New Nikons (but no new full frame, yet!) (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

Scott, considering how useful the LCD is on my XSi in bright sunlight (i.e. not very useful), when I fiddled with my shutter speed (keeping aperture wide open and settled on either ISO 100 or 200) to get my exposure to 0 on the internal camera exposure meter, my photos with the 70-200mm L came out well balanced, of course, those veering in the negative range were underexposed, and those in the positive range with blown out a bit, so it was such an easy lens to get used to in a hurry. I'm just happy the lens made its cross-country trip intact and functioning as promised (it was an Ebay purchase).

 

Carlo, I expect to get some use with the lens at Dragon*Con the following weekend, and based on their stage lighting setup from last year, I think I'll be able to get good exposures with the new lens (may even test the 3-4 stop IS advantage if the lighting is not so bright), as my cheapo 55-250mm lens did okay last year as well, I just wanted a little less hunt with the auto-focus, and better color/contrast quality, so I made the plunge with this, my first L lens purchase. I'll try to post some test photos from my Sunday shooting outing next week if I have time to sort through the photos, else it'll have to wait until my Dragon*Con photo onslaught in a few weeks' time.

 

Please let me not find another lens I want until next year or two...

 

(Hope this wasn't too much of a thread drift, but since it was referring to full-frame lens purchase, it was almost within the thread topic, but I could carve it out on its own thread if y'all like).

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Originally Posted by Carlo Medina

Despite not being in the market for FF, moving forward I'm also going to hedge my bets and buy EF only when possible. If they make a compelling EF-S lens I'll have to consider it (like my 17-55 f/2.8) but otherwise it's EF only so that when the inevitable switch to FF happens for me (years and years down the line) I won't have to go through the hassle of reselling a ton of gear.

I am doing the same thing. I do own the 17-55mm f/2.8 and 10-22mm, but it makes little sense to add another EF-S lens, IMO. The EF-S 55-250mm was not on the market when I needed a telephoto, so the 70-300mm IS was my first venture there (since replaced with the stellar 70-200mm f/4 IS). My next purchase will be something in the 400-500mm range, and all the options are compatible with FF.

 

The Sigma 30mm f/1.4 prime is intriguing, but it is a crop-only lens, too. I'd probably look at Canon's 28mm instead if I decide I want a "standard" focal length prime for a crop body.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Aye, only "cropped" lenses I own are a pair of widezooms (ie. the decent, old 18-70mm DX kit lens that came w/ my D70 and the 17-55mm f/2.8 DX that I use regularly now on my D200).

 

No idea if/when I will actually upgrade to FF -- like most everyone else here, affordability is key (among other factors).

 

Nikon's FF bodies do also offer a crop mode, but I'm not sure how useful that will be for me in actual practice -- only yields ~5MP from a 12MP FF sensor and would also mean corresponding smaller OVF view (at least at this point).

 

_Man_

 

[Carlo_M]

Patrick - Thanks for offering your insights. Your Dragon*Con use would probably mirror my own. I want to know how it will perform in "lower" light situations, not pure low-light like a darkened museum, but say for indoor lit venues such as what you're going to, or an indoor sports arena (I watch College Basketball). I know for true "stopping power" in low-light I need the f/2.8 but that's just not in the cards. But I'd like to know how the f/4 performs in those situations. Also my 7D allows me to shoot with confidence at higher ISOs because of how well it performs, and how well Lr3 NR works on my RAW images.

 

Scott - I'm in the same boat. I'd like a prime in the 20-30mm range with f/1.4 or f/1.8 and not have to break the bank. Canon's 24mm L lens is $1700. Other options are at f/2.8 which is what my 17-55 is, so no real benefit there. As I posted in another thread here in Photography, I'd really like a 24/28/30mm at f/1.8 that is around $600-700 (between the price of the f/2.8 and f/1.4L). They did it for the 50mm range (1.2=$1600, 1.4=$400, 1.8=$100) so I can't figure out why they haven't done it for the other focal ranges, especially since crop cameras are now the majority of their business.

 

I'm hoping that Nikon's new lens entries will light a fire under Canon's a$$ and make them release new lenses. I'm not against third-party lenses but in my admittedly limited experience the Canon lenses tend to perform better on the Canon bodies. I'd love to be proven wrong with some 3rd party recommendations in the focal range/aperture/price I'm looking for.

 

[Carlo_M]

Sam - your recommendation of the 85mm f/1.8 has me intrigued. I've done some research and it is a very well reviewed lens. I have been starting to get into portraits where I want to have both sharp and shallow DOF, and that lens on a crop camera seems to work well according to what I've read. And the price is really low (relatively) so I may spring for that one first and save up a bit longer for the 70-200 f/4 IS USM.

