question for the wise!!

[bigsarg7]

Hey everyone,

well my hectic month is not far away, which i am excited about. I've been reading up on a few different things, and have realised it might be wise to have a secondary lense. My current lense (24-120 Vr lens
) is fantastic, i do love it, but i have been paying off that ever so lovely present my hubby brought me for my birthday (Manfrotto tripod and joystick head). I hadn't really even thought of the need for an additional lense. Until now.

reason for post is to find out whats available in the low budget, i mean i am more then happy to look at second hand lenses, i've been looking on ebay but i am not confident that i will buy a good lense that suits my d200 etc. I would really like a smaller lense and approx f1.8 or a little more, i do shoot in low light and have been told it will help produce a better shot in those conditions.

Your all probably sick of my questions all the time, but i figure you all have a lot more experience and knowledge then i do and i respect all you have to say and actually listen and do my best to apply what has been discussed.

My budget is pretty low - i have considered hiring, but am worried thats its dead money, kinda like rent!! lol

[radar]

The Nikon 50mm f1.8 is cheap, small and produces great results. Every photo bag should at least have this lens in it

I assume you mean the wedding you will be doing.

I recently attended a friend's wedding and I had my 50mm for the evening and I got some great photos in low light. I'm not a people photographer, so that's saying a lot

The 50mm on a D200 makes for a great portrait lens.

I have the 1.4 version of the lens but the f1.8 is also a great lens,

cheers,

André
(not claiming to be wise )

[bigsarg7]

Andre... thanks for the suggestion, i'll have to look into the costs of that particular lense, it certainly sounds nice and would be great to have in my bag!! appreciate it.

Obviously I love my nikon, but are there other brand lenses eg tamron etc that would be suitable as well? i just don't want to buy something and find there was a better priced similar quality lense in another brand.

thanks again andre!

[radar]

DD Photographics has it for $165 + $16 postage, doesn't get much cheaper then that

For a brick and mortar shop, ECS http://www.cameras.net.au have it for $205 and that's Nikon Australia stock. I'm sure shops in Melbourne should have similar pricing.

Search the forums here and you will see that time and time again, plenty of people have recommend that lens. For the price, it can't be beat.

[bigsarg7]

thanks for that!! looking around now at prices etc. wow, what a quick answer to my question!! it sounds like it should be a standard lense for all nikon users, so it looks like it will become a new lense to my bag!!

[DaveB]

it sounds like it should be a standard lense for all nikon users, so it looks like it will become a new lense to my bag!!

Hey, even I own the 50mm/1.8 AF-D, even thought I don't have any Nikon bodies!

You'll be fine with the D200, but be aware that one of the reasons this lens is cheap is because it doesn't have an internal focus motor, and relies on the body having one. This means that on bodies such as the D40/80/90(?) it's manual-focus only.

[radar]

This means that on bodies such as the D40/80/90(?) it's manual-focus only.

Auto focus works fine on D80, D90, D200, D300, D700, D3. It's on the more entry level cameras that the AF will not work, ie D40, D60, D3000 and D5000. For those cameras, if you want AF, you need the AF-S lenses.

cheers,

André

[DaveB]

Hey, I said I didn't have any Nikon bodies.
Thanks for the clarification.

[bigsarg7]

i'm guessing Dave that the nikon lense in discussion here that you own fits one of your bodies......if not why do you have it lol. i can't talk i still have some old gear for my old dlsr lying around that doesn't suit nikon.....one of these days i might sell it or give it away to someone else in need of it who owns an olympus e series!!

[DaveB]

Nah, I don't have ANY Nikon bodies. In fact I've never owned a Nikon SLR. At the moment all my cameras are either Canon or Panasonic.

I originally got it as a test lens for calibrating the Nikon bodies I was doing IR conversions on, but these days it just gets pulled out as a sample to show students why it's such a useful lens (including lending it out during workshops).

[gstark]

My guess is that David has this lens around because of his dirty past doing repairs and IR conversions.

But he can always get a Nikon to Canon adapter, and use the lens on his 5DII. Not that Dave needs any help in making great images ...

[surenj]

how about the 35 1.8? Cameron can tell you more about this lens.

[aim54x]

how about the 35 1.8? Cameron can tell you more about this lens.

The AF-S DX 35mm f/1.8G.....I acquired it recently and I have to admit that it is a beauty. I also own the AF-D 50mm f/1.8 and I find that the 35mm is always on my camera (more often than my trusty Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 and Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.. It is plenty sharp (esp in the centre) and the extra width over the 50mm makes it a great general purpose walk around lens. However it is more expensive than the 50mm and it only a DX lens so it wont cover the FX or film frame.

I have no regrets buying this lens. Do consider it!

[bigsarg7]

wow, thanks for suggesting it, i'm going to melbourne one day soon so i'll go check out a few shops and see which one i like more, and if it justify's the extra spend, but yeah by the sounds of it, it just might be worth the extra little bit!!

thanks aim for a good explanation!!