Seen on the street in Kyiv.

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck, A/K/A Dolt-45,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset., A/K/A P01135809

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

DSLR Lens Update

(Earlier post and discussion)

So, for about the same price: New 55-200mm or used 70-300mm.

New lens with a warranty or more power?

Thoughts??

5 comments:

Stewart Dean said...

What's your current lens zoom range?. No point in getting a zoom that shares much of the same focal length territory.
Are either lens image stabilized? Big difference in what you get and can do with IS.
Any warranty with the used lens from dealer? Is the used lens Nikon, in which case it should last, if 2nd line maybe less so.

Comrade Misfit said...

Current lens is 18-55mm.

Both lenses are stabilized. 30-day return on the used lens.

Stewart Dean said...

What's your image sensor format? See here:
http://photoseek.com/2013/compare-digital-camera-sensor-sizes-full-frame-35mm-aps-c-micro-four-thirds-1-inch-type/

I have a full frame camera, which means it's as big as the old 35mm film, all the other formats are smaller. The smaller the format, the longer the effective focal length. That is, a telephoto focal length is longer, more tele, the smaller the sensor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/35_mm_equivalent_focal_length#/media/File:Full-frame_vs_APS-C.svg

Do you have specific imagery you want to do with the camera? You might want an extreme tele for nature photography, but for everything else a 300mm on full frame is probably sufficient. For people photography, you'll want a mild to moderate tele (85 to 200,300 in full frame)

Also what sort of light do you shoot in and do you use flash (me never)? Teles are pretty sharp and not awfully heavy at F4 or 5.6, but get an F2.8 tele and you're talking heavy big glass. I get by with 70-300 F4-5.6 Zoom
On a full frame,

Comrade Misfit said...

It has a APS-C DX size, or 23.1mm x 15.4mm

The lens would be for mostly outdoor work. Indoor use in reasonable light is not out of the question. I don't often use flash, but when I do, it's at no greater distances than across a room.

BadTux said...

I have a 70-300 lens on an APS-C camera. Having that kind of reach is great for outdoors shots such as, e.g., catching hummingbirds in flight. Note that these lenses generally have a pretty crappy aperture, meaning that in anything other than broad daylight the camera ends up pushing up the ISO setting or pushing up the shutter setting or both resulting in noise and/or blur (unless you have a tripod) but in broad daylight this is a wonderful lens for shooting wildlife at moderate distances. (To get wildlife at longer distances you'll need a big honkin' hunk of glass, a tripod, and weight lifting classes at the gym, but most of us aren't that dedicated to shooting wildlife anyhow).

So I say go 70-300. There's no substitute for reach.