Equipment

Hey all,

    After a couple year hiatus from making 360 tours I want to get back in the game. I have a nikon coolpix 5400 which by now is old news and makes less than stellar tours. I want to upgrade my equipment so I can make Hi Def tours. What camera and lense do you recommend? Also what rotator are you using? I try to search on google but I get lost in thousands of nonsense websites,

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Swervin1979
Welcome back..
Here's a link to a thread that goes indepth about Cameras -- take a look
Detailed info on Cameras / Lenses etc...

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Lee Scott - Nikon D3/D300/D5000 - |shaved Nikkor 10.5 mm| Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod /322RC2 Grip - Mrotator TCS |CS5 | PW7 & TW6.5 Pro
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To err is human ... to not try is just plain lazy

I'll happily offer you my advise if you let me know what brand takes your fancy and why?

I'm not a brand snob and will offer you pros and cons of both (majors) and do my best with those outside of Canon and Nikon.

Regards, Smooth

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Thanks Leescott, I will take a look at the link.

Smooth, I have only really used Nikon products. I have no reason's, thats what I have just ended up with. If you know of something better let me know.

edit: I should also add that I am looking for the most inexpensive options then I can go up from there. I am back in school now to am am pretty much the epitome of "broke college student". All this equipment will be purchased with a credit card (and hopefully paid off quickly with some VT jobs).

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Hmm, From that link leesccott posted. It looks like the Nikon D5000 and the Sigma 8mm or Samyang 8mm would be the most inexpensive options.

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swervin1979

As you can see I use the D300 w/ the Nikkor 10.5 Fisheye lense,( Ihave a D5000 as my secondary shooter. But I started out with the Sigma 8.mm and still have it
I can save you some cash if you want to buy it for $600 regular price is $899 see the link here to B&B Photo Sigma 8mm EX DG Fisheye Lense
Nothing wrong with the lense just sitting here in a drawer in it's case. I'm about to put it on ebay
Just a thought
And the link I posted was tons of info from Smooth and he has helped me tremendously with tutoring and I have gotten so much better

Let me know
Lee

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Lee Scott - Nikon D3/D300/D5000 - |shaved Nikkor 10.5 mm| Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod /322RC2 Grip - Mrotator TCS |CS5 | PW7 & TW6.5 Pro
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To err is human ... to not try is just plain lazy

Thanks for the offer. let me think about it today. Do you have any links of VT's you have made with the Nikon D5000 and Sigma 8.mm that I can look at?


How would this camera work (Nikon D3100) with the Sigma 8.mm?

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Here's a couple of links
D300 with Sigma Lense D300 and Sigma lense

D5000 Quick shoot just now on Auto D5000 w/ Sigma

Smooth can probably answer the D3100 question , but it's not to far off from the D5000

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Lee Scott - Nikon D3/D300/D5000 - |shaved Nikkor 10.5 mm| Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod /322RC2 Grip - Mrotator TCS |CS5 | PW7 & TW6.5 Pro
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To err is human ... to not try is just plain lazy

These tours were both shot with the sigma lense? It seems like the D300 took a sharper image.

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The D5000 was a quick shoot today outside my house, I'll shoot another set.

The D300 is a superior camera to the D5000 I have it as a backup but primarily shoot with the D300

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Lee Scott - Nikon D3/D300/D5000 - |shaved Nikkor 10.5 mm| Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod /322RC2 Grip - Mrotator TCS |CS5 | PW7 & TW6.5 Pro
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To err is human ... to not try is just plain lazy

ahh ok, then I would rather get the D300, That D3100 seems like a step up from the d300. I may get tha 3100 with the sigma lense. Then I would need to look into a new tripod and rotator... fun fun

That Nikkor 10.5mm looks like it's about the same price as the sigma. How much better is the Nikkor?

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