Puzzle over lenses


or1onz

Member
Sep 16, 2011
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Pasir Ris~~
Greetings all~
I am new to photography and especially DSLR.
I bought myself a Nikon D5100 kit with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G and additional lens from ClubSnap, AFS 55-200mm f4-5.6 VR.

I was reading on the internet about lenses and stuffs and I came across 2 lenses, AF-S 35mm f/1.8 & AF-s 50mmf/1.8.

Correct me if I am wrong,
1) Lenses with low 'f' generally allows for more light to pass through, making it good for night shots?
2) Lenses with low focal length are also more wider, making them wide angle lenses?
3) If I am to use 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G & AF-S 35mm f/1.8 at night, 35mm will be able to produce a much shaper photo?

I believe I will have questions after some answers but I appreciate every help over here. :)

Cheers and best regards,
Edward
 

1) Yes lenses with lower "f-number" will allow more light to pass through and aids autofocus before you take the shot. Depends on what kind of night shot.

2) Yes

3) You will have to be more specific as you didn't specify at which f-stop. But the 35mm indeed is quite sharp for its price and was sharper than my 18-105. Again you need to specify what kind of night shot. Also I think by "sharper photo" you mean corner to corner sharpness? This is pertinent because one is a fast lens and the other is variable. Shooting at 1.8 will not give you corner to corner sharpness in most situations
 

Greetings all~
I am new to photography and especially DSLR.
I bought myself a Nikon D5100 kit with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G and additional lens from ClubSnap, AFS 55-200mm f4-5.6 VR.

I was reading on the internet about lenses and stuffs and I came across 2 lenses, AF-S 35mm f/1.8 & AF-s 50mmf/1.8.

Correct me if I am wrong,
1) Lenses with low 'f' generally allows for more light to pass through, making it good for night shots?
2) Lenses with low focal length are also more wider, making them wide angle lenses?
3) If I am to use 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G & AF-S 35mm f/1.8 at night, 35mm will be able to produce a much shaper photo?

I believe I will have questions after some answers but I appreciate every help over here. :)

Cheers and best regards,
Edward


(1) Lenses with small f-number are large-aperture lenses, designed to allow more light to pass through. It would be helpful under indoor lighting conditions (night shots is a bit of a stretch), which are considerably darker than outdoor in the day.

(2)Field of View:

wider........................................................................................ narrower

18mm..............35mm......................50mm..................................................

(3) I found the 35/1.8DX to be sharper and more contrasty than kit lens, but it also depends how you use it and under what lighting conditions I suppose.
 

what kind of "night shoot"? It's a very broad category. If you mean nighttime scenery, NO, because you should be using a tripod and F8-11 anyway. In this case, setting the kit lens at 35mm or using the 35mm f/1.8, you will not see a difference.
 

(1) Lenses with small f-number are large-aperture lenses, designed to allow more light to pass through. It would be helpful under indoor lighting conditions (night shots is a bit of a stretch), which are considerably darker than outdoor in the day.
.

it can also be used to create a swallower DOF.
 

What kind of portrait photo you like better? Full body or half body portrait?

IF full body take 35mm, if half body take 50mm lens.
 

it can also be used to create a swallower DOF.

I don't know how to swallow DOF :eek:

but if you meant shallower, then yes I would have to agree with you, though I left it out in order to answer TS' question specifically.
 

2) Lenses with low focal length are also more wider, making them wide angle lenses?
3) If I am to use 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G & AF-S 35mm f/1.8 at night, 35mm will be able to produce a much shaper photo?

Hi Edward,

For your point 3, your question is kind of vague.
I'm guessing you are talking about shooting at f1.8 handheld at night vs using the kit lens. If that is the case, you will need to take into account the lighting conditions at the time and the ISO you are using.

These will affect your shutter speed to determine if you can handhold the camera for your shot. A quick guide is if your lens is 50mm, you can usually handhold it if your shutter speed is at 1/50, 1/30 if your lens is 35mm. Anything below that will be how still you can keep.