Aperture for a dSLR lense

[gendarmee]

Can one get a F 1.0 lense?

 

[Alex_B]

f/1 will give you an extremely shallow depth of field, keep that in mind.

you find affordable 50mm f/1.4 or even f/1.2 (but here you already talk of 4 digits in USD or EUR)

For telephoto lenses or even zooms. f/4 is usually affordable ... f/2.8 gets expensive ... below that, you will hardly find any.

 

[Sideburns]

Your best bet would be the 50mm 1.4 There used to be a 1.0, but it's discontinued...good luck finding one...especially for your budget.

50 1.4 or 85 1.8 or something would be good...

Or if you want super cheap...the 50mm 1.8. It's great. I love mine.

 

[den9]

why get an expensive body? id go for a D80 and buy the best lens u can afford. you can always upgrade the body and the glass you always keep. if you are shooting plays id suggest maybe the 80-200 f/2.8 if the lighting is bright enough.

290 bucks for the 50mm f/1.4

 

[Josh66]

I'f it isnt expensive nothing like it, how much would a f 1.4 cost around?
I'm still a student so can invest so much at the moment.
How much would super cheap be?

I shoot Canon, but the Nikon lenses should be about the same price...
The 50 1.4 is around $280 (I think...been a while since I bought mine), the 50 1.8 is $70-80. I can't remember how much the 85 1.8 is, but it's within your budget (I'm thinking it's around $300-350).

They're all good lenses. I've never used the 50 1.8, but everyone seems to love it.

Check B&H, they usually have pretty good prices. There's a link to them at the top right of this page.

 

[table1349]

I wanna get a dSLR this year may be in September or august .
I'm looking at Canon 400d or nikon D300.
I have my eyes on the nikon.
All lenses i have come across start at 2.8 aperture size.
Can i get a F 1.0 lense? like 18-55 F=1 or any lense with F=1 even if its without zoom, is there any lense such as that?
This, because I love to shoot indoors without the flash in incandescent light or tubelight or plays on stage where i cant use a flash.

P.S.-no the high end lenses, may be the upper ceiling would be 3/4 the cost of the 400d here...say about 600$

I know a guy that has a used Canon 50mm f1.0 for sale in excellent condition. The going price is $3,600.00. Your only $3,000.00 short.

Seriously, when you start looking at lenses, the bigger the aperture, the higher the cost of the lens, be it a fixed focal length or zoom. Bigger apertures mean bigger problems to overcome in design and construction. They usually require better glass elements as well. Plus, as others have pointed out, the Depth of Field becomes razor thin. Very thin DOF and low light conditions present their own set of problems when it comes to focusing.

That is what high ISO is for. To allow you to use fast glass. F1.4, f1.8 f2.0, f2.8 range in low light. A zoom lens with an aperture greater than f2.8 is possible, but not practical. The lens would be larger and heavier than it's f2.8 cousin and the cost would be astronomical.

Another option, depending on what you shoot in low light is some sort of Image Shake reduction. Keep in mind however that all IS will do for you is to help compensate for unsteady hands when shooting at slow shutter speeds. It does nothing in low light to freeze action.

Since you have a little time before you go buying a DSLR, I'm going to suggest that you pick up a copy of Bryan Petersons "Understand Exposure." It is an excellent book for a beginning photographer that will give you a good grounding to then go look at bodies and lenses. It deals with aperture, shutter speeds, light and how they all come together.

 

[JIP]

Really, as has already been said if you need to save money save it on the body not the lens. Why bother with a great camera like the D300 if you are going to put a lesser lens on it?.

 

[Jeff Canes]

does Canon still make the 50mm f1 lens?

 

[table1349]

does Canon still make the 50mm f1 lens?

Nope. Was replaced by the 50mm f1.2L. A better lens all the way around than the f1.0L. Now it's a collectors item.

 

[usayit]

photovillage has the original Canon 50mm f/1 for sale at $5400.

In almost every aspect except the max aperture the f/1.4 version either excelled or was at par with that lens. It is more of a collectors item now a days.

 

[JIP]

Get the D300 coz it has live view and also that i will not upgrade the cam for atleast 5 years..its not a p&s tht i can change from time to time can convince my folks to fund that.
I can upgrade the glass after i get the cam though.

That really is backwards thinking. The one thing I can guarantee you you will want to upgrade in the future is your body. If you get good glass now it will last you through whatever body you get.

 

[armymom67]

i have the d80 and just got the50mm 1.8 its a great lense i love it love it love it

 

[Joves]

Well the 50mm is a great lense and, I love mine but, how close will you be to the stage? You might try a Nikor 35-70mm f/2.8 and, I see at B&H they are like $460, plus there are other lenses in that price range you could consider there. You will have to bump the ISO some but, the D300 has some great high ISO performance so it shouldnt be a problem. The other reason for the zoom is the versatility it will give you. Plus some of those should allow you to even get a 50 f/1.8 as well.

 

[Trenton Romulox]

Well, he's getting these lenses with low-light shooting in mind, right? So, the D300 has a lot better low-light, high-ISO performance than does the D80. Trust me, I know. I own them both, it's a big difference.

 

[table1349]

Get the D300 coz it has live view and also that i will not upgrade the cam for atleast 5 years..its not a p&s tht i can change from time to time can convince my folks to fund that.
I can upgrade the glass after i get the cam though.

I am not trying to talk you out of the D300 or into any other body, however your stated reason for live view is not a practical one for a DSLR. It is a bigger camera than a P&S and has different properties in handling. To get an idea of what I am talking about go find yourself a nice big 2 pound book like a large dictionary. Hold it out in front of you as far as is comfortable and allows you to focus on a 2" square or small printing on the back of the book. That would be the LCD. Now line up the top of the book with something like a windowsill and observe how much movement there is with the edge of the book in that stance. That will translate to camera shake in your images. That is what you will get if you shoot in that position.

A view finder is very easy to get used to. In the D300, if memory serves correctly, you get about 95 to 97% view of what your sensor will record. Everything in the viewfinder will be in the picture. Your shooting data will be in the view finder. Your auto focus acknowledgment light will be in the view finder. The controls will be at your fingertips and you can make adjustments without ever looking away.

Live view is really only usefull when the camera is on a steady base such as a tripod. Macro shooters like it because they can get close to the ground, close to their subject and focus. Because of the very shallow DOF most macro is focused manually.

Maybe a D300 owner can chime in give a better explaination of Nikon live view since I'm a Canon user.