Hi guys, I have started to go more into photography since Dec 2013 and as I knew more about photography, I realised I made alot of silly mistakes along the way that I thought I should share with you guys (audience: newbies) so maybe you can learn from my mistakes and save some money!
Along the way I will state the approximate prices of the items (for 2nd hand in brackets) so you can get a clearer idea of what and how I spent wrongly/wisely.
I'm a Nikon user.
It is a long story but it will be worthwhile to read.
Beginning stage
This was before I got into photography.
I started with a Nikon D5100 with a 18-55mm kit lens bought from IT show for a price of $1099 back in Dec 2011. From then on, it felt much "cooler" as I was using a DSLR compared to my previous compact digital camera. However, I shot using auto mode all the time. Never knew how to use M,A,S&P and never bothered to learn. Thought I used DSLR so very good already.
Subsequently, I started seeing people with big cameras and wanted to upgrade mine. I bought a battery grip and extra battery from Chinatown store which was spoilt when I bought and I never did an exchange cause I didn't bother about its functions because I just wanted the camera to look bigger. Got what I wanted. Now I wanted my lens to look bigger too. I didn't know nuts about aperture nor reviews and just got the Tamron 70-300 VC and bought it new at a price of $690. This was a big mistake. I didn't use this lens until I sold it off 2nd hand to fund for upgrades.
Subsequently, I wanted to buy a flash. Didn't know the differences between the models but wanted something looking big and cool while not too expensive. Bought a SB-700 which is still with me until now. You can't go wrong buying good flashes, just make sure you know how to fully utilise them.
Set up:
D5100+18-55mm kit lens+grip ($550)
Tamron 70-300 VC ($430)
SB-700 flash ($300)
Asset worth: $1280
Lesson Learnt: Don't buy what looks good, but what you need. And what you need is not the best equipment in the market. What you need is what you cannot achieve with your current lenses and cameras.
Enthusiastic stage
This was about in Nov 2013, about 2 years since I had my D5100. By then, D5300 was coming out and I wanted to improve my photography skills. I started reading up on photography, borrowing books from libraries and watching YouTube channels to learn more about photography. I started to know the link between aperture, shutter speed and ISO and hence my first image I learnt to take differently was a long exposure shot of Singapore's cityscape (creating smooth silky water). I bought new Hoya filters of CIR-PL, ND8, ND400 for my shots but bought them at 52mm sizes. This was a big mistake afterwards which I regretted. I should have gotten a 77mm threads and step up my filter threads because later on, I could not use any of those 52mm filters because they were too small and ended up spending more money.
I bought a 2nd hand D7100 and as usual, bought battery grip and extra battery. But this time, I know why I need my battery grip, for the better ergonomics grip and the weight balance for usage of heavier lens other than my 18-55mm kit lens. This proved quite a good choice as I read up on how to buy 2nd hand DSLRs and got myself quite a reasonably priced one with zero user marks.
I started to spend alot on photography, buying the following based on lenses reviews, portraiture videos etc and these are what I bought. The good thing was I got most of lenses in 2nd hand so I did not lose a cent (in fact I earned some money) when I sold them again.
Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX lens
Wanted to create bokehs and here was a quality lens that was cheap, effective and highly reviewed on. Never regretted buying it.
Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S VR DX lens
Wanted an extension of my kit lens but didn't want the bulk of my heavy Tamron. Didn't want to get a 55-200 as I felt it was troublesome to change between the 2 lenses. Got this very cheap as I found a seller who didn't know prices. Offered him $300 and he negotiated to $325 and I bought it. I thought it was averagely priced but later on found out I earned quite a bit. After getting, I never used my kit lens again.
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 DX lens
Wonderful wide angle lens that I got. Super effective and it became everything of my landscape shots. Got some sunset graduated filters, blue graduated filters etc to play with and created quite some nice photos. I never needed the aperture of 2.8 cause I rarely shoot in the dark, and even so, it is on a tripod. I like long exposure shots so wide open apertures are useless to me. I combined this with my 18-200mm for all my backpacking shoots.
SB-700
YES. I bought another SB700 but this time was 2nd hand as I wanted to learn about off-camera flashes. Value price for the item but in the end never used much. And for the effect, I spent quite some bit of the items below too
YongNuo 560 Mark III flash
Couldn't afford 3 SB 700 so got this, value price for the item but in the end never used much.
