[kkr2k2]

Originally Posted by pratim

Oops, sorry for the confusion I had created for not being clear enough in my first post. As some of the folks said above, I plan to buy a DSLR now and I have narrowed down to 550D and D90. I already have a Nikon N/F75 with two kit lens: 28-80 mm (F3.3 - 5.6) and the other one 70-300mm(F4-5.6), both G type AF Nikkor lens. I checked the lens compatibility in D90 user manual. These two lens can be used without any loss of functionality.

The questions I have in my mind:
a) will it be prudent to sell the N/F75 along with the kit lens and buy a 550D
b) Or buy D90 and reuse the lens? Further, how good these two lens will be for D90?
c) what will be equivalent focal range for these two lenses w.r.t. D90?

-Pratim

I am film lover, so how much would I pay for the gear you have mentioned if available for sale? Well, I would prefer a manual camera like FM2 over a N75. A mint condition FM2 goes around 10k for the body alone!!! But for the N75, I would not pay more than 4k depending on the condition. Another 4k for both the lenses you have mentioned. So a total not more than 8k!!

As per smartshoppers .in website, the D90 body is around 41,250/- and the 550D is around 44,500/- with kit lens. Both of them with bill & warranty. And if you want a tele jhoom lens (55-250), you end up paying another 10 to 12k.

If I am in your position, I would retain my existing gear and buy the D90 with 18-55 lens!!

[ajman28]

Originally Posted by shajufx

Primes are affordable these days (50mm 1.8 is around 5k). Tele can cost more (a 70-300 non-VR around 10k and VR around 25k) and can give closer kind of bokeh on the higher end in the situations you mentioned. People buy primes for sharpness, Excellent Bokeh, Low light, speed etc. A 1.4 or 1.8 prime can get the nose out of focus if eyes are focused. Thats the kind of Depth Of Field. So if Bokeh is priority, get a prime. Hope I have done justice to the answer.

Thanks.

Getting a little more into the same point; we can get very low DOF with a tele-photo lens too. I am presently using the canon 55-250 lens which gives quite good results. The only problems I find with it is that you cannot be very close to the subject and the AF does not work in low light conditions. On a prime, will the AF work better during low light situations than a tele-photo? Or is the AF something related to the body alone?

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by CRV2010

shajufx, Ebay India doesn't even have one......
Smart Shoppers has listed the lens at 33.5k with shipping and Jayesh has quoted 33.3 with B&W.

I did not suggest Ebay India by any chance, even if someone has it, its better to pick it up from shops we know. Smart shopper site has a different pricing than what I get by calling its partners. I picked up my 70-200 for 38k on a drive to Chennai and Jayesh was quoting 42k for the same.

Originally Posted by ajman28

....we can get very low DOF with a tele-photo lens too.........you cannot be very close to the subject and the AF does not work in low light conditions. On a prime, will the AF work better during low light situations than a tele-photo?

Tele can give good bokeh effect as I mentioned in my previous post, but being very close to the subject can spoil the game. You need to see the technical specification of the lens for help. Each lens has different 'Minimum Distance' to the subject.My 70-200 has a minimum distance of 1 meter and 50mm 1.4 has a minimum distance of .45 meter. Good lenses will have it marked in feet and meter. Some lenses need not auto focus at that minimum area, so Manual focusing is the way to go, as we do in Macro shoots.

Primes are supposed to give quick focus even in low light, my lenses have never disappointed me in the dark .

Here is an image from my 70-200 from the minimum distance area ( 1 meter ) but its taken in Manual focusing, because the lens would focus on the stick than the web pattern.

Its at 70mm f/4.8. The Bokeh would have been excellent if it was taken at 200mm f/2.8 ! Just to give you an idea !

[C300]

Hi Folks..I own a Canon 1000d and recently purchased few manual focus lenses over the net/eBay. My experinece so far has been mixed. Old manual focus lenses are available at dirt cheap prices on eBay and offer excellent VFM. On the other side you loose the ease of auto-focus and many times the results are out of focus. I am sharing few shots taken from these lenses. All the pics are straight out of the camera without any PP. Your comments welcome.

