question for our photog's
Submitted by Simon C on Tue, 2009-12-01 10:23
Guys/gals - I bought a nikon d70 for my wife a few years back and she is wanting a new lense for Xmas. As I have no idea even where to start can any of you who are very proficient with DSLR's point me in the right direction as far as what size. She wants it mainly for portrait/landscape type stuff and I know she mentioned wnating a wider angle than standard. SOrry for the absolute lack of info, but any advice woud be good -thanks.
GusG
Posts: 547
Date Joined: 07/04/08
I have a Nikon D70, good
I have a Nikon D70, good cameras. The standard lens is a 18-70mm or an 18-55mm. The lower the number the wider the 'shot'. IE a 300mm lens is good for zooming in on stuff that is far away and a 14mm lens will show a very wide view.
I think from about 12-14mm lenses you start to get the fish-eye effect - where everything looks like a bubble type thing.
I have bought a Tamron lens for my D70 wihch was way cheaper than the Nikon one but obviously not as good (still rpetty good for the price and for what I use it)
The other thing to look out for is the F-stop. Very roughly speaking, the lower the F-stop the better the lens and the more expensive. So an 18-70 lens with an F2.8 will be better than one with an F4.5.
This is a very rough and broad guide explained in very laymans terms. There are people here much better qualified to answer these questions and they will probably correct what I have got wrong (hopefully not too much)
kaney68
Posts: 401
Date Joined: 29/07/08
What lenses
Hi ya Simon,
To get started..
What lenses does your wife currently own ?
Also what sort of budget ??
From there we can start looking at other options, in both Nikon and other brands such as Sigma and Tamron.
cheers,
Paul
JoRn
Posts: 368
Date Joined: 20/11/07
if she likes portrait lens -
if she likes portrait lens - a sigma 30m 1.4 is good.
i know nikon have a cheaper 1.8 version
its a fast lens and can be taken without a flash and little light.
downside - its fixed at 30mm,
goodside - photos look really nice if you like the blurred background effect.
Simon C
Posts: 801
Date Joined: 01/05/07
thanks guys -= current lens
thanks guys -= current lens is 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5g
standard lens that comes with it.
Budget really depends. Probably under 1000 would be really nice ATM but i am open to suggestions.
kaney68
Posts: 401
Date Joined: 29/07/08
okidokes
Simon,
You probably need to determine whether your wife really wants a lens for landscapes or a lens for portraits !
A couple of options are..
Landscape Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 (around $880) or Sigma 10-20mm f3.5 (around $1075)
Portraits Nikon 85mm f1.8 (around $650)
Maybe spoil her and buy the 10-20mm f4-5.6 and the 85mm f1.8
cheers,
Paul
Seaquest
Posts: 1136
Date Joined: 22/10/09
Question for Kaney68
Hi mate,
Whats the best way to get a good panoramic landscape shot for a large print?
Is it better to use a wide angle lense or to use photoshop etc to stitch several photos together?
I have a cannon 50d with 17-85mm and 70-300mm lenses.
Can you recommend a good wide angle lense for this camera
Kelvin8r
Posts: 475
Date Joined: 12/08/08
panos
hey mate, panos can actually be quite easy provided you have good software stitching program, and basically when taking the photos, make sure you have at least 1/3 of the photo in the next photo for ease of overlapping. you could also get a panoramic head that goes on your tripod, but i have never used one. pm me if you want some more details
kaney68
Posts: 401
Date Joined: 29/07/08
Depends..
Hi ya Seaquest...
To be honest panos are not might thing...
Love them, but never really spent the time working on them.
As for which is the best way of going about creating them and to run off a large print..
Depending on what you call large, you obviously could shoot wide and just crop to suit.
By utilising photo stitch pano software, you will get a much larger printable image with heaps more detail.
Just need to make sure you leave enough overlap on each image for registration (when stiching the next image) and shoot in manual settings so the cameras metering doesn't fluctuate from shot to shot.
Then it all comes down to processing time and the power of your computer to piece it all together !
Also if stitching a pano, pay particular attention to the stitched areas - nothing worse seeing a blended area in a pano that isn't quite right !
As for software, not too sure what is out there, but have seen some great images created using the newer versions of Photoshop.
cheers,
Paul
Seaquest
Posts: 1136
Date Joined: 22/10/09
Cheers for the info guys. I
Cheers for the info guys.
I have only had the camera for a little while and still learning to use it.
Used the latest photoshop to create this image of Inginup.
Not quite good enough quality for a wall print but I will keep trying.
Simon C
Posts: 801
Date Joined: 01/05/07
thanks paul
thanks for that Paul - I asked her before and she wants mainly for landscape - is it best to fleabay or anyone local you would recommend?
jeremy-j
Posts: 336
Date Joined: 31/08/09
I would kill for a
I would kill for a 10-20mm. they give you a wide angle but without giving the fish eye look.
However, i shot protraits with a 50mm lens and and i have no complaints, it is a fast lens and manages to take crisp photos.
I shoot with a canon though so the lenses are different.
jeremy-j
Posts: 336
Date Joined: 31/08/09
I would kill for a
I would kill for a 10-20mm. they give you a wide angle but without giving the fish eye look.
However, i shot protraits with a 50mm lens and and i have no complaints, it is a fast lens and manages to take crisp photos.
I shoot with a canon though so the lenses are different.
Paully
Posts: 3246
Date Joined: 15/08/09
Im certainly no expert
but I believe from my readings and talking with those in the know, that generally a 50 mm focal length is the best for taking portraits. Apparently the way you meter the shot can be crucial, i.e apparently spot metering is the best from a portrait point of view. I think there are normally at least 3 different meter settings on board a DSLR, all of which the preference can be set depending on what sort of shot your taking.
Kelvin8r
Posts: 475
Date Joined: 12/08/08
portraits
from what i know apprently the sweet spot for portraits is between 70-100mm... it gives you enuff distance between you and the subject without gettin too close and making them uncomfortable. landscapes are totally different... like the others have said you ideally like a wide angle so a 10-22mm or similar would be great