Need some lens advice

[WilliamCA]

I've decided to start a business using my Niko D40. But i only have a 50mm lens. I am planning on buying a 200 to 300mm lens for a good price. But i recently saw something on amazon that was much cheaper but ultimately much more powerful. My first assignment is going to be a wedding and this is the lens i saw offered on amazon for $112.00

Amazon.com: 500mm ROKINON Telephoto Lens for NIKON D40, D80, D90,D200: Electronics


should i buy this instead? or just stick with the 200-300mm lens for about 50 dollars more?

 

[snowbear]

 

[480sparky]

.........should i buy this instead? or just stick with the 200-300mm lens for about 50 dollars more?

Truthfully: Neither.

If you're going to truly be in business, you need to pony up some serious scratch and buy far better gear. $112 for a 500mm is $111 too much.

Notice they don't list the maximum aperture. There's a reason. They don't want you to know it's f/8. And f/8 lenses are a beast to focus, even with good cameras behind them. Save your money and invest it in either better gear or classes.

No offense intended here..... just letting you know the truth before you have a bridezilla do it instead of me.

 

[KmH]

Yep, it's f/8 - f/32 and your Niko D40 can't AF with apertures smaller than f/5.6.
But that's a moot point, because that lens is manual focus only, which has a lot to do with why it's only $112.
Your Niko D40 does not have much in the way of manual focusing aids.

That lens also has a closest focus distance of 33 feet.

Starting a business, D40, first assignment a weddings, 17 post since joining TPF Dec 2008, last post was over a year ago - http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/general-gallery/297097-my-cousin-s-wedding.html - sounds like a troll.

 

[snowbear]

Starting a business, D40, first assignment a weddings, 17 post since joining TPF Dec 2008, last post was over a year ago - http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/general-gallery/297097-my-cousin-s-wedding.html - sounds like a troll.

Certainly hasn't learned much in five years.

 

[goodguy]

.........should i buy this instead? or just stick with the 200-300mm lens for about 50 dollars more?

Truthfully: Neither.

If you're going to truly be in business, you need to pony up some serious scratch and buy far better gear. $112 for a 500mm is $111 too much.

Notice they don't list the maximum aperture. There's a reason. They don't want you to know it's f/8. And f/8 lenses are a beast to focus, even with good cameras behind them. Save your money and invest it in either better gear or classes.

No offense intended here..... just letting you know the truth before you have a bridezilla do it instead of me.

You need much more then an ancient DSLR and a lens or two to take the responsibility of shooting professionally.
To shoot professionally you need a lot of experience behind you and serious pro equipment.
You are looking at thousands of dollars investment in equipment and as for the knowledge well think well if you have that and you are ready to take this responsibility on you.
People aspire to get married once, the memories of their wedding is something that cant be replaced and no mistake can be made or else you are going to damage this one special day in their lives.
Personally with my equipment and knowledge I wouldn't even dream taking such a job, I don't feel ready and I don't think my equipment is near good enough.

 

[WilliamCA]

Thanks for the help guys. Especially with the 700mm lens. I was actually about to hit the ol' purchase button. Most of my business will probably come from family at the moment, so I don't have to worry too much. But i think i am skilled enough to pull this off if i wish to. As far as buying a lens goes I may just stick with the 200 to 300mm lens so i can at least have some variety.

 

[480sparky]

Thanks for the help guys. Especially with the 700mm lens. I was actually about to hit the ol' purchase button. Most of my business will probably come from family at the moment, so I don't have to worry too much. But i think i am skilled enough to pull this off if i wish to. As far as buying a lens goes I may just stick with the 200 to 300mm lens so i can at least have some variety.

But is 'family' going to tell you the truth you need to hear, or sugar-coat their true feelings?

 

[Derrel]

I actually have owned one of those $100, 500mm f/8 long-focus lenses. These have been around for decades. They're not even true telephoto lenses, but simply long focus or long focal length lenses. A true "telephoto" is shorter in physical length than its effective focal length. A long focus lens is...not...a telephoto can be made more-compact, and decades ago, that was a big,big selling feature. Today, telephoto is normal, and this old-school method of making a simple, long focal length, slow lens, like a 400mm f/6.3, or a 500mm f/8, has fallen out of favor. These modern versions are all made using modern, coated lenses, but they use the same, decades-old "pre-set diaphragm" system. This type of lens dates back to the early 1970's as a mass-market, low-cost, affordable long lens. Optically, the quality of the images is actually pretty good. The issues though are that they are slow in aperture, f/8, and minimum focusing distance is longish, like 35 feet, and they are tricky to focus accurately without some good practice. However...optically, these lenses are not "awful", they are not "poor", but are instead what I would rate as "pretty good", with good color, decent sharpness, and good center-to-edge image quality. 4-element design, long skinny tube, lightweight, decades-old, proven optical design, been made for years. In BRIGHT light, these are fine.

I last shot the one I own back in September of 2004. On an old 6-MP Nikon D70. Here's a handful of web reductions made with the Quantaray version of that lens.Sample Photos:Quantaray 500mm f/8 lens Photo Gallery by Derrel at pbase.com

 

[WilliamCA]

I actually have owned one of those $100, 500mm f/8 long-focus lenses. These have been around for decades. They're not even true telephoto lenses, but simply long focus or long focal length lenses. A true "telephoto" is shorter in physical length than its effective focal length. A long focus lens is...not...a telephoto can be made more-compact, and decades ago, that was a big,big selling feature. Today, telephoto is normal, and this old-school method of making a simple, long focal length, slow lens, like a 400mm f/6.3, or a 500mm f/8, has fallen out of favor. These modern versions are all made using modern, coated lenses, but they use the same, decades-old "pre-set diaphragm" system. This type of lens dates back to the early 1970's as a mass-market, low-cost, affordable long lens. Optically, the quality of the images is actually pretty good. The issues though are that they are slow in aperture, f/8, and minimum focusing distance is longish, like 35 feet, and they are tricky to focus accurately without some good practice. However...optically, these lenses are not "awful", they are not "poor", but are instead what I would rate as "pretty good", with good color, decent sharpness, and good center-to-edge image quality. 4-element design, long skinny tube, lightweight, decades-old, proven optical design, been made for years. In BRIGHT light, these are fine.

I last shot the one I own back in September of 2004. On an old 6-MP Nikon D70. Here's a handful of web reductions made with the Quantaray version of that lens.Sample Photos:Quantaray 500mm f/8 lens Photo Gallery by Derrel at pbase.com

Good photos man. And thanks for giving me the skinny on that lens. I decided to go with a sigma lens. I double checked it to see if it had the motors i needed, and it does. I really want to start this up even if its just family that pays me and the occasional friend. I have to try to make something of myself and i have decided to not let any one discourage me.

 

[robbins.photo]

I've decided to start a business using my Niko D40. But i only have a 50mm lens. I am planning on buying a 200 to 300mm lens for a good price. But i recently saw something on amazon that was much cheaper but ultimately much more powerful. My first assignment is going to be a wedding and this is the lens i saw offered on amazon for $112.00

Amazon.com: 500mm ROKINON Telephoto Lens for NIKON D40, D80, D90,D200: Electronics


should i buy this instead? or just stick with the 200-300mm lens for about 50 dollars more?

Well I guess my first question would be what sort of photos are you planning on taking with this and in what type of lighting conditions? Is your subject going to be stationery or in motion, and is your shooting location fairly static or are you going to have to be carrying the lens around for quite a while on foot?

 

[CaptainNapalm]

The sample photos taken with this lens provided on the link to Amazon site are garbage in my opinion.