Redundant lens question...

LWW · Oct 17, 2006

FWIW the 50MM f1.8 Nikkor may be the sharpest lens Nikon ever made.

They are a tool which is very limited if compared with a good zoom...however at what it does well, it does extraordinarily well.

LWW

loves_guitar · Oct 18, 2006

I have a D70s, and the first lens I bought was the Nikon 50mm F1.8. It is an AMAZING lens! Great depth of field.
The one thing to consider, if you are going to be shooting moving kids, is you have to get used to having to move, physically. Since you can't zoom, you'll have to get used to moving forwards, backwards, etc. Not really a problem, but something to consider.
But don't worry about the price vs. quality. The Nikon 50mm (which I think is a little more money than the Nikkor) is a quality, quality lens.

/j

LWW · Oct 18, 2006

loves_guitar said:
I have a D70s, and the first lens I bought was the Nikon 50mm F1.8. It is an AMAZING lens! Great depth of field.
The one thing to consider, if you are going to be shooting moving kids, is you have to get used to having to move, physically. Since you can't zoom, you'll have to get used to moving forwards, backwards, etc. Not really a problem, but something to consider.
But don't worry about the price vs. quality. The Nikon 50mm (which I think is a little more money than the Nikkor) is a quality, quality lens.

/j

A Nikon lens is a Nikkor lens. Same thing. Actually I don't think I own a Nikon lens.

LWW

Glimmerman · Oct 18, 2006

The lenses dsp921 mentioned are what you want eventually, because they are fast, at f2.8. For outdoor work when it is cloudy you will want these for work you are getting paid for. They will also help when hand-holding at longer focal lengths.

For now, get the 50mm 1.8 for sure, then I would invest in a faster lense in the telephoto end, probably a zoom. It can really help to be further away from your subjects to capture true facial expressions and "moments" when they dont know they are being photographed.

In the telephot end, consider VR because that will enable you to hand-hold more shots, and you mentioned you like to do that. 70-200 2.8 VR would be awesome for you, but of course pricey. 80-200 non-VR is much cheaper.

fmw · Oct 18, 2006

LWW said:
A Nikon lens is a Nikkor lens. Same thing. Actually I don't think I own a Nikon lens.

LWW

There was a time when that wasn't the case. When Nikon first started going after the amateur market seriously in the 1970's they developed a line of lenses called Nikon instead of Nikkor. Optically, they are quite good but mechanically, they weren't made as well as the pro level Nikkors. Some of them became stiff focusers and had other mechanical issues. This was during the time they released the EM and other amateur camera bodies. The experiment didn't last long. They stopped making them after a couple of years and went back to naming all the lenses Nikkor.

Even today, the cheap Chinese made kit lenses are called Nikkor. But wasn't always that way.

Renair · Oct 22, 2006

I use the D70 which I am very happy with, I can strongly suggest though to invest in the pro lenses. I got a my D70 with a lens at the time Nikon did not supply with the camera, Dixons switched lenses I found out later!
Anyhow I bought a second had 12-24MM sigma wide angle and boy, amazing results! I have a sigma 70-300 but when I zoom in it goes kinda blurry, see the wolf shot on my site for example. www.renebruunphotography.com Now I figure invest in the Sigma 50-500mm pro lens which is about the same price as my D70 when I bought it! If the quality is like the 12-24mm I'm going to be in heaven!