[Glen]

I had a quick look to see if this had been covered, but couldn't find anything...so I do apologise if its been done before.

If you were given £5000 to spend on a camera and lenses(to cover a good range) what would you get and why.

Finally if money were no object what would you then change? or what would be your ultimate to die for kit.

[dod]

That's easy, 1D MkII N, 28-105, 70-200 F2.8 and 100-400. 24-70 would be nice in there but the budget would be tight.

Money no object? Pretty much the same.

[Warspite]

Sticking to £5000:
Canon 1D MKIIn £2379
Canon 580EX Speedlite £289
24-105 f4 L £681
70-200 f2.8 L IS £1299
Sigma 10-20 f4-5.6 £319


If money truly was no object, add Canon 17-40 f4 L, and a Canon 100-400 IS, maybe swap the 24-105 f4 IS for a 24-70 f2.8, and a spare body (probably 1Ds MKII). Also a small bag of 4Gb Sandisk Extreme IIIs, and an Epson P-4000 photoviewer). Also a 1.4x and a 2.0x extender.

[Dave]

Nikon D200 (skills don't justify above this )
Nikon 17-55 f2.8
Nikon 70-200 VR
Nikon 12-24
Nikon macro lens of some kind

plus money left in bank

[Jonny]

Canon 300mm F/2.8 L - £2,639.99
Canon 17-40mm F/4 L - £475.99
Canon 70-200mm F/2.8L IS - £1,028.99
Canon 85mm f/1.8 - £243.99
Canon 50mm f/1.4 - £234.99

Canon 580EX Speedlite - £243.99

£4,867.94

I'd keep my lovely 350d body

[CT]

I'm very happy with the gear I have at the moment, but time and technology has a way of leaving all gear in it's wake. The original Canon 1DS was about £6.5K, body only, but those 11 million pixels don't seem quite so impressive now, do they?

I have a bit of a gap in my lens range which I need to fill, but other than that, I would go for a really long fast lens for wildlife, if money was no object, but unfortunately - it is, so it's debatable if I could ever justify it.

[Glen]

Thats way too conservative, lets say I've just won the euro millions and I'm giving to TPF Mods...What would you get!!!

Canon 50mm 1.8 - £70
Canon 17-40mm F/4 L - £480
Canon 70-200mm F/2.8L IS - £1000
Canon 580EX - £240
Canon 20D Body - £700

=£2490

I'd then spend £2510 on tuition

[CT]

Ok I'll play. I'd get a 1DS Mark2 for back-up, and probably the whole of the Canon L lens range. There isn't much more than that that I'd really need, so then I'd probably fulfill a lifetime ambition and start buying Leicas, which I'd rarely use but just look at 'em and polish 'em.

[neos]

used 1DMkIIn £2000
used DCS560 £300
new 70-200 2.8IS £1100
new 17-40 £480
new Sigma 10-10 £320
new 580ex, 420ex, st-e2 £600
bag, tripod, CF, AAs, filters.

Money no object
1DsMkII
1DMkIIn
30D
300 L 2.8
70-200 L 2.8IS
24-70 L
16-35 L
10-20
580EX x 2, st-e2

[Bachs]

Money no object?

I'd hire Andy Rouse to take all my shots and Scott Kelby to post process them.
I'd build a bar in the house, stock it up, get sozzled every night and post the shots in all the forums under the pretence I'd taken them.

[Warspite]

Originally Posted by Bachs

Money no object?

I'd hire Andy Rouse to take all my shots and Scott Kelby to post process them.
I'd build a bar in the house, stock it up, get sozzled every night and post the shots in all the forums under the pretence I'd taken them.

Judging by some of the cracking shots I've seen you post I thought thats what you did anyway

[evilowl]

Originally Posted by DJW

Nikon D200 (skills don't justify above this )
Nikon 17-55 f2.8
Nikon 70-200 VR
Nikon 12-24
Nikon macro lens of some kind

plus money left in bank

What Dave said, but I'd blow the remainder on hookers and drugs

[dazzajl]

Linhof Technikardan S 45 £1775
Wide Angle Bellows £224
Tele/Macro Bracket £121
Schneider - Apo Symmar 120/f5.6 L £400
Schneider - Apo Symmar 210/f5.6 L £615
Schneider - 400/f5.6 Apo Tele Xenar £930
Schneider - Super Angulon XL 47/f5.6 X £775
Polaroid 545 Pro instant film holder £145

.... which leaves £15 for down the pub.

edit...forgot the why bit.

The Technikardan is still the nicest 5x4 camera I've seen. It has almost unlimited movements, locks solidly, it's pretty light for a fully metal camera and it's very quick to set up and use. I use Schneider lenses on my Cambo 5x4 and I've yet to see anything that can hold a candle to them so I'd stick with them for my field set up to.

If it was a completely unlimited budget, I'd chuck in a couple of tripods and heads, something to cover every possible occasion. Probably another 5x4 body like a mahogany Ebony, several more lenses, loads more Lee filters and the very best scanner out there.

Oh and why not throw in a 10x8 camera kit too. You just cannot beat B&W contact prints at 10x8.

[Arkady]

Get a 2nd-hand Jobo film processor and a Nikon Coolscan so I could go back to film.

[noah]

AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/4D IF-ED II £4995

and if i was allowed the extra a d2x would do nicely

as a sensible sugesstion i think daves d200 and lenses are a perfect way to spend it.