[mattyb]

No of course I don't NEED it, but I'm going to buy something for the camera. I have already : Nikon D40, kit lens (18-55mm non VR), Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, Metz 48 Flash (like the SB600), Sigma 70-300mm, remote, tripod and a fairly good bag for it all.

I'm tempted to get a wide angle, the Sigma 10-20mm, but I also like the thought of replacing the kit lens with a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8. Then there's the new camera idea, which is too expensive really but one can dream.

So, votes.

1) The wide angle
2) The 17-50mm f/2.8
3) Just get the D300S Matt and STFU.

[mduell]

1 or 2; always buy glass until the body falls apart.

[mattyb]

Funny, I thought more people would chime in.

Cheers for the advice mduell.

[Oisín]

I think pretty much everyone agrees. Always glass before bodies. With a few exceptions (such as wide-angle lenses if upgrading from a crop frame to a full frame), you can always keep using your glass with the new body once you do get it. But upgrading the body won’t give you that much difference or expand your possibilities that much like new glass will.

[OreoCookie]

I think the 17-50 mm will be vastly more useful than the UW lens.

Disclaimer: I have an UW zoom (Tokina's 12-24 mm).

<offtopic>Does the Metz flash support Nikon's creative lighting system? I have bought myself a used SB-600 and I love being able to use my camera's built-in flash to trigger the SB-600 externally. During the New Year Dinner, I put the SB-600 to a strategic location so I would have natural, indirect light. Worked like a charm. </offtopic>

[mattyb]

Originally Posted by OreoCookie 

I think the 17-50 mm will be vastly more useful than the UW lens.

Disclaimer: I have an UW zoom (Tokina's 12-24 mm).

Yeah probably right. I just want to try some new photography mode really, close to subjects (usually my kids) but using a wide angle for some interesting effects. I'm also not far from some pretty impressive scenery so wanted to try and do some landscapes.

Originally Posted by OreoCookie 

<offtopic>Does the Metz flash support Nikon's creative lighting system? I have bought myself a used SB-600 and I love being able to use my camera's built-in flash to trigger the SB-600 externally. During the New Year Dinner, I put the SB-600 to a strategic location so I would have natural, indirect light. Worked like a charm. </offtopic>

Sorry, I'm not that advanced in my flash usage, couldn't tell you. And no, I haven't read the whole manual yet. Not sure if the D40 can do that anyway.

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by mattyb 

Yeah probably right. I just want to try some new photography mode really, close to subjects (usually my kids) but using a wide angle for some interesting effects. I'm also not far from some pretty impressive scenery so wanted to try and do some landscapes.

I would discourage you from taking pictures of people with an UW lens unless you know what you're doing: people in the corner of the picture tend to be elongated and you constantly have that UW effect. It's nice if you use it properly, but annoying if you use it constantly.

Originally Posted by mattyb 

Sorry, I'm not that advanced in my flash usage, couldn't tell you. And no, I haven't read the whole manual yet. Not sure if the D40 can do that anyway.

It's not really advanced. As a matter of fact, it's very easy to use: it took me 2 minutes to figure out how I activate the proper settings. But it will take a lot longer to figure out how to use the flash off camera properly

[mattyb]

I have the SC-28 cable and have tried a bit of off-camera-but-limited-to-1m-away stuff. Some good results, mostly bad. I really need to sit down and read some theory than put it into practice because I have a feeling that I'm missing the tech side (settings etc) of things.

Matt