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A friend has given me the task of purchasing him a DSLR + a lens suitable for shooting surfing shots. His budget is $2500.00. Of coarse he would appreciate the best deal and would love to get some change back. I am going with a D70s + kit lens, but can anyone suggest a bigger lens for his surfing shots. A VR would be great, but too pricey. Maybe something from Sigma. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Get yourself a Nikon D70 or D70s and then buy the Sigma 150-500mm lens ... if will give him the reach he needs to get surfing images. Total price should fit that budget.

The D70s sounds like a great introduction for the gentleman maybe body only and get a long lens say the sigma 80-400 or the 100-300 f/4 sigma ex not sure if the budget would allow but you could get close and he'd be starting with quality camera and glass but ghosts option sounds good too.
Another choice might be the EOS 20D/350D, perhaps not as rugged though (and I'm a nikon man!! ) with the 150-500 Sigma the eos 20D (350D ) can be pushed to higher ISO with less noise which may be needed as the sigma is a slower lens. Many combinations and options, not forgetting crop factor on these DSLR's will help. I suspect Birddog has best advice here. It also depends on future expansion desires.
cheers
marco

You should also consider the D50. You'll be able to spend more on better glass.

I agree with blinkblink; a D50 body with a 50-500mm Bigma and basic tri/monopod should come in at close to $2500. What's <i>really</i> gonna blow the budget is the 86mm CPL.

Very true blinkblink. Forgot about the D50
cheers
marco

As others have suggested, I too would be looking at the D50. That should actually leave enough to buy an 80-400VR, without blowing the budget by too much.

Thanks for the responces...bring it on! Any thoughts will be appreciated.

He had a play with my D70 a week ago and loved it, thats why I have lent towards the D70s. Tell me, what are the MAIN differences between the D70s & D50. I don't really know anything about the D50.

i agree with gary, getting a 80-400VR should be the main aim. A D50 is completely adequate for recording images. the general wisdom is that you should buy quality lenses and upgrade bodies at your leisure cause there's always a new one just around the corner.

the D50 is in some ways superior to the D70 as Nikon has made improvements based on the feedback from the D70. this review is as good as any:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond50/

Hey ghost. there aren't too many main differences between the D50 and D70. Apparently there have been a few improvements on the sensor on the d50. the D50 doesnt have DOF preview, no backlit lcd, um what else, 2.5 f/s for the d50 vs 3f/s for the d70, and a few things that i have not seemed to care to not have. the d50 will be very suitable if he is new to dslr's.

Bang for Buck - Try a D50 with a Nikkor 50/1.8, Nikkor 85/1.8, and a Sigma EX 100-300/4 HSM (with Sigma EX APO 1.4 teleconverter [140-420])

cameraguy21773 wrote:Bang for Buck - Try a D50 with a Nikkor 50/1.8, Nikkor 85/1.8, and a Sigma EX 100-300/4 HSM (with Sigma EX APO 1.4 teleconverter [140-420])

Mike,
Then these will be out of his nominated budget of AU$2500.00