Lens for my D70!

[Paul.B]

I have just bought a lens of Ebay to suppliment my new D70. I THINK I have picked a good'un! What are your thoughts on the spec? How much would it cost to replace a lens of this spec with a new one?

Nikon AF Zoom Nikkor ED 80mm - 200mm f/2.8

It was the fact it was quite fast at F2.8 that caught my eye. With the x1.5 factor it should give me a good quick long lens.
I need to find one of similar quality now for the wider angle stuff.

All comments welcomed.

Paul.

[simpo two]

**** me, you don't mess about do you!!!!

This should cheer you up:

www.europe-nikon.com/details.aspx?countryid=20&languageid=22&catId=121&prodId=291

So you've got yourself a stonking 120-300mm telephoto...

Can I borrow it ?

[Paul.B]

simpo two said:

**** me, you don't mess about do you!!!! This should cheer you up: www.europe-nikon.com/details.aspx?countryid=20&languageid=22&catId=121&prodId=291 So you've got yourself a stonking 120-300mm telephoto... Can I borrow it ?

Cheer me up is quite an understatement! Not sure it is identicle to that one but I never paid anywhere near that kind of £££££. Fcuk me! I think I may have snapped up a proper real life bargain


Still hasn't cheered her-in-doors up much though! Can I borrow yours? SWOP?

Paul.B

>> Edited by Paul.B on Saturday 27th November 20:13

[simpo two]

Paul.B said:

Still hasn't cheered her-in-doors up much though! Can I borrow yours? SWOP?

I hope she will like the lens you got her for Christmas

Re swap please send pix.

(It wasn't the lens that went for about £400 was it? I was watching one but don't need it £400-badly!)

[Paul.B]

simpo two said:

Paul.B said: Still hasn't cheered her-in-doors up much though! Can I borrow yours? SWOP? I hope she will like the lens you got her for Christmas Re swap please send pix. (It wasn't the lens that went for about £400 was it? I was watching one but don't need it £400-badly!)

I got it for £268 inc P&P. Just waiting for the bloody camera now!

Paul.B

[CVP]

Gents

You're talking two different lenses here, they key difference being one with the silent wave motor in the lens, the other is the older style that uses the motor in the body to drive the lens. Price differential between these will be huge as the silent wave mtor is just so much better (as EOS owners have had the fortune of for a long time).

£250-£270 for an old style one (without tripod collar)is about the right price, with silent wave motor I'd put your price nearer £600-£700. If oyu can hang on and you shoot a lot of handheld a second hand 70-200 F2.8 ED VR thingy may be the best choice although I would expect these to still be about a grand second hand.

Having said that both the 80-200's are optically great lenses. In fact is anyone is interested I happen to have one of the old schoole 80-200 F2.8 AF ED zooms Nikkors at home that is not getting the use it should since I got the 80-400 VR, £250 inc P&P to a PH'er.

Chris

[Paul.B]

CVP said:

Gents You're talking two different lenses here, they key difference being one with the silent wave motor in the lens, the other is the older style that uses the motor in the body to drive the lens. Price differential between these will be huge as the silent wave mtor is just so much better (as EOS owners have had the fortune of for a long time). £250-£270 for an old style one (without tripod collar)is about the right price, with silent wave motor I'd put your price nearer £600-£700. If oyu can hang on and you shoot a lot of handheld a second hand 70-200 F2.8 ED VR thingy may be the best choice although I would expect these to still be about a grand second hand. Having said that both the 80-200's are optically great lenses. In fact is anyone is interested I happen to have one of the old schoole 80-200 F2.8 AF ED zooms Nikkors at home that is not getting the use it should since I got the 80-400 VR, £250 inc P&P to a PH'er. Chris

Thanks for that Chris. I had guessed it was an older generation lens. I was not interested in it being the latest, only of being good quality with a good F number. £250 for yours would be a fine buy for someone. I'm now on the prowl for something shorter and with wider angle. I still want a decent F number even for the shorter FL. Do Nikkor still make the older lens, I never saw it on the web site? How much would they have been new?

Thanks

Paul.B

[-DeaDLocK-]

CVP said:

...second hand 70-200 F2.8 ED VR thingy may be the best choice although I would expect these to still be about a grand second hand.

I got mine £1100 new from Jessops on a price-match, so I'd expect used ones to be in the three-figure region.

Fan-frickin-tastic lens by the way. One of the best advice I was ever given is to reserve more of the budget for good glass - the results you get are soooo dependent on the quality of the lens you are using.

D

[CVP]

Paul.B said:

Thanks for that Chris. I had guessed it was an older generation lens. I was not interested in it being the latest, only of being good quality with a good F number. £250 for yours would be a fine buy for someone. I'm now on the prowl for something shorter and with wider angle. I still want a decent F number even for the shorter FL. Do Nikkor still make the older lens, I never saw it on the web site? How much would they have been new? Thanks Paul.B

Paul

There are quite a few options re shorter zooms that are still wide aperture.

Nikon made a few 17-35 f2.8, 28-70 f2.8 etc.

