Help! Buying a lens for bokeh. Need to be a practical walkabout lens.

[thinkbig]

Hi friends,

Ive been using sigma 18-200 lens for my nikon D50 and now D90 for many2 years.

I'm going to Perth next week to help take some wedding shots of my cousin (mostly indoors, casual and informal shots).

Thinking of buying a new lens as my sigma is getting old (my photos on the d50 Is better than on d90! ) Wondering what lens I should buy for now. Heard great reviews about the nikon 18-200 VR lens. What do you think? I'd love to take shots with bokeh during the wedding.... Should I get the said lens or another?

Help!

 

[Blue thunder]

So you are saying you want to change from sigma to nikon lens of the same range ?

 

[giantcanopy]

Buying a lens for bokeh is itself a misnomer. Lenses that render pleasing bokeh often translates to larger aperture lenses and are usually the more expensive zooms ( you will have more choices for large aperture prime lenses ). And depending on your style of usage, these lenses may or may not be practical for walkabout. The one lens i used to use was the 70-200mm VR which gives great subject isolation with pleasing blur on my then D80, but it was not exactly a great one in all walkabout for me.

The 18-200 is one of my fav lenses for walkabout, lightweight and compact. It is however not a performer when rendering the oof areas, and not sure if you gain much from the sigma counterpart ( i am not sure how they compare IQ wise )

Ryan

 

[theory87]

Why not get a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8? I'm sure the f.28 will helps in low light situation. Else 35mm f1.8. But you got to move your leg

 

[thinkbig]

So you are saying you want to change from sigma to nikon lens of the same range ?

I'm don't have much knowledge on lenses. Same range would be great but this would mean I won't improve the bokeh part (?).

 

[thinkbig]

Buying a lens for bokeh is itself a misnomer. Lenses that render pleasing bokeh often translates to larger aperture lenses and are usually the more expensive zooms ( you will have more choices for large aperture prime lenses ). And depending on your style of usage, these lenses may or may not be practical for walkabout. The one lens i used to use was the 70-200mm VR which gives great subject isolation with pleasing blur on my then D80, but it was not exactly a great one in all walkabout for me.

The 18-200 is one of my fav lenses for walkabout, lightweight and compact. It is however not a performer when rendering the oof areas, and not sure if you gain much from the sigma counterpart ( i am not sure how they compare IQ wise )

Ryan

Thanks for sharing Ryan. I'm considering the 70-200mm. May I know, will i be able to take nice shots (fit everyone in the photo) if im in a small room? Newbie question, thanks for your help.

 

[thinkbig]

Why not get a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8? I'm sure the f.28 will helps in low light situation. Else 35mm f1.8. But you got to move your leg

The 17-50mm sounds good. Thanks for recommending. Wondering, if Im confirmed in a space of about 10m by 10m, can I fit about 10 people into the photo. Another newbie an, thanks for your help theory.

 

[jiaxuan90]

Why not get a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8? I'm sure the f.28 will helps in low light situation. Else 35mm f1.8. But you got to move your leg

Get the VC version too if u have shaky hands, it will help u alot in low light. But if u have a external flash get the Non VC, as the VC version is slightly more costly.

 

[theory87]

The 17-50mm sounds good. Thanks for recommending. Wondering, if Im confirmed in a space of about 10m by 10m, can I fit about 10 people into the photo. Another newbie an, thanks for your help theory.

can your 18-200mm do it? if it does at 18mm, 17-50 shouldn't have this problem.

 

[spree86]

Thanks for sharing Ryan. I'm considering the 70-200mm. May I know, will i be able to take nice shots (fit everyone in the photo) if im in a small room? Newbie question, thanks for your help.

You will find the 70-200 really tight in a small room so you can't fit everyone if its a large group. Its also not a good idea to switch from the Sigma 18-200 to the Nikon 18-200. You won't notice much of a difference

 

[rainxp]

Hi friends,

Ive been using sigma 18-200 lens for my nikon D50 and now D90 for many2 years.

I'm going to Perth next week to help take some wedding shots of my cousin (mostly indoors, casual and informal shots).

Thinking of buying a new lens as my sigma is getting old (my photos on the d50 Is better than on d90! ) Wondering what lens I should buy for now. Heard great reviews about the nikon 18-200 VR lens. What do you think? I'd love to take shots with bokeh during the wedding.... Should I get the said lens or another?

Help!