YongNuo 622N wireless triggers (x4)
Made me look like a professional when I wirelessly controlled 3 off camera flashes. Now then I start learning how to place my flashes so you can see I was pretty dumb to have anyhow bought things.
Light stand, umbrella and flash holder, umbrella (x3)
I bought 2 of these light stand combinations for my 3 flashes. Usually ending up to use one umbrella most of the time. Wasted money buying too much.
Sirui Tripod T1005 with G20 ballhead
One correct investment I did. My previous free tripod from the purchase of my D5100 in 2011 was too light and unstable. Spent $179 to get one stable and solid one from TKfoto and never regretted it.
Home Portable Product Light Tent with 2 softbox strobe
Saw this online on sale for only $110 so got it. Until now then start delivery so haven't use. But I think it will be one good purchase for I can start learning product photography and lighting set up.
Lowepro Camera Backpack
Good buy. Keeps all my things. Only regret should have gotten one with a tripod holder. Now I have to manually hold my tripod in one hand which is troublesome.
Set up:
D5100+18-55mm kit lens+grip ($550)
Tamron 70-300 VC ($430)
D7100+grip ($1250)
Nikon 35mm f/1.8 ($220)
Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 ($420)
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 ($530)
SB-700 flash [x2] ($600)
YongNuo 560III ($80)
UV filters [x2] ($50)
Colour filters ($25)
52mm Hoya CIR-PL, ND8, ND400 ($75)
Umbrella light stand kit [x3] ($100)
Sirui Tripod ($150)
Portable product studio kit ($100)
Lowepro Camera Bag ($50)
Asset worth: $4780 (jump of $3500)
Lesson Learnt: Learn the skills and knowledge of each photography type you are interested in fully before you purchase what you need. Don't buy before you learn, thinking you'll learn along the way. You'll end up buying too much that is left in the storeroom rotting away.
Now
I sold my D5100 with 18-55 set, Tamron 70-300, Nikon 35mm f/1.8, Tokina 11-16 f/2.8, my 3 Hoya 52mm filters.
I bought a 2nd hand D600 and a Nikon 24-70 f/2.8, bought B+W ND400 77mm filter, camera trolley bag and a 5-in-1 reflector.
Now my D7100 is with my Nikon 18-200mm which can cover my walk around focal lengths I need and provide the marco shots by using 200m on a crop sensor and if necessary, use the 1.3x crop in D7100 to get focal length equivalent to 400mm on full frame cameras. Not entirely suited for macro due to the widest aperture being 5.6, but good enough because I wanna save money. For the bokeh it provides me, I'm satisfied. Cheap lens with quality VR, professional DX camera without OLPF giving me crisper shots for any photograpy. This is where budget meets acceptable image quality.
My D600 is equipped with my 24-70 f/2.8, so I would usually use this. If I need portraiture for full body to half body, my D600 can provide almost all of it with exceptional quality. What happens if I need a head to shoulders shot? No, I'm not gonna use my 18-200. Simply use my 24-70 f/2.8 on my cropped sensor APS-C I'll get an equivalent focal length of 36-105mm at f/2.8 and this will be perfectly great too.
Then you may ask, what happens to my landscape shot I usually use for my Tokina 11-16 f/2.8? Since the Tokina will give an effective 16.5-24mm focal length on a full frame camera since it is only for DX cameras, my 24-70 with D600 can fulfil my 24mm focal length. If I really need more, I'll just get the 17-35mm f/4 VR which is sharp and awesome. But why don't I get it? Because I don't need the extra wide angle focal length right now. At most stitch 2 or more photos using Panorama and I'll get a even better wide angle photo.
Set up:
D7100+grip ($1250)
Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 ($400)
D600+grip ($1750)
Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 ($1850)
SB-700 flash [x2] ($600)
YongNuo 560III ($80)
Colour filters ($30)
B+W ND400 filter ($100)
B+W UV XS Pro ($60)
Umbrella light stand kit [x3] ($100)
Sirui Tripod ($150)
Portable product studio kit ($100)
Lowepro Camera Bag ($50)
Reflector 5-in-1 110cm ($40)
Unbranded trolley Bag ($50)
Asset worth: $6780 (jump of $2000)
Lesson Learnt: You want cameras and lenses that can give you "wow" factor shots. You do not want every lens to cover your focal length from 1-1000 so that you can take all kind of shots. My biggest takeaway is don't take shots in large quantities, take a few quality shots.
