which lens should i buy?


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wahoo

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Jan 4, 2008
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Choa Chu Kang, S'pore
i'm a newbie, i own a nikon d40 w/ 18-55 kit lens, i'm thinking of purchasing a new lens, right now i'm trying to decide between a AF 28mm f2.8D & AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f3.5-5.6G. i love shooting street/outdoors but i also want something that i can use on family occasions/events. my budget is SGD800. can anybody give me some advise? i'll really appreciate your help. TIA
 

i'm a newbie, i own a nikon d40 w/ 18-55 kit lens, i'm thinking of purchasing a new lens, right now i'm trying to decide between a AF 28mm f2.8D & AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f3.5-5.6G. i love shooting street/outdoors but i also want something that i can use on family occasions/events. my budget is SGD800. can anybody give me some advise? i'll really appreciate your help. TIA

D40 cannot use auto focus with AF lenses.

In any case, 28mm on the D40 would be 42mm equivalent field of view on 135 aka 35mm format. Neither here nor there. This lens is more suitable for a full frame DSLR to have a slightly wide angle.
 

thanks for the quick response, can you recommend what lens i should buy?

Frankly, it depends on what you're shooting (portraits, candids or landscape), the light condition (day or night, indoor or outdoor) and how near you can get to shoot from.

If you want to shooting everything with just 1 lens, then it must be the most versatile one ............... then the 18-135mm is suitable and the 18-200 VR is even more so because it has a wider zoom range and alos has VR.

However, the 18-200 VR is about $1,200.

Different focal lengths give different perspectives as the shooting distances will be different.

At the end of the day, only you will know which focal lengths and apertures you need for your type of photography.

For most/many people, landscape looks more dramatic and has more impact with a field of view much wider than 35mm, meaning shorter than 24mm lens on the D40.

For portraits, many people prefer to shoot with focal lengths of 50mm-85mm on a 1.5x crop DSLR like the D40 and with apetures smaller than F/2 in order to have a shallow Depth of field to isolate the person against an out-of-focus background.

Therefore for the best results, dedicated lenses for each type of photography is needed.

A verstatile zoom lens compromises in picture sharpness and apertures and therefore some people start to sell their versatile zoom lenses and buy dedicated lenses once they know the type of photography they want to achieve.
 

D40 cannot use auto focus with AF lenses.

In any case, 28mm on the D40 would be 42mm equivalent field of view on 135 aka 35mm format. Neither here nor there. This lens is more suitable for a full frame DSLR to have a slightly wide angle.

Frankly, it depends on what you're shooting (portraits, candids or landscape), the light condition (day or night, indoor or outdoor) and how near you can get to shoot from.

If you want to shooting everything with just 1 lens, then it must be the most versatile one ............... then the 18-135mm is suitable and the 18-200 VR is even more so because it has a wider zoom range and alos has VR.

However, the 18-200 VR is about $1,200.

Different focal lengths give different perspectives as the shooting distances will be different.

At the end of the day, only you will know which focal lengths and apertures you need for your type of photography.

For most/many people, landscape looks more dramatic and has more impact with a field of view much wider than 35mm, meaning shorter than 24mm lens on the D40.


Thanks, maybe i have to wait a while to pump up my budget lol, actually im trying to shoot in every condition coz i want to explore my potential, i know there's still a lot to learn, but its a big help for me to decide, thanks again
 

Thanks, maybe i have to wait a while to pump up my budget lol, actually im trying to shoot in every condition coz i want to explore my potential, i know there's still a lot to learn, but its a big help for me to decide, thanks again

Since you just want to explore and you already have 18-55 kit lens, then 55-200 VR ($400) or AFS 70-300mm VR ($850) might be good options too. 300mm is a bit too long on a 1.5x crop factor camera unless you also want to shoot stage events or sports.

But you have to change lens sometimes and their max. apertures are not big and you may sometimes need to up your ISO to get fast enough shutter speed to freeze motion when shooting indoor.
 

But you have to change lens sometimes and their max. apertures are not big and you may sometimes need to up your ISO to get fast enough shutter speed to freeze motion when shooting indoor.

but the problem with D40 is that the ISO 1600 is horrible, i got a shock when i saw the picture quality. Totally unacceptable.
 

Since you just want to explore and you already have 18-55 kit lens, then 55-200 VR ($400) or AFS 70-300mm VR ($850) might be good options too. 300mm is a bit too long on a 1.5x crop factor camera unless you also want to shoot stage events or sports.

I seconded the 55-200VR, save the remaining money to upgrade your camera in 1-2 year time.
Or instead of upgrading camera you may want to get a wide angle zoom like 12-24 for landscape too.
 

