Standard Lens

[aravind raman]

Dear Friends,

 

I had last month, bought my F80 with a 50/1.8. I had been a happy

shooter all these days. But i'm desperate to buy a standard lens (28

to ?? Zoom).

 

I don't want to opt for available consumer Nikkor G lens, because of

its small, manual focus ring. ( I don't know what others feel about

this).

 

The only choice i'm left with is 28-105D, but it is too costly for me

to afford right now.

 

i would like to know the opinions on other manufacturer's lens,

mentioned in the same subject.

 

Thanks in advance,

Aravind

[jeff_lu]

If you've been a happy shooter, what makes you so desperate?

 

I'm not a fan of zooms. I'd recommend you expand your kit one by one with good, fast

primes and learn to work with them.

[jbq]

After a 50/1.8 you risk being disappointed by the image quality of just about any lens, and especially low-end consumer zooms.

 

In many cases "you get what you pay for", and the price of lenses is a good indication of the quality you can expect, mechanically and optically. If you can't afford a $300 lens, you'll be stuck with a $100 lens (there pretty much isn't anything in between).

 

In that case, how about a Sigma 28-80/3.5-5.6? It's cheap, optically not too bad (according to photodo), has a focusing ring that isn't totally tiny, a depth-of-field scale, helical focusing, focuses close, and comes with a perfect hood. The only caveat is that photodo measured a strong distortion at the wide end.

 

If you're explicitly looking for a wide-angle (as opposed to a W-T zoom), go for a 28/2.8.

[jeff_lu]

One lesson I learned in school is it's always better to have a couple strong points and

nothing else than to have a wide range of mediocrity. If you have a couple nice primes,

you can work with them while taking the photos and not be disappointed when you see

the results. The limitations of your kit will be obvious (you'll have to move back a little to

have that 50mm cover a 40mm view - wow!), but you'll have considerably more speed and

you won't look have to look at distorted or otherwise degraded prints. There are a number

of things one can do to change the framing after the fact. Nothing you can do to improve

the actual image quality.

 

If you're willing to manually focus, there are a number of very fine lenses available in

decent user condition under/around $100 each.

[ShunCheung]

In the US, either the 28-105 or the 24-85 AF-S G is below $300 after rebates. I suggest saving for those or find a used one. Personally, I find the 50mm focal length very boring and limiting. A decent zoom will give you good general coverage and then you can decide on some primes to cover the focal lengths you like.

 

Please keep in mind that manual-focus AI/AI-S lenses without CPU will not meter on the F80.

[Michael R Freeman]

Another option might be to look for a used AF Nikkor 28~70 f/3.5-4.5D (or non-D) or a AF Nikkor 28~85 f/3.5-4.5 (2nd version with wider rubber focusing ring). Both of these are nice, well made zooms and can be found for $150 or less in North America. If you can live without 28mm, the AF Nikkor 35~105 f/3.5-4.5D is another option (look for the AF-D as it has improved optics over previous non-D versions). Cameta Camera of Amityville, NY (ID: cametaauctions) has been auctioning new demos of this model for $150USD on eBay recently.

 

Mike

[loreneidahl]

Me - I favor fast primes.

 

So my basic fast kit is a 28 , 50, 85,

 

Only one zoom get a 28-70 as fast as your can afford. This is a good lens and works well in most shooting situations. However hang on to that 50 as that is a very sharp lens and you never can tell when you need a fast lens. Whether it boring as some have suggested is purely their opinion +/- 4 percentage points.

 

Dont do the 28-300 wonders that start out at f5.6 and got to f7.5 - you will reget it and so will anybody who looks at your images.

[grant_.]

what kinda stuff do you shoot most?