On the D70 don't forget that your angle of view changes because the CCD sensor is smaller than a 35mm film negative. It's often referred to as the focal length multiplier. It's not the focal length of the lens that changes, just the angle of view that you see. Whilst this is brilliant for the telephoto end of photography, it cna be a real pain at the wide angle end.

For instance I have a lovely 20mm f2.8 that I bought second hand a time ago, beautiful crisp images and on a 35mm film camera a fantastic wide angle of view. However bang this onto the D series cameras and your angle of view changes to that of a 35mm lens on a 35mm camera, wide angle but not as wide.

So to really get wide angle on the D70 you need to treat yourself to the super 12-24mm f4 G etc etc. Only downside £750. However were you prepared for something a little less wide angle, you could go for a second hand Nikon 20-35 f2.8 D AF £495, or if you must go for f2.8 there's also a seocnd hand 17-35 f2.8D AF-S IF-ED Zoom-Nikkor boxed, but wait for it ...£935

All available from Grays of Westminster. Not the cheapest of folk, but all the gear they sell second hand is very good quality. Their classification of mint- I could not tell it had even been out of the box, plus Uri and Nick really know their stuff. I'm just a very happy customer of theirs for quite a few years now.

Only you can decide how wide angle you really need, but that 20-35 looks pretty good to me.

HTH

Chris

[simpo two]

CVP said:

However were you prepared for something a little less wide angle, you could go for a second hand Nikon 20-35 f2.8 D AF £495, or if you must go for f2.8 there's also a seocnd hand 17-35 f2.8D AF-S IF-ED Zoom-Nikkor boxed, but wait for it ...£935

Or if budget is limiting, the AF-S 18-70mm ED IF 'kit' lens: not as fast but 'only' £299 RSP.

[V6GTO]

At these focal lengths the wide apature is not so important. You are going to get increased DOF anyway, you can hand hold a shot at 1/10 sec, and flash is easily used at the close focus ranges used when photographing cars etc. When using the lens at infinity or slightly closer, one assumes landscapes/buildings are the subject, and wider apatures are generaly used in that case anyway.
I've just bought the Sigma EX DG HSM 12-24. This lens is "really slow" at f4.5-5.6, but I have never had occasion to think "I wish this lens were faster"
I expect I've overlooked something and wait to be shot down

Martin.

[CVP]

V6GTO said:

At these focal lengths the wide apature is not so important. You are going to get increased DOF anyway, you can hand hold a shot at 1/10 sec, and flash is easily used at the close focus ranges used when photographing cars etc. I expect I've overlooked something and wait to be shot down Martin.

Martin

Think you're spot on here, I agree that for most use with a wide angle having a really wide aperture is not so important as it is with a more moderate telephoto.

I'd begun to find I was carting so much heavy kit (three wide aperture, constant f2.8, zooms and F5 and flash) around with me I didn't use it as much as I should, it was too much hassle to keep taking the backpack off. Solution - easy...carry less kit and I slimmed my kit down to the 20mm, a 50mm and then the 80-400 which does weigh quite a bit. I can carry this lot round all day and not feel tired. Result I take a lot more pictures than I used to. I also find that I can now take the D100 and 50mm or 20mm lens away with me on business and it doesn't take up much room at all. You can score some nice "city at night" shots like this handheld.

Having said this I've just invested in a second hand 300mm f2.8 AFS and the new 1.7* AFS converter but will only use this for particular trips where I know I'll be using it I have a Kingfisher at a certain location I'm trying to photograph and it's proving very elusive at the moment (don't worry I am in compliance with the rules re photographing this species).

Chris

[V6GTO]

Chris,
I, too, was fed up carrying loads of prime lenses around (7)so I had a big rationalisation. I now own only 3 lenses and 2 bodies.
Sigma EX 12-24.
Canon 28-135 IS.
Canon 100-400 IS.
Canon EOS1n + grip.
Conon D20 (grip coming soon)
Canon 540EZ Speedlight.
Not much I'll miss with that little lot and MUCH lighter!

Martin.

[simpo two]

V6GTO said:

At these focal lengths the wide apature is not so important. You are going to get increased DOF anyway

You're right, but I was thinking of him needing a fast lens for less DOF, not more.
I have an archaic 8mm fisheye that goes to f/45 and the DOF is so great it doesn't even have a focus ring!!

[CVP]

V6GTO said:

Chris, I, too, was fed up carrying loads of prime lenses around (7)so I had a big rationalisation. I now own only 3 lenses and 2 bodies. Sigma EX 12-24. Canon 28-135 IS. Canon 100-400 IS. Canon EOS1n + grip. Conon D20 (grip coming soon) Canon 540EZ Speedlight. Not much I'll miss with that little lot and MUCH lighter! Martin.

Nice setup

[Paul.B]

I see what your getting at regarding the low F number not being as important at that end of the scale. I always seem to regard now F figures with better quality glass. Maybe I should be looking at going as short as possible and live with an F4 or F5.6 even. Due to the tendancy to need DOF and not 'speed' it is far less limiting.

With the 35 - 80mm that I'll be using off my F50 to start with, and the 80 - 200mm I've just bought, perhaps I need to look at 12 - 24mm to 'fill in' the bottom end? The 35 - 80mm will also need upgrading at some stage, but that will have to wait for funds to become available.

Cheers

Paul.B