Combo of Lens

[rachy588]

Hi everyone

I'm currently using a D7000, tokina 11-16, nikon 18-105 kit lens and a nikon 50mm prime lens. My interest are mostly landscape and street and moving towards timelapse photography.

I'm not sure which option should i choose:
1) Tokina 11-16, Nikon 18-200 VRII
2) Tokina 11-16, Nikon 17-55 f/2.8, Nikon 55-200
3) Tokina 11-16, Nikon 18-105 kit lens, Nikon 70-200 f/2.8

Can anyone enlighten me on which set of lenses should i get ?

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

Hi everyone

I'm currently using a D7000, tokina 11-16, nikon 18-105 kit lens and a nikon 50mm prime lens. My interest are mostly landscape and street and moving towards timelapse photography.

I'm not sure which option should i choose:
1) Tokina 11-16, Nikon 18-200 VRII
2) Tokina 11-16, Nikon 17-55 f/2.8, Nikon 55-200
3) Tokina 11-16, Nikon 18-105 kit lens, Nikon 70-200 f/2.8

Can anyone enlighten me on which set of lenses should i get ?

Your 3 choices cover quite a large budget range
lowest is <$2K and highest is well over $4K.

Any examples of what you define 'street photography' to be? Different people seem to have vastly different interpretations. As a result, I've seen people use anything from ultra-wides to telephoto zooms to achieve this.

 

[TWmilkteaTW]

For the option 3.. If i were you. i'll take out the 70-200. Just the Tokina and kit lens is good enough. Not too heavy to travel around too.
If really need range. Go option 1.

 

[rachy588]

Street would be more of like shooting pple's expression and candid shot. So I would need quite a long range. I tried shooting with my kit lens but I really have to get v close to the person. Would it be better if I get 17-55 and 55-200 instead of 18-200 ? Because I might need 17-55 would produce better IQ

 

[brapodam]

Street would be more of like shooting pple's expression and candid shot. So I would need quite a long range. I tried shooting with my kit lens but I really have to get v close to the person. Would it be better if I get 17-55 and 55-200 instead of 18-200 ? Because I might need 17-55 would produce better IQ

Street photo does not need you to use tele. UWA also can capture people's expressions (and there are people who do that with much success)

 

[daredevil123]

Hi everyone

I'm currently using a D7000, tokina 11-16, nikon 18-105 kit lens and a nikon 50mm prime lens. My interest are mostly landscape and street and moving towards timelapse photography.

I'm not sure which option should i choose:
1) Tokina 11-16, Nikon 18-200 VRII
2) Tokina 11-16, Nikon 17-55 f/2.8, Nikon 55-200
3) Tokina 11-16, Nikon 18-105 kit lens, Nikon 70-200 f/2.8

Can anyone enlighten me on which set of lenses should i get ?

If purely for landscape, street and timelapse:

Tokina 11-16 + Nikon 17-55/2.8 (replace with Tamron/Sigma 17-50/2.8 if on low budget). And you are done. No need for any telezoom. And also get yourself a good tripod and remote shutter release.

 

[daredevil123]

Street would be more of like shooting pple's expression and candid shot. So I would need quite a long range. I tried shooting with my kit lens but I really have to get v close to the person. Would it be better if I get 17-55 and 55-200 instead of 18-200 ? Because I might need 17-55 would produce better IQ

If your photos are not good enough, you are not close enough... to shoot street well, you need to get close. That is only way your viewers can feel like they are actually there with you...

24mm on Fullframe (FOV 16mm on D7000)

16mm on Fullframe (FOV 11mm on D7000)

 

[rachy588]

Wow. Impressive. I tried getting close but pple tend to avoid when they knew im shooting them. As for landscape shots, I already got myself a sirui t1204x and a remote shutter release. Thought of getting lee filter but was thinking I can edit the photos through Lightroom instead.

 

[brapodam]

Wow. Impressive. I tried getting close but pple tend to avoid when they knew im shooting them. As for landscape shots, I already got myself a sirui t1204x and a remote shutter release. Thought of getting lee filter but was thinking I can edit the photos through Lightroom instead.

Certain filters' effects cannot be replicated. For instance, there is no way you are going to replicate a ND filter or CPL in LR or Photoshop. Just not happening.

