lens question

Andrea K · Feb 20, 2005

im in the market for a new lens however im not sure whether i should get a lens with a lot of zoom like a 70-300mm im looking at or just go for a better smaller zoom. right now im using the kit lens to a nikon n55 on my d70 and im not very happy with the quality. the 70-300mm is rather cheap ($100) and im afraid that ill get the same quality problems that i have with my current lens. would you recommend i go for the 70-300mm or go for a high quality 24-120mm (i think it was)?

has anyone heard any good/bad things about this lens?http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=277219&is=USA

thanks

Kodan_Txips · Feb 20, 2005

Always go for the higher quality shorter zoom.

The 75-300 will be just as "shaky" even at 70 mil, because the mass will be the same as at 300 mil.

And 24 mm w/a is a splendid thing to have - I have a somewhat faulty 24-70 that is really good for grabbing shots, and at 24-120 you also have an excellent length for portrait shots.

And if you buy a decent 2 x converter, or even 3x, you will have a good long zoom, that maybe well be lighter and of better quality than the 75-300.

KevinR · Feb 20, 2005

That Nikon lens looks nice. What kind of 75-300 are you looking at? The 75-300 lens have been around awhile. Thats a pretty big focal length with a digital.

Andrea K · Feb 20, 2005

the 70-300mm i had previously been looking at is this one http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=207359&is=USAi know there is a huge price difference in the two i asked about

thanks for the advice, i am leaning more towards the high quality lens

Jon K · Feb 24, 2005

andreag5 said:
the 70-300mm i had previously been looking at is this one http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=207359&is=USAi know there is a huge price difference in the two i asked about

thanks for the advice, i am leaning more towards the high quality lens

Andrea, I say go for that on VR lens we were talking about. I really don't think you'd be happy with the 75-300mm. Reason being, they tend to look "OK" until over 200mm zoom, then quality looks iffy. I love my 70-200mm L lens.... get the VR!

Digital Matt · Feb 24, 2005

I say buy a few primes. Buy a 50mm for sure. What kind of stuff are you shooting? Do you need a telephoto lens, or do you want more wide angle for landscape photography? Are you shooting portraits? You decide first what focal length you need for your subject, and then decide which lens within that focal length.

Jon K · Feb 25, 2005

Digital Matt said:
I say buy a few primes. Buy a 50mm for sure. What kind of stuff are you shooting? Do you need a telephoto lens, or do you want more wide angle for landscape photography? Are you shooting portraits? You decide first what focal length you need for your subject, and then decide which lens within that focal length.

Hehe, she's my sister. I already tried to talk to her into primes. She says she wants a wide zoom. Unfortunately for her, fast wide zooms are viel gelt! I saw a nice 85mm F/1.8. She has access to a 50mm F/1.8 already. She's really trying to rid of her N55 kit lens (28 - 80 F/3.3-5.6). That lens REALLY lacks sharpness and contrast. I think she wants to start shooting some indoor sports and what not in which case a fast zoom is very important but out of budget. to get her a 70-200 F/2.8VR is out of the question. I have the 70-200mm F/4.0L USM from Canon and I can just (albeit barely) get away with that for basketball. My next lens will be a 100mm F/2.0 USM. Andrea, I really think you should look into a fast prime. I know you like the zoom feature but unless you can afford a 70-200mm F/2.8 VR ($1600), you're going to have a hard time finding one that is diverse enough for indoor/outdoor because Nikon doesn't offer an F/4.0 constant aperature! Argh! The 24-120 VR is nice, but the thing is, VR is good for hand-holding slow shutter speeds (like 1/30, 1/15) without shake blur, but that's not your problem. You want shorter shutter speeds, because you want to freeze action!

Andrea K · Feb 25, 2005

true...but i also don't want to constantly be changing lenses say from a 50mm to an 85mm :er:

Digital Matt · Feb 25, 2005

You don't have to constantly change lenses. Move your feet

By the time you have changed your lens, you could have moved forward or backwords and gotten the shot.

Jon K · Feb 25, 2005

Digital Matt said:
You don't have to constantly change lenses. Move your feet

By the time you have changed your lens, you could have moved forward or backwords and gotten the shot.

That's exactly what i told her!