joenieters

You might want to consider the Nikon 28-200G instead of the 70-300 that has been mentioned. I keep the 28-200G on my D70 most of the time and so far I am very happy with it. It seems to be a bit sharper than the 70-300 and the smaller range is a little more realistic in my opinion. I passed on the kit lens and in addition to the 28-200G I added the 20mm 2.8D, 50mm 1.4D and the 105mm 2.8D ED micro. I will probably add a 12-24 next (probably Sigma).

I have been giving this a lot of thought lately and at the moment I am leaning more toward a CD-Writer that directly supports flash cards. I think this would be a more reliable solution. I get nervous keeping all the files from one shot on a single and fragile hard drive. My thought is that I would burn one CDR for each 512 card.

I use the 28-200 3.5-5.6G with my D70 and have been very happy with the sharpness considering the FL range. Certainly not as sharp as the primes I bought. I chose the 28-200 as a general purpose walk around lens instead of the 18-70 kit because I tend to shoot using longer FL. The primes are 20mm 2.8; 50mm 1.4; 105mm 2.8 micro. The primes seem very sharp and those are what I use for more serious shots.

Paul,

 

A few years ago I purchased a Kodak DC5000 (which is a DC280 inside) that includes 37mm adapter threads. The DC5000 has 2x optical zoom.

 

I later purchased one of the Sharpshooters and have been pretty happy with it. Using my DC5000 zoomed to 60mm and adding the 8x takes me out 480mm and adding my 2x adapter takes me up to 960mm.

 

Regarding the quality of the CrystalVue I have been very happy. Smooth focus and solid construction. I have had no problems with it.

 

Considering that is is inexpensive, I was surprised by the overall "brightness" and image quality.

 

As mentioned in the previous comment, light/speed is going to be the issue. You can almost forget about using it for anything indoors unless lighting is very bright. I get the most out of the lens in two circumstances.

 

First, outdoors on sunny days you can shoot almost anything you want. When I configure it out to 960 I adjust +1/2 or 1 stop but at 480 I usually don't. Its great for candid shots of people and for informal portraits, especially at outdoor parties and poolside.

 

The second use is as a very close macro lens. I place the camera in a copyholder, add +7 or +10 diopters and shoot from 4-6 inches. Not much depth of field in this config. Its like using a microscope.

 

The CrystalVue Sharpshooter 8x was a good match for my camera. I think is a good value for the right applications. I don't consider it a "gimmick".

 

Hope this helps.

 

Joe