Need Advice in lens Selection. D80


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RayTravis

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Nov 23, 2008
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Hi, im quite new to Photography.
Currently im doing videography and decided to expand my knowledge
into the art of photography.

Just bought a D80 and i need a lens which have excellent focus.
No idea which one is good and i have no idea whatsoever to
differentiate which lens is bad and which is good. Whats VR? ED? DX? etc..etc..

Hope ya'll can help me on this.
 

Hi, im quite new to Photography.
Currently im doing videography and decided to expand my knowledge
into the art of photography.

Just bought a D80 and i need a lens which have excellent focus.
No idea which one is good and i have no idea whatsoever to
differentiate which lens is bad and which is good. Whats VR? ED? DX? etc..etc..

Hope ya'll can help me on this.

VR is vibration reduction, helps reduce handshake
ED is a type good glass from nikon to give better image...
DX is the cropped sensor type lens for nikon.....by making such lenses, as the image circle required for the smaller sensor is smaller, the built will supposedly be smaller too...supposed to bring about "cheaper" lens cost.....

by the way, AFS is nikon's version of fast focusing

what do u mean by excellent focus...?

if u are referring to high image quality lenses, depends wads yr focal range too....
for the normal range...(and i am assuming u dun mind the cost)

get the Nikon AFS 17-55mm f/2.8 DX ...second hand market about 1.5k
or if u wan higher end one, get the afs 24-70mm f/2.8. roughly about 2k(second hand)...this lens is full frame compatible..

do note for cropped sensors, the focal length would have to be multiplied by 1.5x...so a 17mm lens is effectively about 25mm....therefore if u were to pick the 24-70mm, 24mm at the wide end gives u a 36mm equivalent angle of view, which is not really wide enough...
will prob need a wider lens....

and that answer could be the 14-24mm f/2.8 (also a full frame lens, and around the same price as the 24-70).....these two are basically the best nikon has to offer...

for a longer focal length...

best is afs 70-200mm f/2.8 VR....best that nikon has to offer at this range at the moment too....yep...

well another way to look at it would be.....just pick the most exp nikon lens for that range that u can find....and you really wouldn't go very wrong with that...
 

If you look into the Nikon sub-forum, you'll see a sticky on the Lens Acronyms for Nikon.

By excellent focus, I think you gotta first look at the subject. Are you doing close-ups, potraits, landscapes, sports and action etc? Then, after you know what you will be shooting, go for the best lens or most affordable lens, depending on which you can afford.

tanjonhan's suggestion of the 24-70 and 14-24 f/2.8 are really expensive. Cause they are full-frame lenses. since the D80 is not a full-frame camera body, you could go for the DX lenses instead.
 

What kinda photography do you intend to delve into? :think:

and good focus? If fast is what you mean, it depends in the lens :)
AF-S lenses are all pretty darn fast but some AF lenses focus extremely quickly too
 

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Hi, im quite new to Photography.
Currently im doing videography and decided to expand my knowledge
into the art of photography.

Just bought a D80 and i need a lens which have excellent focus.
No idea which one is good and i have no idea whatsoever to
differentiate which lens is bad and which is good. Whats VR? ED? DX? etc..etc..

Hope ya'll can help me on this.

Hi RayTravis, welcome.

With your background knowledge in videography things might be abit easier.
Is there a particular focal length you are looking at ? What kind of shots ?

Ryan
 

If you look into the Nikon sub-forum, you'll see a sticky on the Lens Acronyms for Nikon.

By excellent focus, I think you gotta first look at the subject. Are you doing close-ups, potraits, landscapes, sports and action etc? Then, after you know what you will be shooting, go for the best lens or most affordable lens, depending on which you can afford.

tanjonhan's suggestion of the 24-70 and 14-24 f/2.8 are really expensive. Cause they are full-frame lenses. since the D80 is not a full-frame camera body, you could go for the DX lenses instead.

I might be doing close up and portrait pictures.. Therefore i need a good lens.
I wana be able to produce shots e.g, the subject is clear while the bacground is blur.. really blur.
Only zoom lens does this?? For close ups, i know that the camera must be close to the subject to get a blur background. but how about portrait pictures...? Must i use a zoom lens to get that kind of shot?
Lets just say if i shoot at night with a zoom lens. Im sure my flash wont get that far..
i have a 70-300 AF lens.. lousy right? All i got it for free from my friend.
Now im thinking of buying a better lens..