Carl Zeiss 28/2.8


Carl Zeiss 28/2.8


Pentax SMC Takumar 55/1.8


Pentax SMC Takumar 55/1.8


Pentax Super Takumar 135/3.5


Pentax Super Takumar 135/3.5


Olympus Zuiko 50/1.8


Olympus Zuiko 50/1.8

[ajman28]

@C300:
Very nice pictures. How much did you pick up the lenses for?

@Shaju: thanks again.

How did you get such sharp pictures using the telephoto? Most of the pics I get are a little hazy and I don't like getting into pp since it just doesn't give you the same feeling of "first time right!"

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by ajman28

How did you get such sharp pictures using the telephoto?

A good telephoto can give very sharp pictures.

[falcon009]

Hi I recently bought a 550D with kit lens (18-55 is). Wanted to know how you guys take care of your cameras (e.g. silica gel etc). Also going for a lens hood that is not canon made a good option? Please help.

[humyum]

Okay a question. I have got a 550 D with came with a 18-55 Lens. I ll buy the 18-200 Canon Is when I come india, saw the pictures by C300 and they are excellent and that too without any PS, When i tried clicking pictures, they don't come out this brilliant with the light and colour brightness, how come? What settings do I need to change in the camera to achieve this kind of colour quality ?

[kkr2k2]

Originally Posted by humyum

Okay a question. I have got a 550 D with came with a 18-55 Lens. I ll buy the 18-200 Canon Is when I come india, saw the pictures by C300 and they are excellent and that too without any PS, When i tried clicking pictures, they don't come out this brilliant with the light and colour brightness, how come? What settings do I need to change in the camera to achieve this kind of colour quality ?

Your lens is a jhoooom lens while the pics C300 has posted are taken by PRIME lenses(fixed focal length!!). Do check out the f-numbers posted: f1.8, 2.8, 3.5(for 135mm). If you want to get those kind of pictures, you are better of forgetting the plan of purchasing the 18-200 unless you want a general purpose lens with wide focal length range suitable for traveling.

PS: If you want those fast lenses and still want to cover focal length upto 200(or more), instead of buying the 18-200, buy a 55-250 to add to your 18-55 and use the money saved for purchasing the prime lenses.

[C300]

Originally Posted by kkr2k2

Your lens is a jhoooom lens while the pics C300 has posted are taken by PRIME lenses(fixed focal length!!). Do check out the f-numbers posted: f1.8, 2.8, 3.5(for 135mm). If you want to get those kind of pictures, you are better of forgetting the plan of purchasing the 18-200 unless you want a general purpose lens with wide focal length range suitable for traveling.

PS: If you want those fast lenses and still want to cover focal length upto 200(or more), instead of buying the 18-200, buy a 55-250 to add to your 18-55 and use the money saved for purchasing the prime lenses.

That’s correct. I also have the 18-55 kit lens but never liked the colours/sharpness coming out of it. As correctly pointed out by Samurai a good quality telephoto should give sharp results.

@ajman28 - prices in USD - Zuiko 50mm ~40, Takumar 135mm ~30, Takumar 55mm ~50 and Zeiss was a bit costly at around 300USD.

Having used the manual prime lenses for past few months these are my observations:

Pros
- Absolute VFM. Start with a cheap zuiko or pentax takumar. They are excellent for beginners like me. Buying a costly zeiss wasn't probably a right decision
- Good option for static object photography and general outdoor photography
- Old zuiko and Takumars are all metal lenses with excellent build quality.

Cons
- Not a good option for moving objects
- Focus is hit and miss. Many photographs will be out of focus. It also depends on the quality of adapter in use.
- focussing through smaller view finder of 1000D is a challenge. Needs a lot of patience. The image in the viewfinder will get darker as you increase the F number.


In the end it was a great learning experience and every SLR beginner should try some of these manual lenses.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by ajman28

....How did you get such sharp pictures using the telephoto?

Already answered by Samurai san, a good quality tele can give sharp images. As a rule, one is supposed to sharpen an image after resizing it (as taught in my 2 days workshop by Jayanth), but thats a subjective thing according to me. Some lenses produce super sharp images, they dont require a sharpening on PP anytime. 50mm at 1.4 (widest) is reported to have soft images, so a 1 step sharpening after resizing will bring life to the image.

