evilsivan

Help,

the shutter on my D80 just stopped working properly, it gets locked or

something, and only half the sensor is exposed. The camera is about 5 months

old. I haven't been home yet today to look through the manual troubleshoot

section. Could it be low battery? Should i send it in? Where does one send them

anyway? HELP

Ofer

Thanks for the great tips :)

Ofer

I have alot of questions about backing up my photos. I am new to digital so I

have a lot of them (questions). Can someone recommend some good articles & FAQs

about digital storage? For example what kind of external hard drive should I use

(if any) should I back up files in DVDRs or CDRs etc. There's obviously tons of

great info on this site, but I want to start by reading some basics and then

search for the specific questions. My computer is filling up with RAW files very

quickly :)

Thanks much!

Ofer in IC

Steve,

I have read that one shouldn't use it on a tripod bc it will add vibrations by compensating for ones that are not there. Also anyone know about mirror lock-up on a D80?

Ah....that feels good. Thanks guys! Of course, my family moves very slowly and I have a flash but I try to not use it when possible.

Can someone tell me I'm wise to buy the 18-55mm VR from BH? It's tantalizingly

affordable, tho reviews are hard to come buy. I can't afford a similar zoom with

f2.8. It'll be good for taking pics of the family around the dinner table, right?

Thanks in advance for telling me what I want to hear!

-Ofer

I've noticed that when I use the LCD screen to inspect a shot for sharpness, I get some jpg artifact-type distortion. I didn't see anything about it in the manual which I read front to back more than once. I agree with Justin above that there is way more sharpness on a comp. monitor than on the LCD. Unfortunately its actually useless for inspecting a shot for sharpness.

Does anyone have thoughts about the 18-55mm VR?

I have a follow up q. If one is shooting rather large paintings (say 4'x4') in a room, using David's method above, should one not shoot in daylight hours? I'm thinking of mixing color temps here.

Hiro, tell us what you think?

-Ofer

I'm afraid that any of the f2.8 lenses are too expensive for me :( or I'm to cheap for them :) I want to go wide and go fast (low f-#) but since I can't afford it, I might as well go wide, its not always dark when I'm shooting!

I'm leaning to the nikon 18-55 VR, which is only a bit more than the tamron, but still over $200 less than the sigma 17-50 f2.8. With the VR maybe I can get another stop or two open in low light, although I'm still puzzled whether one needs VR with a short lens. If there were more camera shops around here I could try one...

I'm using a D80. I should probably get the nikon, you're right, Eric. Like you said, I read bad things about the non-hsm version, so I thought maybe they improved it. My widest lens now is a 1980's tokina 28mm f2.8, with which I can't AF or meter which is ok, I mean mf is easy and sunny-f16 takes care of the rest, but that's equivalent to a 42mm which isn't that wide. I would like the 18-135 nikon but that's over my budget at $320 and it has barrel and pincushion distortion. There is also the 18-55mm II VR which is up at $180.

I have yet to find a single user review of the Sigma 18-50mm f/3.5-5.6 DC HSM. I

am continuing in my trek to be the miserliest member of photo.net. This lens is

selling for only $140 at BH, but don't want to be the first person on earth to

own one. Somebody's gotta have an opinion? any other recommendations for a wide

angle lens (zoom or prime) that is cheap would be welcome. Someone mentioned a

sigma 28mm f1.8 in another post. Much appreciated! -Ofer

Bean bag for shooting out the 4WD with a telephoto. Sounds like fun!!!

I would definetly go for a 50mm f1.8. The price is right. I am in exactly the same boat as you, luke. I just bought a D80, but I couldn't afford any of the kits. So I was using my old lenses, some of which I can't even meter with let alone AF (no big deal, use the 'Sunny f16 Rule'). So I bought the 50mm f1.8 and its great, but I'm looking for something from 18-??mm, but also cheap. there is a Sigma 18-50mm f/3.5-5.6 DC G at selling for around $140 but I can't find any reviews.

I'm gonna take Kent's advice and look for this Sigma 28mm f1.8, he's right about the AF too, it'll be hard to meter without a meter unless you have lots & lots of practice!

We can start a petition...

Got to love the 50mm 1.8 only $110 from BH! I wish there were more good cheap ones like that. Something w i d e. *sigh*

Very interesting discussion, guys. (as usual)

 

I posted a similar question a while ago asking about the 18-55($120) vs the 18-55VR($190) vs the 18-135($300). I am still not sure about which one to get. They are all relatively slow lenses at best (f3.5) and they are all reasonably sharp according to reviews.

 

Vivek's comments about IR are interesting. Where can one read more about this? How does the D80 compare to the d40x or the D70 vis a vis IR?

For me, the ideal lens would be -theoretically-the 18-135, tho its very sharp, it has some bad distortion, according to many many reviews. My widest lens is a 30-year-old 28mm (like 42mm now) tamron with which I can not meter or autofocus on my D80. I have enough lenses in the normal to telephoto range but i miss taking some wider shots.

Shun,

That's my conundrum exactly. the reason I was looking at a 18-55 in the first place was for the wide angle its only $100 and then its only $180 for the VR. I have a 50mm 1.8 (for a $100 EVERYbody should have one), but that's more like a 75mm in the 'old way'. Unfortunately, this one makes sandwiches for a living so I can't spring for the Tamron :)

Its hard to find reviews of the VR lens. One review says asuch short a lens doesn't need VR, but wouldn't it be ideal for say low-light portraits? That's when you'd want a short lens (indoors) and VR for the long exposure.

I just got the 50mm 1.8 for a little more than a $100 bucks and I think its a

great deal. The lens hasn't left the body since then. I need something wider and

I've read positive reviews about the 18-55mm (non vr) which at just over $100

bucks seems like another steal. Is it worth the extra $80 or so for the VR? Are

the optics as good? Also (I hope I'm not pushing it) I am not using a card

reader but off loading directly from my D80 body into my laptop. Is that

foolish? Thanks!

-Ofer

Hans, for some reason the Exif doesn't show up in the metadata, for example in bridge, even before I've processed them in any way.

How can I keep my EXIF data when I process a .NEF file on Photoshop? I am using

PS CS2. I am a novice at PS (which may be obvious from the question :).