 

[daredevil123]

Wow. Impressive. I tried getting close but pple tend to avoid when they knew im shooting them. As for landscape shots, I already got myself a sirui t1204x and a remote shutter release. Thought of getting lee filter but was thinking I can edit the photos through Lightroom instead.

If I can do it, you can too... the key is to be lightning fast, move in get your shot, by the time your subjects react, you already got your shot. I've seen some people shooting street, composiing for 30s to 2 mins to get each shot. It is too slow.. you have around 2 seconds to lift the camera to your eye and get your shot and move on. some subjects you can spend more time... you need enough practice and experience to know which is which.

 

[rachy588]

I think I've some phobia getting too close to pple after getting scolded and chase off by the old man at Chinatown. Bad experience. That's why I thought I'd need a telezoom lens.

 

[rachy588]

Perhaps I should save up for filters as well

 

[daredevil123]

I think I've some phobia getting too close to pple after getting scolded and chase off by the old man at Chinatown. Bad experience. That's why I thought I'd need a telezoom lens.

So your single past experience gave you so much fear, that you are willing to sacrifice better pictures for the sake of not getting scolded? Then you should give up street photography. If not, grow thicker skin.

Sometimes, it is also how you approach your subjects. I encourage you to join some of the street shooters here and in FB ASIA group. observe how they do it, and learn how it is done by those seasoned street photographers. Too bad you missed the street photowalk during the CS 10th anniversary.

 

[rachy588]

Alright. I keep a lookout on those outings and learn from those pros

 

[rachy588]

I've one more question. Do you guys shoot in manual or autofocus mode for landscape? I tried shooting in autofocus but the autofocus seems to have difficulty finding a point to focus on and I simply can't release off the shutter because whenever I press the shutter, it keep focusing and defocusing and focusing again and again. It is something wrong with my setting or the my d7000 focus motor is faulty?

 

[brapodam]

I've one more question. Do you guys shoot in manual or autofocus mode for landscape? I tried shooting in autofocus but the autofocus seems to have difficulty finding a point to focus on and I simply can't release off the shutter because whenever I press the shutter, it keep focusing and defocusing and focusing again and again. It is something wrong with my setting or the my d7000 focus motor is faulty?

Depends on where you focus on. Try focusing on something with not so low contrast. If it's too dark or bright (at your focus point), your camera may not be able to focus properly. Where you autofocus kind of depends on what you want to do. Manual focus is not very possible in certain situations with new lenses that don't have DOF markings.

Normally if there is something very close to my lens (like 1-2m away), I will just AF on that. Infinity focus is not important all the time, as not having everything in focus can add depth to your photo. If everything in the photo is equally sharp, it can sometimes look flat.

 

[rachy588]

Depends on where you focus on. Try focusing on something with not so low contrast. If it's too dark or bright (at your focus point), your camera may not be able to focus properly. Where you autofocus kind of depends on what you want to do. Manual focus is not very possible in certain situations with new lenses that don't have DOF markings.

Normally if there is something very close to my lens (like 1-2m away), I will just AF on that. Infinity focus is not important all the time, as not having everything in focus can add depth to your photo. If everything in the photo is equally sharp, it can sometimes look flat.

Oh. no wonder the auto focus dont usually work at night when its very dark. There was once i tried shooting with a variable ND filter and its way too dark for there to be a contrast. so i end up using manual focus.

 

[shierwin]

Oh. no wonder the auto focus dont usually work at night when its very dark. There was once i tried shooting with a variable ND filter and its way too dark for there to be a contrast. so i end up using manual focus.

Why are u using variable ND filter for shooting at night?

 

[rachy588]

Why are u using variable ND filter for shooting at night?

i meant evening time sorry.

 

[daredevil123]

For landscape photos, most of us use manual mode.. but focus on where? We usually do not do infinity focus. Read this to find out how we do it:
Confessions of a Sensory Addict: Getting Everything into Focus

As for the comment about having "flat" pictures if everything is sharp, in the end, for landscape pictures, we usually want everything to be in focus. Your picture being flat or not flat, depends on how you add depth to your picture by having good composition, so you lead your viewers into the picture... This is a very good article on composition for landscapes (even though it is for paintings, but it applies to photography as well):
Johannes_Vloothuis: Landscape Composition Rules (1 of 23)

BTW, welcome to landscape photography. Shoot more, Share more, Learn more. And have fun!