Recommend a lens (or two) for a camera noob using Nikon D5200

[Berliner]

There is lots of photography software for free. I would not start out by spending money on software. (But sure, test the free trial.)

Also, why would you not have heard of white balance? It's one of the essential settings on the camera and you should have heard of it by reading the manual. I guess there is no need to argue any finer points, if we assume people don't even read the basic manual.

 

[finbarqs]

Every beginner wants the shallow depth of field shots, as often as possible to mask their poor photography skills

But in all honesty, 18-55 is the perfect walk around lens. Otherwise, it'll be hard to beat your modern iPhone/Galaxy phone/fancy smartphone with all the filtering effects!!

 

[JohnnyRebel]

Thank you everyone for the input. One of her main concerns are the indoor shots of cats and dogs, so I'm looking at this http://www.amazon.ca/Nikon-50mm-1-8G...9774223&sr=1-3 towards that end. I suggested she go with the kit lens for now and see how she feels about the results.

The 50mm I linked is a good choice for taking portrait shots indoors I believe ? If we end up getting the additional lens I'll pick it up elsewhere than Amazon as I see it for quite a bit less from local shops here. I'm also checking out the flash options, these are as confusing as the lenses to me So many options and it's hard to discern what is not good enough and what is overkill for an amateur.

That 50 is a great lens. Consider it a short telephoto on your camera. Good for head-n-shoulder portraits inside. The 35mm dx lens is "normal" and a nice lens for the money. It is easily the most used lens I have fo rmy D7000.

A nice kit for Nikon DX is the 18-55, 55-200 and 35mm f/1.8. With these you can do almost anything you want to do.

Check the these lens reviews: http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/nikkor.htm

JR

 

[blastingcap]

That 50 is a great lens. Consider it a short telephoto on your camera. Good for head-n-shoulder portraits inside. The 35mm dx lens is "normal" and a nice lens for the money. It is easily the most used lens I have fo rmy D7000.

A nice kit for Nikon DX is the 18-55, 55-200 and 35mm f/1.8. With these you can do almost anything you want to do.

Check the these lens reviews: http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/nikkor.htm

JR

No no no, never read Ken Rockwell he is a joker and exaggerates like crazy. Read real review sites like SLRGear.com.

Other than that though, I mostly agree with the above... but I would add that if you have the budget and need, get the 55-300VR instead of the 55-200VR. It has better sharpness in the overlapping range, and longer maximum focal length. The 35/1.8G 50/1.8G and 85/1.8G are the power 3, sharp, fast, and relatively small/lightweight. Highly recommended, though the 85 is mainly for portraits so you can skip that if you aren't interested.

 

[blastingcap]

The least fun response is "Don't buy anything but use the camera for a bit."
But it's true.
She needs to learn about shutter speed and focus modes.
If she doesn't, she'll likely "get a few good photos and some meh photos".
Why are my photos sometimes in focus?
Why are the blurred?
Why isn't it focussing fast? I thought DSLR's focused faster?

Honestly, get her a good resource so she can
a) Learn how to look at her shutter speed and know, "Oh shit. That's too slow. I'll have a blurry photo. I better up the ISO to make the shutter speed faster!" (Or, learn how to turn on auto-iso)
b) Learn how to use her focus modes. Auto Focus will lead her to "Why isn't it focusing on what *I* want?" Learn about Continuous-AutoFocus so she can have the camera track moving objects
c) Learn how to turn on burst mode so she can take a burst of photos at moving subjects.

If she has any queestions, post here. If she has photos turning out how she doesn't like them, post examples and wee can help.

I completely agree with the above. Best thing to do is to shoot some and examine what you actually need vs. what you thought you needed. But Groove is like, rolling in $$$ if his video card purchases are any indication, and there is very little risk in buying the 35/1.8G (very easy to resell), so I'd at least start w/ the 35/1.8G in addition to the 18-55.

Also, something very overlooked is flash--a real one not that built-in one that blasts people in the face and makes them look horrible. Many people spend $$$ on bigger sensors and faster glass, when what they really need is more LIGHT in the first place. This means a decently powerful flash to bounce off the ceilings sometimes, or via modifier you can even point it elsewhere. You can get a cheap manual one if you know what you are doing, or something like an SB400 if you don't... but don't get th SB400 right away, try to learn the basics first.

A tripod is another way to get more light, as long as your subject doesn't move.

Once I got a good flash and tripod, my hankering for full frame sensor completely disappeared. FF is still good when you can't use flash, though.