AF-s Nikkor 18-135

[kdabbagh]

I know I post and ask a lot of newbie questions...and here is another....patience...

Everytime I try to set my lens at a high aperture the highest it goes is F/3.5 in Aperture Priority mode. Is this the highest it can go? I was hoping I could set it to somewhere around 1.5 or 2...

 

[photogincollege]

what lens are you using? if its the kit lens then yes thats the highest it goes.

 

[kdabbagh]

what lens are you using? if its the kit lens then yes thats the highest it goes.

I am using the AF-S Nikkor 18-135 mm (1:3.5 - 5.6G) <--- whatever that means lol

 

[Mike_E]

Yep, that's it.

The f~whatever (1:whatever) is the widest aperture that the lens can achieve.

What do you want to achieve with a wider aperture?

 

[kdabbagh]

Yep, that's it.

The f~whatever (1:whatever) is the widest aperture that the lens can achieve.

What do you want to achieve with a wider aperture?

I just wanted to have the flexibility to do that because personally I love taking night-time pictures and taking pictures indoors such as in clubs, parties, events, and so on. I also want to try experimenting with cars for example coming down a hill and capture the trail of its headlights along the road...I assume I need a wide aperture for that since it will be at night also.

 

[Mav]

Light trails of cars at night you actually want a long exposure, so a large aperture lens isn't needed. You'll definitely need a good tripod though, along with some sort of remote release to trigger the camera. I use the ML-L3 wireless which is like $15 USD. For night time photos of things that don't move (scenic) you'll either need VR, a large aperture lens, a tripod, or you can forget all that and just use some of the good ol fashioned handholding techniques.

I pulled this off at 1/8s and iso1600 with my 18-55 at f/3.5, and that's a 2.5EV shot which is pretty dark. I also had absolutely nothing to brace myself against and was free standing with some gusts of wind. With a wall or something to brace against or even sitting I could have pulled off a 1/4s (iso800) or even a 1/2s (iso400) shot which would have been cleaner. The limit for any sort of handholding is usually about 1s, unless you're passed out and drunk like a friend of mine who once rested his camera on his chest pointing up and did a great 15s exposure of the stars. The best thing to do is to just take a few photos and then pick the sharpest and most blur free on. For that Louvre shot in Paris, I took a burst of three photos, and luckily one of them was sharp and blur free, even at that slow shutter speed.

For indoor club/event people photos where it's dark, you can't use the long exposure since people will never hold still that long. Either you need a really fast lens, or just use a flash. f/2.8 is still way too slow. A 50mm f/1.4 for around $200 used or $300 new might be a good investment. You'll probably need to practice a lot because there's very little depth of field at f/1.4 so you'll need to focus very precisely, usually on people's eyes. 50mm also might not work very well for group shots. There's the 28mm f/1.4, but that puppy is over a grand used and not even made anymore. It's considered a collector's item now.

 

[photogincollege]

I just want to say i feel really really stupid because apparently after i clicked on the thread i completely forgot what it was cause it said the lens he used lol.

 

[Mike_E]

Get yourself an f2.8 28mm Nikon AF and knock yourself out.

 

[kdabbagh]

Get yourself an f2.8 28mm Nikon AF and knock yourself out.

I remember a post sabbath posted about the limitations of the D40x in terms of lenses...is this one of the lenses that won't allow me to auto focus? Also, can you tell me what is special about a 28mm as opposed to a 55mm?