Thanks, maybe i have to wait a while to pump up my budget lol, actually im trying to shoot in every condition coz i want to explore my potential, i know there's still a lot to learn, but its a big help for me to decide, thanks again

This is a good thought :)
From all your practice, u might even find from urself the answer to what lens u need

Ryan
 

i'm a newbie, i own a nikon d40 w/ 18-55 kit lens, i'm thinking of purchasing a new lens, right now i'm trying to decide between a AF 28mm f2.8D & AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f3.5-5.6G. i love shooting street/outdoors but i also want something that i can use on family occasions/events. my budget is SGD800. can anybody give me some advise? i'll really appreciate your help. TIA

u mentiioned shooting for family occasions, perhaps better spend e money on a SB600 or 800 flash. i think your kit lens is quite good for group shots already (with the flash)
 

u mentiioned shooting for family occasions, perhaps better spend e money on a SB600 or 800 flash. i think your kit lens is quite good for group shots already (with the flash)

i have an sb400, ill think which of those lens mentioned previously i should buy, thanks for all the tips its encouraging. ill post some of my shots for C&C. tnx:)
 

The AF 50mm F/1.8 ($180) and 50mm F/1.4 ($$400+) are very popular for portraits outdoor as well as indoor because of the appropriate focal length for shooting distance (perspective), large aperture (for low light to get fast enough handheld shutter speed , shallow DOF to issolate the subject from the background and very affordable prices.

However, the D40/D40x can only auto focus with AFS lenses but not the AF lenses.

The aperture of F/5.6 at 55mm for the kit lens 18-55mm is too small for low light and shallow DOF. However this lens is able to do macro shots with its short minimum shooting distance and 18mm (about 27mm field of view) is suitable for landscape shots or tight spaces.

The 55-200mm VR also has quite small apertures (F4.5-F/5.6) and you may sometimes have to increase your ISO to high levels in order to get a fast enough shutter speed to freeze movement in low light situations. However, its VR will help in avoiding the other type of blur (2-3 stops) : handshake when shooting stationary subjects in low light conditions.

If the D40/D40x were able to auto focus with AF lenses, then 50mm F/1.4 + 55-200 F/4.5-F/5.6 VR would complement the 18-55mm kit lens quite nicely when the budget is tight.

So I have come across people who regretted buying the Nikon D40/D40x because of this and upgraded their camera bodies to D80 or D200.

In any case, fast lenses (with apertures F2.8 or bigger for short focal lengths <100mm and apertures F/4 or bigger for long focal lengths 200mm or longer) are still needed for good results most of the time for sharpness, shallower DOF and fast shutter speed (especially when light condition isn't ideal). However, these lenses cost a lot more than the kit lens.
 

The AF 50mm F/1.8 ($180) and 50mm F/1.4 ($$400+) are very popular for portraits outdoor as well as indoor because of the appropriate focal length for shooting distance (perspective), large aperture (for low light to get fast enough handheld shutter speed , shallow DOF to issolate the subject from the background and very affordable prices.

However, the D40/D40x can only auto focus with AFS lenses but not the AF lenses.

The aperture of F/5.6 at 55mm for the kit lens 18-55mm is too small for low light and shallow DOF. However this lens is able to do macro shots with its short minimum shooting distance and 18mm (about 27mm field of view) is suitable for landscape shots or tight spaces.

The 55-200mm VR also has quite small apertures (F4.5-F/5.6) and you may sometimes have to increase your ISO to high levels in order to get a fast enough shutter speed to freeze movement in low light situations. However, its VR will help in avoiding the other type of blur (2-3 stops) : handshake when shooting stationary subjects in low light conditions.

If the D40/D40x were able to auto focus with AF lenses, then 50mm F/1.4 + 55-200 F/4.5-F/5.6 VR would complement the 18-55mm kit lens quite nicely when the budget is tight.

So I have come across people who regretted buying the Nikon D40/D40x because of this and upgraded their camera bodies to D80 or D200.

In any case, fast lenses (with apertures F2.8 or bigger for short focal lengths <100mm and apertures F/4 or bigger for long focal lengths 200mm or longer) are still needed for good results most of the time for sharpness, shallower DOF and fast shutter speed (especially when light condition isn't ideal). However, these lenses cost a lot more than the kit lens.

i bought my cam last september at the comex in suntec, i want the D200 but i cant afford it, i took the D40 just to make sure that i can have a cam to start with, D40x was out of stock that time so i settled for this D40.

Regarding the auto focus feature, im not very particular about it, im more comfortable using manual focus as it gives me the look i want, now im considering your suggestion to take 50mm F/1.4 + 55-200 F/4.5-F/5.6 VRinstead of the 18-135 F/3.5-5.6G, thanx so much
 

theres a lens up for sale (2nd hand) nikkor 18-135 for sgd 330,
whoa it make me confused now, i think the price is nice, just
have to check of it is okay
 

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