Woohoo!! I made the workshop... so what equipment do I get now?

[SamuraiCatJB]

I made it to the list, and they are almost filled up only a month after announcing it publicly (not surprised, even at the cost it is a great chance).

So.... Now the situation comes.... Equipment.... Do I have the right stuff, enough stuff, or do I need more stuff? :rolleyes:

I think I now have "enough" for the course... though I recognize one thing is severely lacking in my setup. Macro. Almost none of my attempts at macro turned out, a combination of focusing, narrow depth of field, and flash/shadow issues. Of course I never attempted anything but hand-held macro during my last trip, I have done telephoto with tripod macro outdoors.

http://static.flickr.com/35/102885731_b252f5c438.jpg

vs.

http://static.flickr.com/15/20064968_dbedb80e5b.jpg

I have never actually been impressed with any macro I have done. The question comes, I should be able to make one, and probably only one investment between now and July, either to help macro, or in other areas. Probably with a maximum investment of $500+-

So what would you get, and why?
Possibilities:
Photo storage (allowing simply many more photos to be taken and stored in hopes of one or more being better, quality through mass quantity of chances)
New Lens (either primary or replace the telephoto/macro I dislike), this time a quality lens with low-dispersion materials.
Current Lenses: Nikon 18-70mm (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=324190&is=GREY&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation) (my primary lens and seems decent) and Sigma doesn't sell the lens I have, but this is same lens materials (i.e. cheap) Sigma Telephoto (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=335763&is=USA&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation) (which never was great, but really disappointing after cleaning from a dip in the New Orleans swamp)
Additional flash supplies (macro ring flash, slave flash, etc)
New Tripod (pan or ball head)

Some leanings: Nikon just announced a new 105mm Vibration reduction lens for handheld macro (hmmmm... macro... no tripod...) AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm (http://www.dpreview.com/news/0602/06022103nikonafsvr105.asp)

any other ideas?

[dragonsgames]

http://www.caedes.net/
There are a lot of good photographers there. Ask them ;)

[Gizmo]

Congratulations! It sounds like an awesome opportunity. :D

What to buy, what to buy…. Now that is a tough one! The only suggestion I can make is to offer you the rule of thumb that I use when making purchase decisions: Whenever a lens is in the mix, (assuming I can afford it, or my wife :p ) I always buy the lens. Why? Because I know a good lens is going to take great pictures for a lifetime. I have NEVER regretted buying a good lens. Now, when it comes down to deciding between say, a tripod and a flash, that’s whole different story. And unfortunately I don’t have a good answer. I am sure that for the equipment you’re considering buying you’ve asked yourself how often will you use it after this trip. That’s the biggest deciding factor for me.

Since you asked, I’m going to suggest you buy the lens. I looked at the specs and that is one nice piece of glass! Second on my list would be a good tripod. It is amazing what a difference a good tripod can make to a picture.

Well that’s my 2 cents, and that’s about all it’s worth. :)

Good luck, and as always, post some pictures when you get back.

[SamuraiCatJB]

Those were basically my exact thoughts, but I didn't want to prime the feedback... I actually wanted the 70-200 Nikkor ED VR lens, but they suddenly dropped stock severely off the market before PMA (you can still find a few, but I am curious what happned).... I would like a good telephoto, a good macro, and a good mid-tele. So far my results with the mid-tele have been better than the results with the cheapy telephoto, but I don't consider it waste because I learned a lot (and the cheap lens took the dip in New Orleans rather than a $1000 lens). The Nikkor ED VR lens is $1200 so it is kind of out of the running this year anyhow, though I may save anyhow because they are bound to replace it with something, it is only a year old.

I have done really well caring for the lenses in the last year since the swamp dip, so I think I can take care of a good quality lens... and if I ever go up one more model in the Nikon, the lenses will still work (like you said, a good lens lasts a long time). And I have a good pack I feel comfortable will protect the whole collection, and hold three lenses when I am ready for them. I doubt I will ever do wide angle (I almost never use the widest of my mid-tele), so that leaves macro (which I can handle without zoom) and two telephotos.