As many of you know I had all my eqipment stolen about 10 days ago. Now I have to replace it. The problem is that I seem to have been under insured. I have about $3300(US) to spend of insurence money and VERY little of my own. I know I am getting the Nikon D100 again. Cost - 1500. That leaves me with about 1800 to play with. The problem comes in the fact that I can only garrenty 1200 more. The reason is the way the insurance works. You can spend more for this or that if its listed individually on the policy. (Side note: Always give your insurance agent a detailed list of what you are insuring. I wasn't detailed enough!) With this 1200-1800 I have to get the following: Best Flash unit for the $$ and compatible with the D100. That means SB800. Value 370. At least 2 good lenses. One 24-70(ish) 2.8, One zoom Lens, something to 300 or greater. This lens would be for sports and nature photos. Mostly nature but I do shoot AHL Hockey games too. Perhaps a good Macro Lens like Michelle's beloved 105. The lenses should be either Sigma or nikkor but I am open if they are shrp, good lenses. A new Camera bag Cable release Filters (at least one Polorizor for each lens) and anything else I can think of. The problem I am running into is what lenses. The cost is up to $1000 for the lenses I sem to like. That will soak up 95% of the money! I need some suggestions and direction from you guys. Getting this much equipment at once is overwhelming. I am used to finding something i want and saving towards it. When i get ti I am always happy. But getting everything new all at once is just tripping my mind into overload! Any suggestions you have would be greatly appriciated. It seems like a dream to be able to get this much equipment at once but to be honest it ain't as easy as it seems. TIA Magick Michael

Send me the $$$ I have no problem buying that much stuff.If I think you willl like my choices...I'll send them to you. ::::::::::: What is most important. You need a camera for sure,then a lens.Get the flash unit,then see whats left.The other accesories can come later.Probably many good deals on used bags and filters. One thing this will be is a fresh start and a chance to see what you can do from the beginning again.Makes your next purches more refined.Same as reformatting a PC or moving into a new house.The things you had may not seem so neccasary.Time for a "New Beginning"

Michael - dB makes some good points. You know you need the body and flash. For the lens, think about what it is you shoot the most and then get a high-end lens that fits the bill. With the amount of money you have to spend, you're not going to be getting more than 1 of their "pro" lenses. After you have that, try to get a medium cost one that has great performance. Every manufacturer seems to have at least one lens that is hugely affordable but kicks butt all around. For Canon, one such lens is the 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS. This is the lens that's on my camera 75% of the time. An outstanding all around lens that only cost me $300. So, lets see. I see the D100 at $1300 (after $200 mail in rebate) and SB800 for $325. That's $1625 leaving you $1075-1675 to go. I don't know Nikkor glass, but from some of the posts I've seen, the Nikkor 24-85 F/3.5-4.5 AF-S zoom may be you're "28-135mm IS". Sells for about $300. Again, don't know about Nikkor glass, but I know they sell an 80-200mm F/2.8 zoom for around $800 (after $100 rebate). Getting good glass in 300mm zoom is going to be a bit pricey (best I saw was a 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 for $1300). At that price difference, I'd think about getting the 80-200mm f/2.8 and a 1.4x Extender for $200. Would get you 2 lenses that overlap nicely (24-85mm & 80-200mm) with the option to take the 80-200mm f/2.8 to a 112-280mm f/4.0 for around $1300 total; with camera and flash about $3000 before shipping. So, it can be done, you just need to research the glass and decide if you want to put the bulk of your money on the standard zoom or the telephoto zoom. Body and flash are pretty much set. -=>Donal