[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by rish_arora

Yes, you're right. I am looking portable(easy on weight and size) lens which I'll be using for Travel, Landscapes, Street Photography. Also, I am quite fascinated by Astro-photography, so I am looking for a really fast lens.

Sigma 16mm f1.4 (launched in October'17), Sony 50mm, Sony 35mm are a few lens that I'm considering. Only thing going against Sigma is lack of OSS.

I would like to have vibration control with everything. It comes with much cheaper compacts, so why not these cameras (without having the money for a6500).

But things are what they are and: faster, shorter lenses I don't have much problem, even though my hands are far from rock solid.

[Rshrey22]

Hi,

I am planning to upgrade to a more flexible kit lens for my Canon 700d, while the stock 18-55mm is good for casual photos, I sometimes feel that I could do more with a larger zoom range. The thing is that swapping lenses with 55-250 is a cumbersome procedure and I don't really want to carry extra load with me.

So I am planning to buy a 18-200 mm lens. Tamron's 18-200 seems a cheaper option at 18,000ish rupees, but I want to go with the Canon's 18-200. The thing is that it costs more than double at around 40,000 rupees.

Is this the right decision, considering the fact that my photography game is only running on the beginner level and the lens costs more than the camera itself?

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by Rshrey22

Hi,

I am planning to upgrade to a more flexible kit lens for my Canon 700d, while the stock 18-55mm is good for casual photos, I sometimes feel that I could do more with a larger zoom range. The thing is that swapping lenses with 55-250 is a cumbersome procedure and I don't really want to carry extra load with me.

So I am planning to buy a 18-200 mm lens. Tamron's 18-200 seems a cheaper option at 18,000ish rupees, but I want to go with the Canon's 18-200. The thing is that it costs more than double at around 40,000 rupees.

Is this the right decision, considering the fact that my photography game is only running on the beginner level and the lens costs more than the camera itself?

The larger the zoom range, the worst the optical quality. The 18-200 zoom have pretty average quality, and except for the convenience are not worth buying. The 18-55 zoom lens has one of the best optical quality at upto three times its price. The reason is that these are the most sold both for Nikon and Canon, hence they can afford to optimise the optics at a very low cost to the user (due to large turnover).

Your best option is to get a good 70-300 zoom lens. You have to bear with carrying two lenses if you want better image quality.

[vikasshu]

Dear Friends,

Need advice for a camera bag which can accommodate a laptop as well. I have a Nikon D7000 with two basic lenses, 18-105 and 35mm. In future I may go for a 70-300 and a wide angle lens as well. My trips are normally to big cities for work and I do go for occasional hiking as well. I always love to carry my camera with me and currently carrying two cases is cumbersome. Plus the Nikon gifted bag is now in bad shape. So planning for new acquisition.

I am also planning to get a wide angle lens but currently there is no cheap model (less than 15k) available. Please do provide your suggestions for this question as well.

Thanks & Regards

[roy_libran]

Originally Posted by vikasshu

Dear Friends,

Need advice for a camera bag which can accommodate a laptop as well. I have a Nikon D7000 with two basic lenses, 18-105 and 35mm. In future I may go for a 70-300 and a wide angle lens as well. My trips are normally to big cities for work and I do go for occasional hiking as well. I always love to carry my camera with me and currently carrying two cases is cumbersome. Plus the Nikon gifted bag is now in bad shape. So planning for new acquisition.

I am also planning to get a wide angle lens but currently there is no cheap model (less than 15k) available. Please do provide your suggestions for this question as well.

Thanks & Regards

Check out bags from Amazon Basics. I have their large bag for about 2 years now for many many trips and has held up well. No damage.
For even better quality go for Tarmac or Lowepro.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I bought a larger Lowepro shoulder bag because the mid-size one was stupidly high-priced here.

Fed up with carrying this large thing around, I bought a smaller Tamrac. It takes my whole kit perfectly and is easy to carry.

Worth noting, however, that there is no comparison in quality: the Lowepro is greatly superior.

[vikasshu]

Originally Posted by roy_libran

Check out bags from Amazon Basics. I have their large bag for about 2 years now for many many trips and has held up well. No damage.
For even better quality go for Tarmac or Lowepro.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I bought a larger Lowepro shoulder bag because the mid-size one was stupidly high-priced here.

superior.

Thanks to both of you for your valuable suggestions. I finally have gone ahead with Amazon Basics one. I had my eyes on Sonia Tonba TB669 but then I remembered your experience Thad, with Lowepro. Amazon one also saved me some money as well. Thanks again.

Warm Regards

[condor]

Tried a Kenko N-AF 25 mm Uniplus Extension tube (supports AF): Two sets of pics, both at 200 mm. The image is slightly larger, with small change in minimum focus distance.


