I am a "Lens Numbers" idiot... Please help me.
Discussion
OK, with the D50, I got an AF-S NIKKOR 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G ED lens... I also got a 55-200 lens, courtesy of Mrs Dibble being very kind to me on our hols.
What do I need to look for, for a wide angle and/or macro lens?
Is it worth getting an external flashgun as well? I can't think of anytime it'd be any better than the pop up jobby on the camera, which seems to have worked fine so far.
What do I need to look for, for a wide angle and/or macro lens?
Is it worth getting an external flashgun as well? I can't think of anytime it'd be any better than the pop up jobby on the camera, which seems to have worked fine so far.
"AF-S NIKKOR 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G ED lens... I also got a 55-200 lens"
Covers you from 18-200mm in two lenses.
What Neither of them offer is speed (in large appature) and I assume pin sharp quality, nor (I guess again) macro ability.
18mm is 'in reality' 27mm which is just 'wide' rather than ultrawide, UWA lenses are fun.
Also for stuff like wildlife 200mm isnt all that long, 300 or 400 is better, with IS of some sort too.
So mebe an UWA (10-20mm), a long ( 100-400, 300mm or something), a macro (tamron 90/100mm or whatever) and one or two fast sharp primes depending on what you shoot (50mm1.f8, 85mm f.18 etc).
All depends on what you shoot and how, and what kind of results your expecting.
Covers you from 18-200mm in two lenses.
What Neither of them offer is speed (in large appature) and I assume pin sharp quality, nor (I guess again) macro ability.
18mm is 'in reality' 27mm which is just 'wide' rather than ultrawide, UWA lenses are fun.
Also for stuff like wildlife 200mm isnt all that long, 300 or 400 is better, with IS of some sort too.
So mebe an UWA (10-20mm), a long ( 100-400, 300mm or something), a macro (tamron 90/100mm or whatever) and one or two fast sharp primes depending on what you shoot (50mm1.f8, 85mm f.18 etc).
All depends on what you shoot and how, and what kind of results your expecting.
No point in the flashgun... D50 flash is good enough for the camera.
... and your next upgrade should be to add a ND GRAD FILTER, then change the body to a D200 or better, then add the wide angle, then the long lens/macro.
If you do it the other way round then I suggest the Nikkor 17-55 DX ED as a wide / general lens. It's the dogs, then the 70-300ED or Nikkor 105 Macro
All IMHO of course. (What do I know)
... and your next upgrade should be to add a ND GRAD FILTER, then change the body to a D200 or better, then add the wide angle, then the long lens/macro.
If you do it the other way round then I suggest the Nikkor 17-55 DX ED as a wide / general lens. It's the dogs, then the 70-300ED or Nikkor 105 Macro
All IMHO of course. (What do I know)
Edited by GetCarter on Wednesday 13th December 21:27
Thanks for the replies so far.
I should have said that I just copied the numbers from the lens - I have no idea what they mean.
I did a bit of 35mm SLR photography when I was at school (even had a B&W darkroom in my Mum and Dad's cellar...). I used a Zenith camera - not a single bit of electronics on it, completely mechanical, but a good learning tool.
I (think I) understand the digital lenses being effectively 1.5 times the measurement, due to the size of the CCD, ie 200 lens is equivalent to 300 on a film SLR, but what does it actually mean?
I assume because of this, to go wide, you have to go REALLY wide... ie an 18mm is really a 27mm on the D50.
I think I'll stick with the D50 for now, and concentrate on improving my technique and eye with what I've got, rather than overburdening my tiny brain with buttons, dials and knobs. But Get Carter, if you have an old D200 lying around you want to get rid of...
I should have said that I just copied the numbers from the lens - I have no idea what they mean.
I did a bit of 35mm SLR photography when I was at school (even had a B&W darkroom in my Mum and Dad's cellar...). I used a Zenith camera - not a single bit of electronics on it, completely mechanical, but a good learning tool.
I (think I) understand the digital lenses being effectively 1.5 times the measurement, due to the size of the CCD, ie 200 lens is equivalent to 300 on a film SLR, but what does it actually mean?
I assume because of this, to go wide, you have to go REALLY wide... ie an 18mm is really a 27mm on the D50.
I think I'll stick with the D50 for now, and concentrate on improving my technique and eye with what I've got, rather than overburdening my tiny brain with buttons, dials and knobs. But Get Carter, if you have an old D200 lying around you want to get rid of...
Effectivly the focal length in mm (i.e. 55-200) is your field of view. With 50mm (or 30mm on crop cameras) being close to a natural human eye field of view.
This may help you 'see' what focal lengths will give you
www.warehouseexpress.com/photo/lenstech/tamfocal.html
As you assume because your camera is a crop the effective focal length is 1.5 or 1.6 times the 'real' number BUT for just about every camera discussion we talk about the 35mm equivelant so were all on the same footing. We then shift it for crop cameras.
Because its in reality a crop from the center of a larger (35mm) photo its not purely an adjustment to the focal length, it alters perspective, CoC/DoF etc which realy dont matter unless you want them too.
And again as you sumise, with crop cameras to go wide you need to go very wide. IMO in 35mm terms 28mm is a decent wide, but that requires 18mm on a crop camera to achieve the same FoV. which is why you now have 10mm up zooms (sigma 10-20 etc), not needed on 35mm full frame cameras.
Sigma do an 8mm fisheye that gives a 180 degree FoV on 35mm..!
This may help you 'see' what focal lengths will give you
www.warehouseexpress.com/photo/lenstech/tamfocal.html
As you assume because your camera is a crop the effective focal length is 1.5 or 1.6 times the 'real' number BUT for just about every camera discussion we talk about the 35mm equivelant so were all on the same footing. We then shift it for crop cameras.
Because its in reality a crop from the center of a larger (35mm) photo its not purely an adjustment to the focal length, it alters perspective, CoC/DoF etc which realy dont matter unless you want them too.
And again as you sumise, with crop cameras to go wide you need to go very wide. IMO in 35mm terms 28mm is a decent wide, but that requires 18mm on a crop camera to achieve the same FoV. which is why you now have 10mm up zooms (sigma 10-20 etc), not needed on 35mm full frame cameras.
Sigma do an 8mm fisheye that gives a 180 degree FoV on 35mm..!
CoC = Circle of Confusion.
Its a bit 'fluffy' but relates to the size a point of light appears on the 'film' and what appears sharp to the human eye. It actualy is the fundamental footing under DoF.
DoF means the area where points of light (as per CoF) appear as sharp objects ratehr than blured. It depends on how large you make the final image too, a cut down image will appear sharper than a blown up one, thus relates tot he sensor size etc.
Its a bit 'fluffy' but relates to the size a point of light appears on the 'film' and what appears sharp to the human eye. It actualy is the fundamental footing under DoF.
DoF means the area where points of light (as per CoF) appear as sharp objects ratehr than blured. It depends on how large you make the final image too, a cut down image will appear sharper than a blown up one, thus relates tot he sensor size etc.
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