18-55mm lens question

[akazoly]

I have a Nikon D40X 10.2 Megapixel SLR camera with 18-55 mm lens. Is possible to take stock photos with quality close-ups ? Until I change the lens.. now I don't have enough money for better lens.

I appreciate any idea, thanks!

 

[Mav]

The 18-55 is a great little lens, but if you mean close-ups as in macro photography (Nikon calls it micro) you'll probably want to keep saving for another lens. The 18-55 will do 1:3.2 which is actually one of the closest focusing non-micro lenses they make, but a true micro lens is 1:1 and will get a lot closer. If you're referring more to portraits, it can do it, but the lens doesn't have a very good ability to isolate the subject because of the small maximum aperture at 55mm (f/5.6, an f/2.8 will do a much better job, and an f/2 or bigger (smaller number) prime will do even better), and the bokeh (referring to how the out of focus area is rendered) is sorta ugly and distracting on the 18-55 vs other lenses. For a general purpose walkaround lens though, it's great and has surprisingly good image quality.

 

[xfloggingkylex]

you wont realize how bad the kit lens is until you use a higher quality lens in that focal length.

With that being said, the kit lens is a great value, and by far the cheapest wide angle you can get.

You can do stock photography for sure.

 

[Mav]

I can't speak for the other brands, but the Nikkor 18-55 is actually quite nice. Some of my favorite photos I've taken have been with the cheap junky little kit lens.

 

[akazoly]

Thanks

 

[Sideburns]

Taking stock pictures depends on your skill.

Usually requirements are low noise...so remember that...(low iso)

But in all honesty...it'll be hard for a beginner to shoot stock photos.

I've had a handful accepted by a stock agency (Should probably try uploading more often...lol)...but they have to be generic enough and you have to have model releases for recognizable persons...

Good luck.

 

[sabbath999]

I will also steer you to the "nifty fifty" that everybody talks about, simply because it is extremely sharp (at least my copy of it is) and dirt cheap ($100 or so).

 

[akazoly]

sabbath999 please explain me in more details, because I don't understand your message

 

[Mav]

He's talking about this lens: http://www.nikonimaging.com/global/products/lens/af/normal/af_50mmf_18d/index.htm

 

[akazoly]

Thanks, I want to buy this lens for manual focus only (Nikon D40X).

 

[Mav]

You're looking for the manual focus version of the lens? I think that's what you meant. You can do that, but you won't have any metering support so you'd have to use an external meter, or just guess. You're better off getting the AF version which will give you metering.

 

[akazoly]

Nikon AF-D 50mm f/1.8 not has metering?

 

[Drake]

I am also buying my first DSLR soon and wondering about close-up capabilities of the kit 18-55mm lens (because I'll be using them for a while untill I got some cash for a better piece of glass). Can anyone post a sample photo of how close I can actually get to the subject with it?

 

[Mav]

With a maximum magnification of 1:3.2, the 18-55 kit lens is actually the closest focusing lens nikon has aside from their dedicated 1:1 macro lenses. Most of their other zooms and other primes are in the 1:4 or higher range.

 

[Mav]

Nikon AF-D 50mm f/1.8 not has metering?

Yup, that has metering on the D40. The manual focus AI-s and AI versions will only meter on the D200 or higher cameras.