Cruise ship lens. Need some advice

oldhippy · Feb 9, 2013

Wife and i cruise every year. I am considering selling my 18-55 and the 55-200 as a pair for 200.00. Both of which i do not use. Then purchasing a used 85-1.8.
I have an 35-1.8 and a 70-300. I have a couple things to work out.
1, I take a lot of inside pics. moderate light. group at dinner. small groups I think the 85-1.8 would work great.
2. Should I get the dx version. I plan to get into full frame next year. If I get an fx lens am i better later on. and how much hassel is it to manual focus
the fx on a d5100. I had a good eye for that 40 years ago with my minolta slr.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Ed

Mully · Feb 9, 2013

Hippy ...I use old primes all the time on a D300 and D5ooo (i remove the meter coupling ) The trick is that I have a diopter viewfinder attachment so I can see without glasses and it works great

tirediron · Feb 9, 2013

The 85 may be a tad long on a DX sensor for indoor group shots. The 50 1.8 might be a better choice for that particular application. I wasn't even aware there was a DX 85mm, but regardless, I would suggest going for FF lenses, especially if you're planning to upgrade soon.

Manual focus can be a little tricky in low-light situations as DSLRs lack the split-prism focusing screen of their film-based ancestors, but it's not difficult, and with a little practice you shouldn't have any trouble.

oldhippy · Feb 9, 2013

I,ll try to borrow are buy somthing cheep to try focus with. I just want to have the best lens for our cruise in
april. If its to problematic I will settle for what I get from suggestions and my own research..
any ideas appreciated

bobandcar · Feb 9, 2013

Which cruise are you going on?

PropilotBW · Feb 9, 2013

I think you will be really happy with the Nikkor 10-24 f3.5-4.5. I have the Nikkor 35mm and the 10-24mm. I think with your 35mm 1.8, you'll have the indoors/low light taken care of. Buying another fixed focus prime might not be worth the money. The 10-24 will give you a lot different Variety in your compositions. You will not regret getting a super wide angle for the vacation.

dbvirago · Feb 9, 2013

On my crop sensor, I usually took the 50 1.8 or the 17-50 2.8 to the dining room. Next cruise will be first with the full frame, so I'll probably stick with the 50 for food and groups in the dining room. On the last several cruises, I have been lucky enough to get tables by the window, which not only gave me window light, but a low white ceiling to bounce flash.

Which cruise in April? We are also cruising in april.

bobandcar · Feb 9, 2013

Since there's a few cruises in April

I am going out of Baltimore on April 13

oldhippy · Feb 9, 2013

bobandcar said:
Which cruise are you going on?

Carnival breeze 8 day to Aruba
april 27 from Miami
Sounds like some great advice coming my way.. thanks again Ed

oldhippy · Feb 9, 2013

dbvirago said:
On my crop sensor, I usually took the 50 1.8 or the 17-50 2.8 to the dining room. Next cruise will be first with the full frame, so I'll probably stick with the 50 for food and groups in the dining room. On the last several cruises, I have been lucky enough to get tables by the window, which not only gave me window light, but a low white ceiling to bounce flash.

Which cruise in April? We are also cruising in april.

We are cruising with a lot of georgia folks..from Jasper Atlanta, and
Robins

dbvirago · Feb 10, 2013

Never sailed out of Baltimore. Love Aruba.

Sailing out of Barcelona in April and Newark in September.

Barcelona and Newark - almost the same place

oldhippy · Feb 10, 2013

Barcelona, I have cruise envy.
Always wanted to do a med cruise.
Want to see Florance , well its number one on my bucket list .
Love the Medici's Renaissance art.

dbvirago · Feb 10, 2013

Yeah, Florence is on the itin and we are going to the Medici. Only been there once and didn't have time for museums. Hope the weather is as nice as last time.