Lense help please

[Navin]

Hi everyone.

I getting back into photography after a 10 year gap. (still have my F70 from 90's) forgot nearly everything. I recently bought a D90 18-105 kit.

I need help regarding lenses. (Please correct me if i am wrong about the following)

Q1. If the aperture is smaller, does it mean the images are sharper?(F1.4, F1.8 and so on)

Q2. Whats the difference between a 35mm, 50mm & 105mm if they have the same aperture?

Q3. Are prime lenses useful for group shots or it'll be better to use a 10-24mm?

Q4. If the distance of an object is far, should the aperture be bigger or smaller?

Q5. Nikkor lenses are ex, but if I remember correctly, for third party lenses, Sigma is good for far shots, while Tamron is good for close shots. It this statement relatively or sort of true?

I'm sure some of the questions will be useful to other members as well.

This will at least help me in deciding future lenses as well & help me in getting into the grove of photography.

Regards
Navin

 

[Rashkae]

Hi everyone.

I getting back into photography after a 10 year gap. (still have my F70 from 90's) forgot nearly everything. I recently bought a D90 18-105 kit.

I need help regarding lenses. (Please correct me if i am wrong about the following)

Q1. If the aperture is smaller, does it mean the images are sharper?(F1.4, F1.8 and so on)

Q2. Whats the difference between a 35mm, 50mm & 105mm if they have the same aperture?

Q3. Are prime lenses useful for group shots or it'll be better to use a 10-24mm?

Q4. If the distance of an object is far, should the aperture be bigger or smaller?

Q5. Nikkor lenses are ex, but if I remember correctly, for third party lenses, Sigma is good for far shots, while Tamron is good for close shots. It this statement relatively or sort of true?

I'm sure some of the questions will be useful to other members as well.

This will at least help me in deciding future lenses as well & help me in getting into the grove of photography.

Regards
Navin

I'd actually suggest reading up on the basics of photography again...

1. No.
2. Please read up on the basics of photography, including your camera manual. This is called "focal length".
3. Doesn't matter. If you have a 24mm prime lens and a 10-24mm lens and shoot at 24mm, it's the same. However, be aware that at 10mm, you'd have significant distortion.
4. Neither. All up to you. Aperture affects depth of field, so if you want everything to be in focus, you need to learn about hyperfocal distances.
5. Total rubbish. All manufacturers have good and bad lenses for all occasions. For example, sigma's 12-24 and 50mm lenses are excellent. Tamron has some good lenses too.

 

[Rashkae]

I'm sure some of the questions will be useful to other members as well.

This will at least help me in deciding future lenses as well & help me in getting into the grove of photography.

Regards
Navin

The first step is to read your manual. There are sections in there about depth of field, aperture, focal length, etc.

Then you may want to read the many basic photography guides on CS and on the net.

Please do remember to look at the Stickies the mods have placed at the top of the newbies section. They're there for a reason.

 

[android17]

Question 2 is the best

 

[aspenx]

I'm sure some of the questions will be useful to other members as well.

This will at least help me in deciding future lenses as well & help me in getting into the grove of photography.

Regards
Navin

Well, the sad truth is that not many people are so patient to write a whole book on photography in a forum. Do your own research please.

You may also want to know that the questions you have asked are not the only questions that you should be asking when you want to get some more lens.

 

[giantcanopy]

Q1. If the aperture is smaller, does it mean the images are sharper?(F1.4, F1.8 and so on)

it means u gain more depth of field with a smaller aperture, read up also on the concept of this sweet spot of each lens where u do get a little sharper as u step down IQ wise till a certain point where the ill effects of diffraction sets in.

Q2. Whats the difference between a 35mm, 50mm & 105mm if they have the same aperture?

Difference in focal length. In simpler terms, smaller numbered focal length gives u wider angle coverage, larger number focal length number more telephoto. Read up also on focal length multipler of cropped sensor bodies and their effects on the focal length - the D90 has a smaller sensor area than ur previous F70 film area, and lenses on the D90 will seem less wide

Q3. Are prime lenses useful for group shots or it'll be better to use a 10-24mm?

