my new nikon d50...

[gez]

ive just bought one & i pick it up at the weekend. as it was in a offer which sold like hot cakes & i got the last one. so ive been looking for items to go with it on ebay ..eg 2x converter. extre battery. etc. & saw some lots ie a 55mm Lens reverse macro adapter to Nikon ??? & MACRO & Close Up Lens Set...are these things any good...?gez

[Beryl]

Just bought a NIKON D50 mysef Gez. I'm very pleased with itbut I too have a great deal to learn about it.
Good luck with yours and well done for purchasing a NIKON D50

[canis.rufus]

Congratulations on an excellent camera, I've had my D50 for just a couple of months, but it already feels all too natural in my hands.

What accessories you want depend on what pictures you want to take. I don't know what lenses you might already have, but the kit lens and 70-300G lens work well for me. They are cheap lenses but far from useless. The pictures I have taken with them look much better than the blank screens from lenses I cannot afford. If you do have a bigger budget, perhaps look at a VR to help with handholding.

The D50 has excellent battery capacity, especially with a newer battery (model number-a) now being included. A spare is useful though not essential especially if you like long night time exposures.

I haven't used the D50 for that much macro, but the kit lens focuses down to 18cm, not much to the professional but good for me.

Another accessory you could look at is the infrared remote. The D50 won't accept a cable release, but the remote can be useful.

That is an excellent way start out with the D50, what else depends on what you want to do.

Sorry if I'm stating the obvious, but also remember that a 2x converter will reduce the lenses aperture so as an aperture of 5.6ish could be considered necessary for outdoors photography, it isn't really useful for the two lenses I said above.

-Rufus

[Mark43]

Ok guys.....we can be the Nikon D50 gang

I love mine but haven't taken that many shots yet.Hope to give it a thorough workout in Norfolk next week.

[Beryl]

I'm still going to have to use my Conika for macro close ups.
So can't join any gangs Sorry about that

[gez]

ok ive got the d50 now been playing about with it for a while & i love it. it seems to fit like a glove ,the shutter sound is great too.lol...going to a market in the morning where there is a camera seller see if i can pick up some filters etc.have to spend a bit more time on the macro as i could not focus it. i found that as im used to the coolpix 5700 this is a bit of a help......any D50 tips would be great. cheers gez

[eeyore]

Not a D50 tip per se but for cheap macro you could try putting a close up filter on the front of your kit lens - these screw on to the filter thread - a ten dioptre one will get you close to 1-1 repro and will cost about £15-20 depending on where you get it from.

Optical quality aint as good as a dedicated macro lens but its a cheap way to start.

Alternatively you could get some extension tubes - the jessops set is abou £70 and again these will get you nearly to 1-1 with the kit lens.

[canis.rufus]

It’s difficult to suggest any particular tips. Like I said, after a few months mine just feels natural to me. One thing I would suggest is to get a specific book about the camera. The manual tells you how to do things, but a good book can give you more tips on when and why to use its features.

I have the Magic Lantern Guide to the D50 (try Amazon). There are a few errors but it is really helpful with explaining how to use techniques such as trap focus on this model.

The best way to learn is to take thousands and thousands of photos with it, or at least that’s my plan.

-Rufus.

[gez]

just got back from a quick walk with D50... & i had real trouble getting a macro shot!.. lens is a tamron af 55-200mm 1:4-5.6 MACRO...not sure if i was trying to get to close as with my coolpix i had to be within approx 2 inch... but i tried loads of varies..with the camera on close up mode ie the flower it was really really blurred...any help would be great folks... thanks in advance gez

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by gez

just got back from a quick walk with D50... & i had real trouble getting a macro shot!.. lens is a tamron af 55-200mm 1:4-5.6 MACRO...not sure if i was trying to get to close as with my coolpix i had to be within approx 2 inch... but i tried loads of varies..with the camera on close up mode ie the flower it was really really blurred...any help would be great folks... thanks in advance gez

Sound like you were too close gez- most slr macro lenses focus a lot further out than the macro mode on compacts - this is deliberate to enable you to get insects without scaring them. I know nothing about your lens but it should tel you the min focus distance in the blurb that came with it. by way of ilustration my Tamron 90mm Macro gives 1-1 at about 15cm