Between a work bonus and tax return, we are now sitting on a nice bit of cash. To top it off, the boss says she will allow me to spend up to a $1000 on a new telescope (im an astronomy geek too), a new bike (also an mtber) or camera "stuff"!! WHAT TO DO!!!

Seriously tho, as much as I would love to buy my dream telescope or a new bike, I already have those things. So...I am heavily leaning toward camera stuff. I bought a D50 this time last year. Im really getting into this photography thing! I have the basics. 18-55mm kit lens, 55-200mm lens, tripod, small camera bag. I have 4 daughters, so I am probably going to get an SB600 flash for indoor stuff, and trying my hand at portraits. Also thinking of that 50mm f1.8 that everyone raves about, but Im not sure I really want (or need) antoher lens. Things I need....extra battery, extra memory card, better editing software.

If y'all had a cool grand to spend in my situation, what would you do??? :) :cool: :D :p

Well the thing you have to think about is what you want and will use ... no sense wasting 1k on something you won't use...

the 50mm is nice because it is cheap with great results .. for 100$ hard to pass up

I have the D50 with the SB 600 .. I got this flash for the kids xmas programs and other school events indoors where the on camera flash wasn't enough ... it serves me well ...

As far as portraits go .. you will find that you will want better lighting for better results ... or at least a way to get the flash off the camera and to the side some ... which is possible and then using reflectors or something to get some fill ... I ended up getting some alienbees strobes for portraits ... have alot of fun with them and great results ...

Tubes are fun with the 50mm for some nice macro shooting ...

a D80 is under 1k :D

All depends on what you want to do more with your camera ... maybe a nice telescope to hook your camera up to and take some great sky shots :thumbsup:

I know i would personally be looking at the 70 - 200 2.8

Christmas, yay my first mac just arrived, I decided on powrerbook G4, 1.67ghz, 15.2", 512mb (have to get 1gb today:) rev.5 Think this will point me where I am headed. Just waiting on someone to give me info about what I have to buy in terms of memory and card reader i have to buy with my new D40 that I am trying to buy today. Yes, its Christmas :)

sb800 instead of 600 so you can do the off camera flash.
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reflectors and/or other lighting equipment.

All based on your statement of wanting to do portrait work.

"SB800 instead of 600 so you can do the off camera flash."

I'm not sure if the D50 supports off camera flash, but the SB800 is more powerful. If you're going to buy one flash, that's the one to get. If the D50 does supports off camera flash, then you may want to buy a couple of SB600's (since they are $185 vs. $315 for the SB800).

Unless you're really into photo-editing, I'd opt for Photoshop Elements 5.0. You can get it for less than $100. Save you several hundred dollars.

Reflectors and stands to hold them are a great idea for portrait work as well.

The off camera flash would be a cool feature, but the D50 does not support the "commander" mode like the D70. It will work if I use the SB800 on the cam, and an SB600 off cam, but I dont need 2 flashes. My main passion is not portraits, but outdoor photography. I just need something to use indoors.

I have decided to get the SB600, Nikon NX, and photoshop Elements 5 for editing. The rest of the money just will burn a hole until I spend it on MTB stuff...or beer...or....

there are other cheaper ways to get the sb600 off camera ... just has to be in manual mode instead of TTL ...

ebay has some cheap wireless units and can get a hotshoe adapter to fire your speedlight off camera ... works nicely ...

Oh! Well if its outdoor photography and I had a grand to burn, I'd get a Sigma 80-500 apo and save up for the other stuff later.
Happy shopping!