What i own now is : 18-70 DX and 70-300 zoom lens..

PS: Thanks thou for replying... =D
 

Hi RayTravis, welcome.

With your background knowledge in videography things might be abit easier.
Is there a particular focal length you are looking at ? What kind of shots ?

Ryan

Hi ryan, i hope the above answers your question.
 

I might be doing close up and portrait pictures.. Therefore i need a good lens.
I wana be able to produce shots e.g, the subject is clear while the bacground is blur.. really blur.
Only zoom lens does this?? For close ups, i know that the camera must be close to the subject to get a blur background. but how about portrait pictures...? Must i use a zoom lens to get that kind of shot?
Lets just say if i shoot at night with a zoom lens. Im sure my flash wont get that far..
i have a 70-300 AF lens.. lousy right? All i got it for free from my friend.
Now im thinking of buying a better lens..

What i own now is : 18-70 DX and 70-300 zoom lens..

PS: Thanks thou for replying... =D


You are talking about out of focus areas, the concept of depth of field.
U can get that with a prime lens as well. In fact it might even be easier since they often have larger apertures to start with.

You can try shooting with
- Widest aperture u got
- put more distance between your subject and the background
- longer focal length

There are a number of great shots done with the 70-300mm on this focum.
What is the reason why you wanna change? bigger aperture ?

Ryan
 

You are talking about out of focus areas, the concept of depth of field.
U can get that with a prime lens as well. In fact it might even be easier since they often have larger apertures to start with.

You can try shooting with
- Widest aperture u got
- put more distance between your subject and the background
- longer focal length

There are a number of great shots done with the 70-300mm on this focum.
What is the reason why you wanna change? bigger aperture ?

Ryan

hmm.. alright.. but what kind of primelens is good for me? say for less than 1k..
 

I might be doing close up and portrait pictures.. Therefore i need a good lens.
I wana be able to produce shots e.g, the subject is clear while the bacground is blur.. really blur.
Only zoom lens does this?? For close ups, i know that the camera must be close to the subject to get a blur background. but how about portrait pictures...? Must i use a zoom lens to get that kind of shot?
Lets just say if i shoot at night with a zoom lens. Im sure my flash wont get that far..
i have a 70-300 AF lens.. lousy right? All i got it for free from my friend.
Now im thinking of buying a better lens..

What i own now is : 18-70 DX and 70-300 zoom lens..

PS: Thanks thou for replying... =D
Best combo for you.
AF-S 17-55mm F2.8
AF-S 60mm or 105mm Micro lens F2.8
AF-S 70-200mm F2.8 VR

all covered and good to go.
 

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thanks.. will take note! got the zoom lens! :D
 

thanks.. will take note! got the zoom lens! :D

errr, sorry to burst your bubble, but if you're referring to your 70-300mm lens, then it's not the same animal as the 70-200 f/2.8
Your 70-300mm is an f/4 - 5.6, if I'm not mistaken.

Actually your 18-70 and 70-300 is a pretty decent combo.
If you really want the thin depth-of-field, you can either get the 50 f/1.8 [cheap] or 85 f/1.8 [more ex, but still affordable i guess]

On the D80, the 85mm prime might feel like too much zoom, depending on how much space you have between camera and subject.
 

Alright thanks.. Will take note.. lol..
my oh my.. photography needs LOTS N LOTS OF MONEY man!

50mm prime huh... alrite.. roughly how much is it ah? both first and second hand...
 

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I was shopping around for the F1.8 and F1.4 lens this couple of weeks as well.
1.8F 50mm Prime Lens - around $175 to $185.
1.8F 85mm Prime Lens - around $660 to $680.
(depending on which shops you go to).
 

Alright thanks.. Will take note.. lol..
my oh my.. photography needs LOTS N LOTS OF MONEY man!

50mm prime huh... alrite.. roughly how much is it ah? both first and second hand...

Only if you gotten the bbb virus :bsmilie:

Small girl holding a $15.00 plastic cam can shoot a award winning photo means the tools is not everything.
 

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