Buy either 1 of the below will most suit your needs...

AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4G ED
AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G

 

[spree86]

Buy either 1 of the below will most suit your needs...

AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4G ED
AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G

50mm on a cropped body would be tight in a small room as well.

 

[jed091270]

Get the VC version too if u have shaky hands, it will help u alot in low light. But if u have a external flash get the Non VC, as the VC version is slightly more costly.

I think its not necessary to get a VC version for a 50mm range lens! Just my 2 cents man!

 

[giantcanopy]

Thanks for sharing Ryan. I'm considering the 70-200mm. May I know, will i be able to take nice shots (fit everyone in the photo) if im in a small room? Newbie question, thanks for your help.

probably not. on a d90, it will appear even tighter. u can already guesstimate the focal lengths based on ur current 18-200

ryan

 

[Octarine]

I'm don't have much knowledge on lenses. Same range would be great but this would mean I won't improve the bokeh part (?).

You should improve in understanding instead of chasing fancy buzz words. What do you mean with 'some range'? :dunno:

 

[MRSAMO]

Hi friends,

Ive been using sigma 18-200 lens for my nikon D50 and now D90 for many2 years.

I'm going to Perth next week to help take some wedding shots of my cousin (mostly indoors, casual and informal shots).

Thinking of buying a new lens as my sigma is getting old (my photos on the d50 Is better than on d90! ) Wondering what lens I should buy for now. Heard great reviews about the nikon 18-200 VR lens. What do you think? I'd love to take shots with bokeh during the wedding.... Should I get the said lens or another?

Help!

How is that possible? Is it really better? I should treasure my D50 then :-D

I hope you realise that the 70-200 is very expensive and a big jump from what you've had, by all means go for it if you fully intend to use it, otherwise go for the 17-50mm f/2.8. Prime lenses may limit your shooting space if you've never done it before (me too), if you're shooting around eating time then the 17-50mm is more than good enough.

If you want bokeh get your subject to stand far away from trees and KFC signs then you can achieve a blurred background with f/2.8.

 

[li0nheart07]

Thanks for sharing Ryan. I'm considering the 70-200mm. May I know, will i be able to take nice shots (fit everyone in the photo) if im in a small room? Newbie question, thanks for your help.

Saw your post... if you want nice bokeh, Ryan had already provide you a little in-depth knowledge on the kind and type of lens that'll provide the effect.

Honestly speaking, 18-200 range lens, be it Sigma or Nikon, is quite a handy walkabout lens that covered a superb angle of wide to zoom... at times, depending on how you use it... do provide wonderful bokeh effect, for eg i used a Nikon 18-200 and achieve this and can you say it doesnt provide bokeh?

However, if you are enclosed in a very tight room, you may need a super wide angle lens, ie. Tokina 11-16mm or Nikon 10-24mm.

IMHO (i never take wedding shoot before), indoor shoots like wedding may need lens ranges between 10mm and probably 200mm depending on the ballroom and the kind and style of photos you are shooting... thus 70-200mm is one choice for long range while 17-55mm for mid while 11-16mm for narrow condition. Flashes to coupled in.

Lastly, D90 was a fantastic camera and you mentioned that it underperformed compared to your D50, IMHO again, you may wish to check your camera setups as D50 and D90 are totally different systems and thus that made your outcome varies.

Finally, you may wish to get a flash to accompany your 18-200mm to give a try for your friend's wedding or maybe rent some lens to try it out first before committing on lens which may turn out producing the same effect which may not be to your liking.

PS: no offence and 2 cents worth of consideration

Regards,
Li0nHeaRt

 

[digitalpimp]

I will assume that you are referring to shallow depth of field (DoF) and not bokeh. If you want subject isolation (subject focused; background blurred), and leaning more towards practicality then I suggest you stick to your 18-200mm and read up on focusing distance.

Now if you're really referring to bokeh (quality of background blur) then get what they are suggesting. The Tamron 17-50mm f2.8, or a 28-75mm f2.8 even.

 

[Atarandas]

Your 18-200 is capable of getting thin dof if you work around the distance between you and your object. You can experiment this at home by shoot a family member close using a long focal length.

I would say that a flash for wedding shots would be very useful

 

[digitalpimp]

Your 18-200 is capable of getting thin dof if you work around the distance between you and your object. You can experiment this at home by shoot a family member close using a long focal length.

I would say that a flash for wedding shots would be very useful

Correct.