 

[Sam Posten]

Lets put it this way, in the canon world the three lenses I used most were the 28-75 Tamron, the 17-40L and the 85 1.8. If I were building a beginner kit again it would be hard to go wrong with those.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Carlo,

 

Go fer it. Most people seem to find plenty of use for the affordable 85mm f/1.8 on both Canon and Nikon bodies. In fact, I even bought the Nikon version as my first SLR lens before owning my first body (in anticipation of the D70 coming out).

 

And like Sam, it's easily one of my most used lenses -- and I rarely leave home w/out it.

 

_Man_

 

[Citizen87645]

Another plug for the 85mm 1.8. It's definitely one of favorites. I'd always heard about the popularity of the 135mm prime, but didn't really know it until I got one for myself (via the crop factor of course). I especially love it for concerts.

 

Like Man, I prefer to think of the APS-C as another format as opposed to a limited or stop-gap full frame, especially now that there's the 7D.

Really, you might as well consider FF to be a different format than APS crop although it's much closer than moving up to medium format or down to tiny compacts.

 

[Carlo_M]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I will likely pick one up in a few weeks. Once I do I'll update everyone here as to my experiences.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I'll throw in my recommendation for the 85mm f/1.8, too. While I do not use mine often, when I have the results have been great. I've used it at a couple of outdoor evening concerts, at our niece's wedding, and at the local OHL hockey games (although it's a little short for this application). It's a great lens for the price.

 

Carlo, if you plan on taking your 70-200mm f/4 to some college basketball games, make sure they will allow a dSLR with that big a lens at the venue. Many sporting events restrict the type of camera equipment and lenses you can bring. That big white lens may cause you some issues getting into the arena. The 85mm f/1.8 would be a good alternative there, too, depending on the restrictions. It will certainly draw less attention.

 

Here are a couple samples from my 85mm f/1.8:

 



 

Tyler Seguin, NHL 2010 2nd overall draft pick (of the Boston Bruins), scoring a goal in the Plymouth Whalers' annual "Pink Out" game for breast cancer:

 

[Sam Posten]

Sounds like the D7000 will be announced next tuesday night / wednesday morning at midnight and will be an absolute monster of a cam:

http://nikonrumors.com/2010/09/06/recap-3.aspx

 

If this comes out exactly as NR believes it will I think I will sell my D5000 and get the D7000 as my backup cam and use it also for DSLR video, until the D700 replacement launches hopefully early next year. And when it does I will keep the D300 and D7000 both as backups to it or sell off the D300 at that time.

 

Don't forget the rebates are still running:

http://nikonrumors.com/2010/09/06/the-latest-nikon-instant-rebates-us.aspx

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

I wonder what the "new battery system" entails? I was very impressed by the number of shots and standby time I can get with the D90.

 

[Sam Posten]

As am I with the D5000, I can't imagine it would be anything but an improvement tho....

 

[Sam Posten]

The D7000 goes live at midnight, I am buying one immediately and will sell off my D5000 assuming the 7000 lives up to the feature set in image quality.

 

[Sam Posten]

Boom



http://nikonrumors.com/2010/09/15/the-official-announcements.aspx


http://www.dpreview.com/news/1009/10091515nikond7000.asp


http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/15/nikon-d7000-brings-39-point-af-1080p-video-and-magnesium-alloy/


http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2010/09/nikon-d7000/


http://froknowsphoto.com/nikon-d7000-preview/


http://gizmodo.com/5638323/




Preorder is in!

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

Sigh...I wonder what I could get for my D90.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Looks like a nice camera.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

NIIIIiiiiiice... This actually looks more like a D90 replacement than just a modest advancement for the top of the entry level line w/ the 4-digit model numbers.

 

I guess this should not be surprising given Nikon's approach to managing their DSLR lineups ever since the D100 (and then the D70). And Nikon and Canon continue to go in opposite directions w/ how they manage their DSLR lineups -- this D7000 seems to hold its own next to Canon's new 60D...

 

Although I'm not actually in the market for a new body, this release kinda makes me wonder w/ a bit of anticipation on what Nikon will do for the D90/D300 replacement(s).

 

_Man_

 

[Carlo_M]

Love the full time focusing while in movie mode. Canon needs to learn from this.


The good news is that by the time I recover from my 7D purchase in time to buy a second body, the competition will have forced Canon to add this feature to the 7D replacement!

 

Seriously, the only qualms I have with the 7D are the full time focus while in movie mode, and I wish they allowed for up to 5 bracketed shots for HDR (currently limit to 3). If I could only have one I'd want the full time focus on movie mode. Put both of those in there and the 7D would be my ideal camera.

 

[Bob Graz]

Nikon seems to have positioned the D7000 very nicely in terms of function, robustness and price. They made it very hard to find much fault with it and nice enough to lure D90 owners into an upgrade. Impressive.