beac

Michael,

I have the same lense, really like it, and yes mine "rattles" a bit at all focal lengths. The other thing that is normal with the lense is when you have the camera over your shoulder with the lens pointed down, it will zoom out by itself if it is left at any focal length other than 18mm. Sort of drove me crazy until I trained my brain cell to always leave it at 18mm! Lots has been written about the average build quality of this lens, but I guess it is the hidden cost we pay for such an affordable, usable lens.

 

The quality of the pics seem to be best between say 24mm and 135ish and maybe f4.5 to 8ish.

I have a two year old D80 that I am considering selling, in an effort to upgrade to a newer model Nikon DSLR. Is

there a general consensus on what is the best route to go, ie. Craigs List or the like versus one of the adds I see in

various photo mags offering to pay "top dollar" for used camera equipment?

 

BH is showing the D700 for 2500ish (USD), but I cannot tell if that is before or after the $300 rebate. My local

camera shop guy told me they have it for $2666, before the rebate, which seems crazy low, but perhaps with the new

Cannon and Sony full frame competition coupled with the economy, they want to move inventory?

 

If I could sell my D80 along with my 18 to 200 DX maybe I could net a D700 body for around 2k USD?

Thanks all

I'm the first to admit I'm a highly average photographer most of the time (every once in a while I get a nice shot). I own the 18-200 and a 50mm prime and have to force myself to put it on the camera, just because I think it makes me a better photographer to use it. Sure the 18-200 has some issues that piss me off, especially the zoom creep if it is pointed down and set anywhere other than 18mm, but IMHO it cannot be beat for a one lens solution. Plus, by reading this forum, I'm learning where its zoom/f sweet spot is in terms of sharpness. If you want to travel with one lens -- the 18-200 can't be beat I think.

 

All that being said, I'll sell you mine when I scrape up the frogskins to get a D700! Which begs the question: what is the consensus (if any) on the best "one lens" travel light solution for FX?

Lex- Thanks for the great reply. I essentially have two lenses right now for my D80, a 50mm/1.4 Nikkor and an 18 - 200/ 3.5-5.6 dx, which is my "leave on lense". I really like the 50mm but the DX crop factor sort of limits it use for what I think it is intended for. I also have gotten some less than sharp pics from it, which sort of surprised me, although others have been fantastic. I will check out the web site you referred to and see if I can determine where the sweet spots for my two lenses are. Trial and error will work too!

As a general rule of thumb, is there a particular f stop or range of f stops that universally give the sharpest images with a given lense? I keep seeing f8 mentioned.

I should have added more info, my aplogies. I have a D80 and bought a Nikon cord a few weeks back to use with my SB800. Sounds like the book by Dennis is the one to get. Thanks for the ideas all.

I rarely use a flash, but would like to learn more about basic flash usage. Can anyone recommend some good

reading on the subject. I have an SB800 and just bought an off shoe cord. Thanks, Brian

I shoot my airborne pics mostly with an 18-200 f3.5-5.6 VR Nikkor and I've got to say that I'm somewhat disapointed

with most of them. It is just very difficult for me to get tack sharp pics, especially so at the longer focal lengths.

Accordingly, I try to move in close and shoot wide open to get the fastest shutter speed. Just don't swap paint!

 

Some of my frustration can be attributed to two other factors I think: 1) Dirty or scratched canopies hurt and 2) I use

a rubber hood to press against the canopy which really helps to keep reflected glare down (a big problem with curved

canopies) but it also transfers a bunch of vibration through the lense.

 

I also have used my 50mm f1.4 a bit. It helps me shoot at high shutter speeds, but it is difficult to focus manually

(usually I set my lenses at infinity, assuming I'm far enough away and auto focus tends to "hunt" a lot airborne) since

its focusing ring seems to turn way, way too easily in manual. The pic in my portfolio of a wingman over Alaska was

taken with the 50mm if I remember correctly.

 

If I could generalize my limited, frustrating lessons learned: wider angle and faster lenses seem to give me the

fastest shutter speeds (I try to get 1/1000 or better now) and hence sharper images. If you are going to be shooting

from a prop plane there will be lots of vibration so faster shutter speeds are a must.

 

I start composing in Aperture mode on my D80 with the lense wide open and prefocused in manual (usually at

infinity), see what that gives me in terms of shutter speed, then stop the lense down if I can, since it seems to me

both my lenses give better quality photos when they are not wide open.

 

I wonder if the 17-35 f2.8 (I think I've got that right) would be a nice lens airborne on a DX format camera, but it is

expensive and a bit heavy.

 

My final observation is that your shots may need some work in photo shop, or whatever you use (I use Capture NX) if

you are shooting in bright sunlight, which is usually for me. Things can look washed out, and a polerizer is really not

an option when shooting through plastic windscreens, windows, etc. It brings out all sorts of crazy rainbow colors.

 

I've posted a few of my aerial shots (of varying quality) to my portfolio.

I have a D80 and early on was getting some soft images. If you handhold like I do a lot, shoot in aperture mode with your lense wide open. This will force the fastest shutter speed possible from the camera. I also use Capture NX so the medium high sharpening setting I have selected in my D80 transfers in when I edit my RAW files. Usually I don't need do monkey with it in NX.

 

You can also try a VR lens which will allow you to shoot clean pics at a lower shutter speed. Realize, of course, that it will be a slow shutter speed so motion will likely be blurred.