Hope I helped!
Along the way I will state the approximate prices of the items (for 2nd hand in brackets) so you can get a clearer idea of what and how I spent wrongly/wisely.
I'm a Nikon user.
It is a long story but it will be worthwhile to read.
Beginning stage
This was before I got into photography.
I started with a Nikon D5100 with a 18-55mm kit lens bought from IT show for a price of $1099 back in Dec 2011. From then on, it felt much "cooler" as I was using a DSLR compared to my previous compact digital camera. However, I shot using auto mode all the time. Never knew how to use M,A,S&P and never bothered to learn. Thought I used DSLR so very good already.
Subsequently, I started seeing people with big cameras and wanted to upgrade mine. I bought a battery grip and extra battery from Chinatown store which was spoilt when I bought and I never did an exchange cause I didn't bother about its functions because I just wanted the camera to look bigger. Got what I wanted. Now I wanted my lens to look bigger too. I didn't know nuts about aperture nor reviews and just got the Tamron 70-300 VC and bought it new at a price of $690. This was a big mistake. I didn't use this lens until I sold it off 2nd hand to fund for upgrades.
Subsequently, I wanted to buy a flash. Didn't know the differences between the models but wanted something looking big and cool while not too expensive. Bought a SB-700 which is still with me until now. You can't go wrong buying good flashes, just make sure you know how to fully utilise them.
Set up:
D5100+18-55mm kit lens+grip ($550)
Tamron 70-300 VC ($430)
SB-700 flash ($300)
Asset worth: $1280
Lesson Learnt: Don't buy what looks good, but what you need. And what you need is not the best equipment in the market. What you need is what you cannot achieve with your current lenses and cameras.
Enthusiastic stage
This was about in Nov 2013, about 2 years since I had my D5100. By then, D5300 was coming out and I wanted to improve my photography skills. I started reading up on photography, borrowing books from libraries and watching YouTube channels to learn more about photography. I started to know the link between aperture, shutter speed and ISO and hence my first image I learnt to take differently was a long exposure shot of Singapore's cityscape (creating smooth silky water). I bought new Hoya filters of CIR-PL, ND8, ND400 for my shots but bought them at 52mm sizes. This was a big mistake afterwards which I regretted. I should have gotten a 77mm threads and step up my filter threads because later on, I could not use any of those 52mm filters because they were too small and ended up spending more money.
I bought a 2nd hand D7100 and as usual, bought battery grip and extra battery. But this time, I know why I need my battery grip, for the better ergonomics grip and the weight balance for usage of heavier lens other than my 18-55mm kit lens. This proved quite a good choice as I read up on how to buy 2nd hand DSLRs and got myself quite a reasonably priced one with zero user marks.
I started to spend alot on photography, buying the following based on lenses reviews, portraiture videos etc and these are what I bought. The good thing was I got most of lenses in 2nd hand so I did not lose a cent (in fact I earned some money) when I sold them again.
Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX lens
Wanted to create bokehs and here was a quality lens that was cheap, effective and highly reviewed on. Never regretted buying it.
Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S VR DX lens
Wanted an extension of my kit lens but didn't want the bulk of my heavy Tamron. Didn't want to get a 55-200 as I felt it was troublesome to change between the 2 lenses. Got this very cheap as I found a seller who didn't know prices. Offered him $300 and he negotiated to $325 and I bought it. I thought it was averagely priced but later on found out I earned quite a bit. After getting, I never used my kit lens again.
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 DX lens
Wonderful wide angle lens that I got. Super effective and it became everything of my landscape shots. Got some sunset graduated filters, blue graduated filters etc to play with and created quite some nice photos. I never needed the aperture of 2.8 cause I rarely shoot in the dark, and even so, it is on a tripod. I like long exposure shots so wide open apertures are useless to me. I combined this with my 18-200mm for all my backpacking shoots.
SB-700
YES. I bought another SB700 but this time was 2nd hand as I wanted to learn about off-camera flashes. Value price for the item but in the end never used much. And for the effect, I spent quite some bit of the items below too
YongNuo 560 Mark III flash
Couldn't afford 3 SB 700 so got this, value price for the item but in the end never used much.
