everything else. You will then be able to go FX if you want, add and FX body later, and always be shooting through the sweet part of great glass with animal vignetting issues.
--
MF Lens Website - www.nikkorglass.com
Gallery BLOLG - www.roaringstar.com
Book - www.AM4L.com
Mark

Thank you for all the advice! I've gone ahead and ordered my D7200 + 18-140, plus the HB-32 lens hood and a LowePro Slingshot 202 AW bag. Should be arriving this week

I'll take a look at some filters in a couple of weeks, should go for a circular polarizer and a couple of NDs (3 stop, 6 stop). I'm thinking of going for B+W, although they sure aren't cheap.

Cheers and I'll let you know how it goes!

Enjoy!

Congratulations. One thing I'd suggest when/if you get the money, add a cheap prime lens that is known to be very sharp. It's very easy to be satisfied with the decent quality zoom lenses, but when you use the sharper primes, it kind of changes your perception of what is possible, in terms of image quality. You don't need to spend a lot, just get something in a focal range that is cheap and that you will find useful for the kind of shooting you do...that might be a 50mm f/1.8, a 35mm f/1.8, there are several options in lenses that have incredibly good IQ, but are only in the $200 range. These lenses really shine with the D7200. Despite all the improvements in zoom lenses, I still love primes for many reason, and if I could afford it, I'd love to have dozens of them from 8mm to 800mm.

I have the D7200 plus 18-140 combination, among others, and it's a solid workhorse.

My suggestion for your next addition is a good photo editing platform. If you don't have one already, I would suggest Lightroom. You can make more of a difference in your photography with good post processing than any mechanical device you can buy. Right off the top you can much more easily apply filter effects in post (in most cases) than with physical filters. It's not a large investment and pays off big time in the long run.