Camera site rep? Camera buying?

[Nagle]

I'm looking at buying a new camera in the next few weeks.

The main uses for the camera will be Taking pics at my kids football and baseball games,wrestling meets, and school plays. Oh everyday kinda pics. The secondary uses will be taking pics of cars/motorcyles and my tank. I know I will need a macro lens for the up close coral shots.

I have read alot of threads on this and other sites. I'm pretty sure I will be getting the nikon D90.

I see that alot of you recommend against buying from places like best buy and ritz. Why is this? I see that B&H is the most recommended place to buy from. Has any body heard of abes of maine? There price is a little better then B&H. Also shipping is free and you get a free 4GB memory card from abes of maine.

Does B&H price match?

Here is the links Im referring to.

B&H
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/598002-REG/Nikon_25448_D90_SLR_Digital_Camera.html

abes of maine
http://www.abesofmaine.com/item=NKD9018105K~item.htm

Thank you for any and all help

 

[mojo~]

Make sure you get a rugged one. I wrestled for 13 years and my dad went through a few cameras yelling with excitement forgeting he had it. lol. He finally stopped taking one as the last one he dropped when I won the junior olympics when I was 9. Good choice. Good luck and I ll probably see you this weekend in lansing.

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

The main uses for the camera will be Taking pics at my kids football and baseball games,wrestling meets, and school plays. Oh everyday kinda pics. The secondary uses will be taking pics of cars/motorcyles and my tank. I know I will need a macro lens for the up close coral shots.

Wow I don't know Nikon but I know DSLRs, and that is going to be a lot of high quality lenses. Not being able to use flash, your going to feel the need for speed.

 

[Nagle]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14202860#post14202860 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mojo46825
Make sure you get a rugged one. I wrestled for 13 years and my dad went through a few cameras yelling with excitement forgeting he had it. lol. He finally stopped taking one as the last one he dropped when I won the junior olympics when I was 9. Good choice. Good luck and I ll probably see you this weekend in lansing.

I can't take pics or run the camcorder at his meets. I let his mom do all that.

Ill be at the meeting on sat also.

 

[Nagle]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14202921#post14202921 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TitusvileSurfer
The main uses for the camera will be Taking pics at my kids football and baseball games,wrestling meets, and school plays. Oh everyday kinda pics. The secondary uses will be taking pics of cars/motorcyles and my tank. I know I will need a macro lens for the up close coral shots.

Wow I don't know Nikon but I know DSLRs, and that is going to be a lot of high quality lenses. Not being able to use flash, your going to feel the need for speed.

What do you mean by "need for speed"?

Im new to dslr and have only used a p&s. So Any and all input you guys can give me is more then welcome.

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

You will need a telephoto lens with a wide aperture (i.e. f/2.8 or better). This will probably run you over $1500. Without the fast aperture in less than perfect lighting, all you are going to see in the photo is a blurry mess.

kids football baseball games -you might be able to get away with a cheaper lens in daytime games. If they play football at night (doesn't everybody?) your going to need speed. I can't shoot softball at night without a 70-200 f/2.8 IS. If I had the 70-200 f/4 it wouldn't work.
wrestling meets - I wrestled for 4 years in high school and know for sure your going to need a good lens here.
school plays - Again school plays are usually dimly light. You will need a powerful flash (which may upset your neighbors and the director) or a great lens. For the school plays you may need better than f/2.8. I know on my 70-200 I still need a tripod. If I can't bring a tripod in then IS becomes my saving grace, but I wish I could go to f/1.4 or something.

 

[Nagle]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14203369#post14203369 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TitusvileSurfer
You will need a telephoto lens with a wide aperture (i.e. f/2.8 or better). This will probably run you over $1500. Without the fast aperture in less than perfect lighting, all you are going to see in the photo is a blurry mess.

kids football baseball games -you might be able to get away with a cheaper lens in daytime games. If they play football at night (doesn't everybody?) your going to need speed. I can't shoot softball at night without a 70-200 f/2.8 IS. If I had the 70-200 f/4 it wouldn't work.
wrestling meets - I wrestled for 4 years in high school and know for sure your going to need a good lens here.
school plays - Again school plays are usually dimly light. You will need a powerful flash (which may upset your neighbors and the director) or a great lens. For the school plays you may need better than f/2.8. I know on my 70-200 I still need a tripod. If I can't bring a tripod in then IS becomes my saving grace, but I wish I could go to f/1.4 or something.

Thats what I thought you where talking about. I still have a few more years before he plays night time football. At this time I just wanting to get a good base to build on.

Do you have any input on the one site. I already know how you feel about B&H. lol

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

I have never heard of abesofmaine.com so I have no opinion good or bad. A very quick and unscientific spot check makes them seem alright though.

 

[hypertech]

I just got some memory cards from Abe's of Maine - shipping seemed slow but it went OK.

Take a look at Adorama and J&R also as well as the live cashback - 3-5% adds up pretty good on camera gear.

 

[JHemdal]

Years ago, Abe's of Maine tried hard to "upsell" me - not sure if that was a fluke or not. I hate that particular scam, thats why I get all my Nikon gear through Cameta on Ebay now.

I don't know about investing in a $1500 f2.8 - my 18-200VR works great for wrestling, swim meets and night football - I mean, for the almost $1000 difference in price, I just don't see the extra two stops, yeah I know the VR doesn't help with subject motion, but I prefer more static shots anyways - like a pin or a tackle(grin). For really dark shots, I just use my $100 50mm 1.8 and "sneaker zoom".


Jay

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14216377#post14216377 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JHemdal

I don't know about investing in a $1500 f2.8 - my 18-200VR works great for wrestling, swim meets and night football

Well you may be able to take pictures of players standing on the side lines...but capturing a tackle at f/5.6 during a night game? You may get lucky here and there but I don't see good shots coming out of that game with any predictability. Bokeh is a huge factor of sports photography as well. You want to separate the guy with the ball from the other guys who don't matter. Most importantly you don't want the players to be a blurry mess when it counts.

 

[Nagle]

No matter what lens I get Im sure the pictures will be better then the ones I get now with my p&s. The most important thing to me at this time is to get a good base to build on. I will build on my lens collection as my skill level and knowledge grows.

I have emailed B&H this was thier response.
* If you can find a recognized, legitimate dealer offering this item for a better price, and have the documentation and/or links to prove it, you may benefit from calling us directly at (800) 606-6969 or (800) 962-3999 and asking the salesman to check on a potential discount


B&H has been recommended the most on all the sites I go to(5). The sites range from reefs to motorcycles. After that email and alot of the storys I've read about them I can see why. I'll be given them a call.

 

[crvz]

I've bought all my camera gear from b&h, I'd surely recommend them. great customer service and fair prices, definitely worthy of my business.