walterh

who said lenses are getting better? i though they get worse? at least mechanically.

just had to say this - sorry :-P

there is a serious side to this- some lens designs got worse because the constraints 1) money, 2) space for the electric contacts and chips, 3) AF mechanics needed to be incorporated. so if AF is not really required go mechanic.

PS: stay with nikon, take a 24mm F2.8 Ai or AIS, a 105mm 2.8 and you kill 90% of modern lenses fo almost no money :-)

hi,

i got the sigma 1.4 one that used to come with the coorespondig sigma afs-zoom. i cant recommend it. its pretty low contrast , not very sharp at any aperture and slows down the AF of the sigma zoom and other lenses. also mechanically it does not offer the tight fit on the lens nor on the F5 body.

cheers

walter

@Vinay - i suppose you talk about F5 , F100 and F90X ?

if someone has a source for the necessary plug with cable - i would also like to know.

cheers

walter

YES! get a cheap old manual camera with a decent lens that offers B or T setting for the shutter. buy an stop watch and a cable release. off you go.

well if you insist to be perfect : get an old lunasix light meter and get lots of experience estimating the exposure time based on the light meter reading. experience beats light meter readings very often in night shots :-)

cheers

walter

I had the 105 lens for a number of years. Its one of the best lenses in that range and excellent in all respects, even extends into close up with an extension ring, even into macro with in extension ring that allows inverted operation of the lens.

the next best choice for you is the 85mm AF at 1.8 . I use this lens as well as the 105 Macro lens.

The 85mm is pleasent to use - a bit soft completely open, slightly softer than the 195 all the way to stopped down, but comes close to the "feel" and sharpness - you will love it.

leave the 105 macro lens for the special occasion of macro work.

its good as a macro lens- but not really good for landscapes or anything near infinity. Its horrible to focus- both AF and manual. Just no feel to it and the AF is slow and likes to "run away" hunting for focus. It then takes forever to come back to near focus. If i would not like to use it on a digital body i would immediately trade it for a manual macro version if anybody is dumb enough to trade it 1:1 :-) .

One caveat for the 85mmAF lens: If you like precision equipment close your eyes if you pay for it. Its a piece of !"%$% - but the images are first class :-)

Cheers

Walter