Quality v Price of Lenses

I have the bundled Nikon DX 18-70mm f3.5-4.5G ED lens with my D70.

Are there any other lenses which perform better at a reasonable cost?

Uh uh, I said reasonable, well I meant not too over the top prices

and bear in mind that here in the UK camera equipment are upto 50%

more than the US.

How does your current 18-70 mm lens limit your photography?

 

Will a "better = more expensive" car amke you a better driver? Will another lens clean up your compositions, open your eye for light and detail? Teach you better exposure and focal skills?

 

I doubt all of those. Why not use your gear (or car) that you have until you know why you need something much better. Sorry, gearitis has gripped you, I am afraid.

That particular lens is pretty good from an optical performnace standpoint and you'd likely have to spend a fair amount of money to improve the optics significantly.

one of the finest and cheapest and fastest lens you can get is a manual or

autofocus 50mm. have you tried it yet?

Frank, Your'e absolutely right in your view about quality of equipment v technique debate. Thank you for pointing out what I should have known coming my way.It's not gearitis that I'm after. It's more about the way the next two answers are given. Advice about what is on the market in terms of quality and a reassurance that the car that I already have will not end up in the garage soon.

 

Craig and David ... thank you for your very helpful contributions. Your advice is very reassuring.

As a side note, don't rule out buying equipment from the USA. I've bought all but one of my lenses from B&H, and even with import duties and taxes, they still work out quite a bit cheaper than buying them here in Ireland or from the UK. (These lenses also came with international warranties as standard.)

taha, didnt mean it, but now that i read my answer again it looks somehow

rude. i have a lot of 50mm lenses, all of them with their own signature. for

example, my pentax 50mm f1.4A lens is incredible and you can get it for

about 60.00us ! i also have a macro for the pentax and 3 different 50's for the

leica, all 3 of them great in their own. a friend of mine has a nikkor micro

55mm f3.5 that is really good, not as cheap as a normal 50mm though. i like

wide angles, and now a 50mm is almost a short telephoto for me. i

recommend you check www.keh.com for used equipment. they are an

excellent source.

 

david

....and a 50 on your digital camera will become a 75mm, excellent for

portraits...!

Thanks very much David. I will certainly try the 50mm. I shoudl imagine that from f3.5 up to f1.4 will make a difference in speed etc. I can pick up some of these quite reasonably here. I also want to follow up the thread about second hand lenses from the US.

I liked the 18-70mm Nikon that came with my D70. I never had any issues with it. It's a zoom. Primes will most always outperform it. The 50mm is a good cheap lens, provided you don't mind the portrait focal length of 75mm when it's on a DX Nikon dSLR.

 

Dave