paul_hodgson2

<p>Actually, LO 0.7 is closer to iso 125 so how did DxO get a D300 to iso 145?</p>

<p>Unless I read the D300 charts incorrectly on the DxO site, they appear to suggest that the greatest DR, colour etc is at iso 145 or Lo0.7 I think.</p>

<p>Unless there's a specific gap that the 900 would fill, I'd keep your 800.</p>

<p>Johnny (sorry about my previous spelling of your name), there's no such thing as a specific portrait lens that I'm aware of. There are attributes of lenses that lend themselves to portrait work like compression but any lens is a portrait lens, just depends on what you want the final image to look like.<br>

Most of my single person portraits are shot either with my 85mm of 50mm, favouring the 50mm on my DX body as the working distance for head and shoulders is closer than the 85mm. Means I'm not having to raise my voice to be heard quite as much.<br>

On the FX camera again I'd use anything but traditional portraiture will say anything from 85 to 135 is a good standard range which for DX translates to 50 to 85 'ish.</p>

<p>Jonny, the answer may lay in your answer of how much you want to spend.<br>

For very little outlay and DX/FX agnostic, go get the uber cheap but very good Nikon 50mm f1.8. On DX you'll get a field of view similar to that of an 80mm lens on a FX camera; on your DX the fov is similar to a 75mm lens whilst retaining the f1.8 wide open f-stop.<br>

Furthermore, should you ever go toward FX then this lens will travel with you being compatible on both chip sizes. Can't see a negative with this lens.</p>

<p>On a DX camera the 50mm will certainly be long enough having an effective fov of around 75mm. And on many occasions shooting close to wide open produces images that are just beautiful.<br /> I use an older D Nikkor f1.4 model which is terrible at 41.4 but sharp by f2.<br /> Here's a portrait of a friends pooch to give you an idea of my 50mm use.<br>

And if you need to fill the frame or add to the frame, move your legs.</p>

<p>I have a love/hate relationship with mine. Sometimes it seems to work great and at other times not.<br>

<br />When I go full frame I'll say bye bye.</p>

<p>Here's a shot with the Sigma oh and mine isn't showing any signs of flaking.<br>

<p>Most of the time I'm a manual exposure chap and venture into A when I'm shooting where the results aren't being sold to clients. </p>

<p>I keep my 17-55 attached to one of my D300's almost all the time. The extra reach produces a look unlike anything you'll get if you mount the 24-70, DX body of course. I'd rather have that ability even if only called for occasionally. And wide open my lens is softer at the edges which comes back to me by f4 and then acceptable sharpness appears across the entire image by f8 to f14 then drops off again.<br>

<br />The softness you speak of, at what apertures? If it's all of them then a trip back to Nikon or another lens specialist may be needed and like mentioned before, I'd be surprised if all three bodies were at fault.<br>

I get the feeling that you're going to buy the 24-70 whatever anyone says and if so you'll adore the lens but I'd question whether you need it right now given you have 3 x DX bodies.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>For <em>most </em>the D200 is still more camera than anyone needs. It has the ability to take sublime images but it's still all dependant on the monkey driving it...me included.</p>

<p>If you process your NEFs using either ViewNX or NX2 then every incamera setting is honoured and you still have the ability to alter all the settings non-destructively.</p>

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<p>In an attempt to control noise, especially if the scene is already dark, push your exposure so that you're close to blowing your highlights but not quite. Then in post bring the darks back in but pay careful attention to the colours. More importantly to this thread, you'll never get away from noise but with this method you'll see less...search for the ETTR article on Luminous Landscape for a far better explanation.<br>

And here's another link<br>

http://schewephoto.com/ETTR/index.html</p>

<p>I know very few lenses that perform at their peak when wide open. My choice would be the Tokina 11-16 stopped down and would expect that by f4 the lens will be performing better than a lens that starts at f4. Also, I can't recall what camera you intend mounting the lens to but assume it's a DX camera body.</p>