Originally Posted by C300

That’s correct. I also have the 18-55 kit lens but never liked the colours/sharpness coming out of it.........
....and every SLR beginner should try some of these manual lenses.

Your images are crystal clear. I dont underestimate an 18-55 kit, there are tons of beautiful images posted by many in Flickr. Manual lenses are fun to learn, BUT there are many situations you dont get a chance to play around with the focus ring (eg. kids as subject). I really doubt if I can get a single image in focus if I try a manual lens with my kids. In that case, learning will become a nightmare !

End of the day, its not the gadget but the eyes behind it that create the image.

[gd1418]

This is what I've been telling all from day one. Gadgets, basic, advanced or specialised are only tools that help you. A picture first gets composed in the mind and then captured in a canvas or a gadget..

Originally Posted by shajufx

A

End of the day, its not the gadget but the eyes behind it that create the image.

[C300]

Originally Posted by shajufx

Your images are crystal clear. I dont underestimate an 18-55 kit, there are tons of beautiful images posted by many in Flickr. Manual lenses are fun to learn, BUT there are many situations you dont get a chance to play around with the focus ring (eg. kids as subject). I really doubt if I can get a single image in focus if I try a manual lens with my kids. In that case, learning will become a nightmare !

End of the day, its not the gadget but the eyes behind it that create the image.

Couldn't agree more.
And surely with kids these lenses will be a nightmare.
18-55 is defintely a capable lense but just in comparison with primes the sharpness is not up to the mark.

[amitk26]

@humayum Canon 18-55 IS kit lens is an excellent lens in it's own right I do not see any problem either with sharpness or color rendering and does not produce much CA. Every lens has a sweet spot and kit lens is sharp at F8.
18-200 is likely to give you same results as kit in terms of sharpness.

If you want a better zoom lens in terms of quality then go for 15- 85 IS USM.

@C300 these pics again confirm Takmars are gem of a lens and may be Zeiss is bit over rated. If can get it try SMC Takumar 500 F1.4 and SMC Macro Takumars ( both 50 and 100) they don't come as cheap as the others taks but excellent quality and price wise lot lower then old Zeiss.

About color rendering the only problem with old MF lenses is CA , If you shoot someone wearing black T shirt with white print in bright sunlight you will find what I mean but modern lenses like Sigmas also have this issue.
But this is just one click correction in PS /GIMP

One strange thing I have seen is that chromatic aberration in old MF is purple fringe where as Sigmas give green fringe under same conditions

[ajman28]

Originally Posted by Samurai

A good telephoto can give very sharp pictures.

I agree totally with your point, but theoretically speaking that is. Practically when it comes down to my hands, I am not able to get the same results. :(

I use the Canon 1000D with 18-55mm kit lens and the 55-250mm F/4-5.6 IS. The telephoto lens do give very sharp images. Here are some links of sample pics for the 55-250mm lens:
Black tail Deer photo - Carl and Racine Erland photos at pbase.com
Garrapateros (Explored) | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Saltamontes rojo | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

So that gets me to totally agree with the following quote:

Originally Posted by shajufx

End of the day, its not the gadget but the eyes behind it that create the image.

Now the eye behind the gadget has taken a steadfast decision to get sharper.

So some more questions:
1. Other than the equipment, what are the other factors which affect sharpness of a picture?
2. How can one tackle the factors affecting the sharpness?

Originally Posted by shajufx

As a rule, one is supposed to sharpen an image after resizing it (as taught in my 2 days workshop by Jayanth), but thats a subjective thing according to me. Some lenses produce super sharp images, they dont require a sharpening on PP anytime. 50mm at 1.4 (widest) is reported to have soft images, so a 1 step sharpening after resizing will bring life to the image.

When you say resizing and 1 step sharpening, do you mean to say this is to be done on PP?


Disclaimer: I have been using the DSLR only for the past 6 months or so now. Till then it was the P&S. So in case the noob questions spoil the spirit of the thread, please indicate immediately.