YongNuo 622N wireless triggers (x4)
Made me look like a professional when I wirelessly controlled 3 off camera flashes. Now then I start learning how to place my flashes so you can see I was pretty dumb to have anyhow bought things.
Light stand, umbrella and flash holder, umbrella (x3)
I bought 2 of these light stand combinations for my 3 flashes. Usually ending up to use one umbrella most of the time. Wasted money buying too much.
Sirui Tripod T1005 with G20 ballhead
One correct investment I did. My previous free tripod from the purchase of my D5100 in 2011 was too light and unstable. Spent $179 to get one stable and solid one from TKfoto and never regretted it.
Home Portable Product Light Tent with 2 softbox strobe
Saw this online on sale for only $110 so got it. Until now then start delivery so haven't use. But I think it will be one good purchase for I can start learning product photography and lighting set up.
Lowepro Camera Backpack
Good buy. Keeps all my things. Only regret should have gotten one with a tripod holder. Now I have to manually hold my tripod in one hand which is troublesome.
Set up:
D5100+18-55mm kit lens+grip ($550)
Tamron 70-300 VC ($430)
D7100+grip ($1250)
Nikon 35mm f/1.8 ($220)
Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 ($420)
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 ($530)
SB-700 flash [x2] ($600)
YongNuo 560III ($80)
UV filters [x2] ($50)
Colour filters ($25)
52mm Hoya CIR-PL, ND8, ND400 ($75)
Umbrella light stand kit [x3] ($100)
Sirui Tripod ($150)
Portable product studio kit ($100)
Lowepro Camera Bag ($50)
Asset worth: $4780 (jump of $3500)
Lesson Learnt: Learn the skills and knowledge of each photography type you are interested in fully before you purchase what you need. Don't buy before you learn, thinking you'll learn along the way. You'll end up buying too much that is left in the storeroom rotting away.
Now
I sold my D5100 with 18-55 set, Tamron 70-300, Nikon 35mm f/1.8, Tokina 11-16 f/2.8, my 3 Hoya 52mm filters.
I bought a 2nd hand D600 and a Nikon 24-70 f/2.8, bought B+W ND400 77mm filter, camera trolley bag and a 5-in-1 reflector.
Now my D7100 is with my Nikon 18-200mm which can cover my walk around focal lengths I need and provide the marco shots by using 200m on a crop sensor and if necessary, use the 1.3x crop in D7100 to get focal length equivalent to 400mm on full frame cameras. Not entirely suited for macro due to the widest aperture being 5.6, but good enough because I wanna save money. For the bokeh it provides me, I'm satisfied. Cheap lens with quality VR, professional DX camera without OLPF giving me crisper shots for any photograpy. This is where budget meets acceptable image quality.
My D600 is equipped with my 24-70 f/2.8, so I would usually use this. If I need portraiture for full body to half body, my D600 can provide almost all of it with exceptional quality. What happens if I need a head to shoulders shot? No, I'm not gonna use my 18-200. Simply use my 24-70 f/2.8 on my cropped sensor APS-C I'll get an equivalent focal length of 36-105mm at f/2.8 and this will be perfectly great too.
Then you may ask, what happens to my landscape shot I usually use for my Tokina 11-16 f/2.8? Since the Tokina will give an effective 16.5-24mm focal length on a full frame camera since it is only for DX cameras, my 24-70 with D600 can fulfil my 24mm focal length. If I really need more, I'll just get the 17-35mm f/4 VR which is sharp and awesome. But why don't I get it? Because I don't need the extra wide angle focal length right now. At most stitch 2 or more photos using Panorama and I'll get a even better wide angle photo.
Set up:
D7100+grip ($1250)
Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 ($400)
D600+grip ($1750)
Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 ($1850)
SB-700 flash [x2] ($600)
YongNuo 560III ($80)
Colour filters ($30)
B+W ND400 filter ($100)
B+W UV XS Pro ($60)
Umbrella light stand kit [x3] ($100)
Sirui Tripod ($150)
Portable product studio kit ($100)
Lowepro Camera Bag ($50)
Reflector 5-in-1 110cm ($40)
Unbranded trolley Bag ($50)
Asset worth: $6780 (jump of $2000)
Lesson Learnt: You want cameras and lenses that can give you "wow" factor shots. You do not want every lens to cover your focal length from 1-1000 so that you can take all kind of shots. My biggest takeaway is don't take shots in large quantities, take a few quality shots.
Hope I helped!