Of these, the first of each is with the tube. This is a rough comparison, since I did not mount the camera on a tripod. Hence a small change in the image will be there.

1)




Note: minor edit of colors in the first one. Else there is no change in color / saturation.


2)





I was expecting a more seamless usage, but on this lens I found that the tube works only at 2 focal lengths: 135 mm and 200 mm. There is no infinity focus when using the tube.

I tried with both manual and AF. At any other FL, the AF hunts but cannot focus on anything. Ditto with manual focus - at any other focal length, the lens cant focus on anything when I rotate the focus ring.

I had read about the infinity part, but the selective focus is something I am seeing here. I will try out some more, both with this lens and other lenses.


Any one else who has tried the Extension tubes ?

[Thad E Ginathom]

Yes, I have tried extension tubes. I have, I think, 15 and 25, compatible with my camera.

They've been on the shelf for a while, awaiting another burst of enthusiasm! But you can get some real macro stuff with magnification and tiny depth of field. My earliest experiments were classic examples like a bolt with only a couple of threads in focus and lots of clearly seen imperfections in the metal. Then on to flowers, with similar results. Getting around 1:1 object to sensor means that when you see that on your PC monitor it is like a microscope!

Don't know how you are getting a result where the tube doesn't make much difference. Is it that a shorter focal length lens is more dramatic? I forget!

.

[vikasshu]

Dear Friends,

I am back with another query. This one is more apt for NCR photography friends. While doing my research for a wide angle lens, I have shortlisted 11-20 mm one from Tokina. Though even I liked Sigma 10-20 mm but it is more costly and its aperture is also smaller in comparison to Tokina.

While searching the Tokina India website, I came across two shops for their lenses. One in Gurgaon named Kumarjee and other one in Lajpat Nagar area by the name of Dass photo electronics?

1. I want to hear from respected members about your personal feedback for these two outlets.
2. If you know any third outlet dealing in Tokina lenses then please do let me know.

Thanks & Regards

Vikas

[condor]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Don't know how you are getting a result where the tube doesn't make much difference. Is it that a shorter focal length lens is more dramatic? I forget!

Thad, that was expected. There is a way to calculate the MFD, and the magnification. The resultant magnification is a factor of the magnification and the focal length of the lens, and the size of the tube. Similar with the MFD. I will try it with my shorter lenses and should see a difference. What I had not expected is that with the 55-200 I have, it worked only at 135 & 200. From the calculator that the website provided, I can expect the native magnification to improve with the tube.

Originally Posted by vikasshu

I am back with another query. This one is more apt for NCR photography friends.

Not about the outlets, but you could check places like JJMPF for anyone selling the lens. With third party lenses, I prefer to check the lens before buying it. I have a Tokina 12-28 f4, though the 11-16 looks quite popular.

[BlackPearl]

My Nikon D80 is more than 10 years old, so I want to buy a new one though there is nothing wrong with the D80. Can't decide between Sony A7 II, Nikon D750, Fujifilm XT2, Pentax K1. All of them are in the similar price bracket. My requirement is for mostly landscape photography and the camera should last at least 10 years.

[condor]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Nikon D80 is more than 10 years old,

Any good lenses that you have now ? If you have something good, then the D750 may just be the logical step.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by condor

Any good lenses that you have now ? If you have something good, then the D750 may just be the logical step.

All the lenses are DX lenses, 35 mm and 50 mm primes, one 18-105 mm and one 70-300 zoom. If I go for full frame Nikon camera then I will not be able to use these lenses. So it is not mandatory for me to buy a Nikon.

[humyum]

Originally Posted by vikasshu

Dear Friends,

I am back with another query. This one is more apt for NCR photography friends. While doing my research for a wide angle lens, I have shortlisted 11-20 mm one from Tokina. Though even I liked Sigma 10-20 mm but it is more costly and its aperture is also smaller in comparison to Tokina.

While searching the Tokina India website, I came across two shops for their lenses. One in Gurgaon named Kumarjee and other one in Lajpat Nagar area by the name of Dass photo electronics?

1. I want to hear from respected members about your personal feedback for these two outlets.
2. If you know any third outlet dealing in Tokina lenses then please do let me know.

Thanks & Regards
Vikas

Hi,

I have been using a Sigma 10-20 since 6 years now, brought it in 2012 September before my Ladakh trip and I still use it, I had also got a Hoya HD Circular poloriser with the lens, to be honest, I have got amazing pictures with this lens, most of my Ladakh pictures were clicked with this and now and again, I keep using this lens, its fantastic.

If the difference price wise between the Tokina and this is a lot, you can go for this one, also remember, with the wide angle lens, you should definitely buy a good quality circular poloriser to get those fantastic effects on the clouds and remove the reflection from objects and water bodies, I hope this helps.

PS: I forgot to mention, I use a canon 550D