 Tara R. Swartzendruber |
Lens Advice Needed! I am thinking strongly of purchasing a Nikon D700 and need some lens recommendations. Here's what I do... -Studio photography: The room is 17x12' so I need a wide-angle to get multiple people in the frame or take full-length shots, but I also zoom quite a bit and would rather not change lenses in the studio. -Outdoor photography: kids, families, etc. Again, I need wide-angle for shots of families but need to zoom in quickly as well. -Large family: Sometimes I must take shots of families with 20-30 people. Would not really need a zoom feature. -Personal: volleyball and soccer games of my kids. Action/low light/zoom. I know there are prime and zoom lenses, and I know that not all zoom lenses are as sharp as prime, but I need versatility and sharpness. Do I need 1, 2 or 3 different lenses in these scenarios? I want to get the best deal for my money, of course, but I want to "buy right" the first time, if possible. Oh, I currently have a Nikon D80 with a 18-135 lens. It works pretty well for these situations but in my opinion, it is not very sharp, especially in group situations. Thank you!!
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Jon Close |
Use your D80 and the 18-135 zoom, and note the focal lengths most often used in your studio setting. Then multiply those focal lengths by 1.5x and that'll give you the focal lengths of the lens(es) to get for the D700. Example: For multiple people and full-length shots, if you use the D80 and 18-135 at about the 24mm zoom setting, then you'd want a 35mm prime for that purpose on the D700.
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Peter K. Burian |
I own a D700. This camera employs a full-frame sensor. So, while you CAN use it with the 18-135mm DX zoom, the camera will crop the image. Hence, the images will be only 5 megapixels in size and not 12 megapixels, because it only uses the middle of the sensor. With any DX lens. It's silly to use DX lenses on the D700; even the D40 has more resolution (6MP) with DX lenses than either the D700 or D3.
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Peter K. Burian |
P.S. Yes, you will certainly need more than one lens for all those different scenarios, Tara. >Except for some old Tamron 28-300mm lenses, you cannot find an all-purpose lens for a digital SLR with the huge full-frame sensor that's used by the D700. For telephoto, I own the AF-S 70-300mm G VR lens. Amazingly good in spite of the moderate price. For a shorter lens, I own the 24-85mm f/2.8-4. Very good, too, although autofocus is not super fast; it's fine. That lens provides an adequately wide angle of view on the D700, for me. If I needed an ultra-wide lens for the D700, I would consider the Nikon 12-24mm (superb) OR if on a tight budget, the Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DG Asherical HSM Cheers!
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