Home printing vs walmart and new lens for d40

fiveoboy01 · Jan 10, 2009

You need to be more specific on what exactly you want to use the lens for.

50mm AF-S f/1.4 is an awesome lens, I've used one and I am currently saving for one, BUT I also like to take indoor shots and some of them are action where I can get close to the subject. However the lighting is not good at all... The large aperture will allow me to get pictures without the flash, allowing me to use burst mode and up my shutter speed to freeze motion. Also, I will not have to crank ISO to the sky which will result in more noise.

Now of course it would be somewhat a waste of money if you're shooting outdoors mostly, as outdoor light will not require as large an aperture for the same results. Also if you want to zoom then you're out of luck with that lens.

Intended usage has a lot to do with what lens you want to use/buy.

My suggestion is to play with the camera more in manual mode and better learn the relationship between aperture, iso, shutter speed and focal length. THEN you will have a much easier time understanding what lens you want to get for your intended subject matter.

hyg71886 · Jan 10, 2009

i said in i will be doing outdoor pics alot as well as indoor. I take alot of pics of people and nature during day time. When doing pics inside not needing flash would be a plus as i have the base flash

Mgw189 · Jan 10, 2009

Yeah its a good lens they also have a new g version that is supposed to be really good. I am not a Nikon user so I have no real hands on with the lenses.

EhJsNe · Jan 11, 2009

I got very used to my manual focus lenses (Its almost 2nd nature to know what to focus to) and the great part is that there cheap. Also I dont beleive they can stop working ever...while some autofocus lens moters die....
You may want to think about manual focus lenses, you can get a lot more for less money and of equal (and sometimes better) quality.

I send my film to CVS if my uncle is really busy or if he isnt at the studio.otherwise, I wait untill the weekends to give it to my uncle, where I can give him my notebook (I record in as much detail as possible about my pictures + the f/stop and shutter speed so he can decide what the best thing to do with them is. (i help him out at his photo studio. I get paid in his old equipment and a roll a film a week + free devolping. (thats how I got my Nikon FM10 and 2 lenses (the one lens has a chipped peice (not on the glass itself), from when he didnt have it mounted right

and the other was replaced with an autofocus lens with his new F6) and free devoloping

But as for digital, I print at the store, mainly because I dont need to make 2 or 3 prints to get a non smudgy picture (i use a All in one dell printer, with a memory card slot...its not the greatest photo printer) and its cheaper. At home it costs around 25-40 cents a print.(on everage) At CVS they charge 19 cents, printing at stores [usually] saves you money. so thats What i decide to do...

hyg71886 · Jan 11, 2009

u are right about them being cheaper the 50mm f1.4 d is like 150 vs the 500 for the autofucos. Do you always buy manual focus lens? I guess that might actually be better because ive had situations where my auto focus 18-55mm did not want to focus and i had to go manual. Does anyone have that lens, the 50mm f1.4 d i mean? How is it compared to the g? If i went for that it would save me a tone of money and I could buy more equipment.

fiveoboy01 · Jan 11, 2009

The AF-S 1.4 focuses VERY fast.

My opinion is that if you have something like a D40/60 which doesn't have it's own autofocus motor, then the extra $ for the AF-S version of the 50mm f/1.4 is worth it. The lens has a very shallow depth of field and if you're doing a moving subject like a kid or dog, you're going to want the autofocus to get a crisp shot.

Also it's more like $440 rather than $500 if you look a little bit. That's what my local camera store had it for. Dunno about the online shops though.

hyg71886 · Jan 11, 2009

fiveoboy01 said:
The AF-S 1.4 focuses VERY fast.

My opinion is that if you have something like a D40/60 which doesn't have it's own autofocus motor, then the extra $ for the AF-S version of the 50mm f/1.4 is worth it. The lens has a very shallow depth of field and if you're doing a moving subject like a kid or dog, you're going to want the autofocus to get a crisp shot.

Also it's more like $440 rather than $500 if you look a little bit. That's what my local camera store had it for. Dunno about the online shops though.

ok point noted, how does the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 hold up? or does nikon have something similar?

ShutterSpeed · Jan 12, 2009

i did a print at Wal-Mart one time of professional photos emailed to me by a friend of mine who is a pro - the quality there is awful. it doesn't come close to replicating what is seen on screen. i don't usually print, so I haven't had a need to really shop around...