There are inherent advantages and disadvantages of using prime vs zoom. but shooting group shots aside, an ultrawide angle (UWA) zoom like the 10-24mm offers much wider options than any given prime lens ( fisheye excluded ) .

Q4. If the distance of an object is far, should the aperture be bigger or smaller?

if u require more depth of field, the aperture should be smaller
otherwise if the object is far or near, u can still shoot with a bigger or smaller aperture eitherways depending on what u are trying to achieve.

Q5. Nikkor lenses are ex, but if I remember correctly, for third party lenses, Sigma is good for far shots, while Tamron is good for close shots. It this statement relatively or sort of true?

Not true. Third party lenses offer a great variety of options on either ends.
But i think what u heard was probably a mixed match of the cult Tamron 90 for close up, and some of the more popular Sigma telephotos / *Bigmas* etc

There is a wealth of information on this forum as well as my favourite google

Happy shooting

ryan

 

[ortega]

Hi everyone.

I getting back into photography after a 10 year gap. (still have my F70 from 90's) forgot nearly everything. I recently bought a D90 18-105 kit.

I need help regarding lenses. (Please correct me if i am wrong about the following)

Q1. If the aperture is smaller, does it mean the images are sharper?(F1.4, F1.8 and so on)

as mentioned above the aperture controls the depth of field
the smaller the fnumber the bigger the aperture, so as the fnumber increases, the DOF increases and the amount of lights entering the lens decreases.

Q2. Whats the difference between a 35mm, 50mm & 105mm if they have the same aperture?

as the focal length increases the angle of view decreases

Q3. Are prime lenses useful for group shots or it'll be better to use a 10-24mm?

prime lenses are fixed focal length, so your angle of view is also fixed, eg. a 24mm prime lens will give you the same angle of view as the 10-24mm @ 24mm

Q4. If the distance of an object is far, should the aperture be bigger or smaller?

the aperture controls the DOF so it depends on how much DOF you want, no fixed rule

Q5. Nikkor lenses are ex, but if I remember correctly, for third party lenses, Sigma is good for far shots, while Tamron is good for close shots. It this statement relatively or sort of true?

all manufacturers have good and bad lenses, it depends
also everyone's definition of good is different, also nikon also have their cheaper range of lenses

I'm sure some of the questions will be useful to other members as well.

This will at least help me in deciding future lenses as well & help me in getting into the grove of photography.

Regards
Navin

your best bet is to read up, lots of lens info and reviews

 

[ahbian]

Very informative thread for beginners by Sulhan, should be worth your time reading. Better still, get the book by him.

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=309544

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

Hi everyone.

I getting back into photography after a 10 year gap. (still have my F70 from 90's) forgot nearly everything. I recently bought a D90 18-105 kit.

I need help regarding lenses. (Please correct me if i am wrong about the following)

Q1. If the aperture is smaller, does it mean the images are sharper?(F1.4, F1.8 and so on)

Q2. Whats the difference between a 35mm, 50mm & 105mm if they have the same aperture?

Q3. Are prime lenses useful for group shots or it'll be better to use a 10-24mm?

Q4. If the distance of an object is far, should the aperture be bigger or smaller?

Q5. Nikkor lenses are ex, but if I remember correctly, for third party lenses, Sigma is good for far shots, while Tamron is good for close shots. It this statement relatively or sort of true?

I'm sure some of the questions will be useful to other members as well.

This will at least help me in deciding future lenses as well & help me in getting into the grove of photography.

Regards
Navin

Wow... you are totally mis-informed...
Where did you get the info to draw such a conclusion???

Anyway, to me photography is kinda like riding a bike. The fundamentals haven't changed all these years... you don't forget after putting it down for 10 years.
The fact that you're asking these questions means you didn't understand it 10 years ago.

Anyway. 'giantcanopy' and 'ortega' have given you very good answers to your questions. You should thank them for the effort by at least buying them a teh tarik or something

Get the book for beginners by Sulhan. It's available at the photography bookstore at Funan level 1, amongst other places.

 

[Navin]

Hi guys.

Thanks for the info & bombardment. i really forgot all my fundamentals. so apologies for the questions i asked earlier.

But really appreciate all the information.

Regards
navin