D70 Lens options...

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Randy Howard - 22 Dec 2004 03:53 GMT

Okay, I am going to finally go with a decent DSLR. I have been using an F5
for the last 5 years or so, with an N80 as a pathetic backup body (AF sucks
hard on it after getting used to the F5).

BTW, I am not dumping the 35mm equipment, at least not yet, so I am not
really wanting to trade lenses for something else and leave a whole on
the film side for now.

I am curious about what lens is "missing" for a complete package from what
I have currently. I know that a new wide-angle is proabably needed, as I
currently have a 17-35 f/2.8D ED IF AF-S, which is beautiful with 35mm,
but perhaps not as useful as it once was when going Digital.

Along with that, I have the 24-120 el cheapo plastic (the one before the
VR lens came out) which is mostly for bumming around with the N80 when
something light is in order, which might be okay for casual shooting with
the D70.

I also have the 50mm f/1.4D AF, 80-200 f/2.8D ED IF AF-S, 85mm f/1.4D IF AF,
and a 60mm f/2.8D AF Micro, along TC-14E and TC-20E teleconverters.

Is there anything weird about the Micro on a digital camera body?

I see that there is a new "digital only" (??) lens being sold with the D70
many places, an 18-70mm "DX". I am thinking that this doesn't help me on
the wide-angle end, as the 17-35 is probably a better lens, or am I missing
something? Apart from that, I don't see a need for it.

The 12-24 sf/4G DX AF-S sounds promising, but f/4 seems slow, is this the
"replacement" for a 17-35 on a digital body, albeit slower?

Apart from a really long lens, I wonder what is really needed with the
above already onhand. I suspect more wide-angles will be in the offing
soon, especially if the D70 takes off in sales.

Comments?

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Gisle Hannemyr - 22 Dec 2004 04:50 GMT

> I see that there is a new "digital only" (??)

"Digital only" (Nikon label these DX) means that the lens produces a
smaller image circle adapted to the smaller (compared to a 35mm film
frame) image sensor in the D70. It will mount on your F5, but you'll
get serious vignetting at 18 mm (I understand that its actually quite
usable on a full frame camera at its tele end).

> lens being sold with the D70 many places, an 18-70mm "DX". I am
> thinking that this doesn't help me on the wide-angle end, as the
> 17-35 is probably a better lens, or am I missing something?

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- gisle hannemyr [ gisle{at}hannemyr.no - http://folk.uio.no/gisle/ ]
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Jeremy Nixon - 22 Dec 2004 06:09 GMT

> I see that there is a new "digital only" (??) lens being sold with the D70
> many places, an 18-70mm "DX". I am thinking that this doesn't help me on
> the wide-angle end, as the 17-35 is probably a better lens, or am I missing
> something? Apart from that, I don't see a need for it.

You're not missing anything, and with the 17-35 you won't need its wide end.
It's a nice lens (a great lens for the price), but not in the caliber of the
17-35. It is a good "general purpose" lens, though, if you're looking for
such a thing. It should easily be better than your 24-120, for example.

> The 12-24 sf/4G DX AF-S sounds promising, but f/4 seems slow, is this the
> "replacement" for a 17-35 on a digital body, albeit slower?

Yeah, if you want to go really wide, that would be the one to choose.
On the wide end it'll be like 18mm on a 35mm camera. With a wide angle,
is f/4 really a problem? I'd mainly be using that for things where I'd
probably also be using a tripod and want to stop down anyway. I guess
you should think about how often you really use that 17-35 at f/2.8,
but if the answer is "all the damn time," you're in trouble, because
you won't be getting that wide *and* that fast, on the digital, at least
not yet.

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Randy Howard - 22 Dec 2004 06:24 GMT

> > The 12-24 sf/4G DX AF-S sounds promising, but f/4 seems slow, is this the
> > "replacement" for a 17-35 on a digital body, albeit slower?
>
> Yeah, if you want to go really wide, that would be the one to choose.
> On the wide end it'll be like 18mm on a 35mm camera. With a wide angle,
> is f/4 really a problem?

Probably not...

> I'd mainly be using that for things where I'd probably also be using a
> tripod and want to stop down anyway.

That is the most common usage, sure, but after reading John Shaw writing
about wide-angle closeups with shallow DOF, I sort of got hooked on that
when I am doing outdoor photography. An example, a landscape shot, but
focusing up very close on a group of flowers, then blurring out the
wide, distant background on purpose. Sort of the opposite of a conventional
landscape photo.

It's not very common, but I found that it provided useful results in some
cases for me.

> I guess you should think about how often you really use that 17-35 at
> f/2.8, but if the answer is "all the damn time," you're in trouble, because
> you won't be getting that wide *and* that fast, on the digital, at least
> not yet.

Well, it's not an emergency, and the 17-35 I have now will probably serve
for this purpose if needed anyway until something faster comes along.

Thanks for the feedback.

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leo - 23 Dec 2004 20:27 GMT

> Yeah, if you want to go really wide, that would be the one to choose.
> On the wide end it'll be like 18mm on a 35mm camera. With a wide angle,
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> you won't be getting that wide *and* that fast, on the digital, at least
> not yet.

What are you talking about? You can get full frame 35mm cameras from
Canon and Kodak!

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Jeremy Nixon - 23 Dec 2004 20:55 GMT

> What are you talking about? You can get full frame 35mm cameras from
> Canon and Kodak!

Which has what, exactly, to do with the D70?

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C J Campbell - 25 Dec 2004 14:49 GMT

> What are you talking about? You can get full frame 35mm cameras from
> Canon and Kodak!

So what? He does not want to replace all his lenses, and there are
advantages to the smaller chip, such as weight and cost. If he was
interested in spending three times as much for a body that weighs twice as
much just so he can buy all new lenses, he would have said so.

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C J Campbell - 25 Dec 2004 14:44 GMT

> I am curious about what lens is "missing" for a complete package from what
> I have currently. I know that a new wide-angle is proabably needed, as I
> currently have a 17-35 f/2.8D ED IF AF-S, which is beautiful with 35mm,
> but perhaps not as useful as it once was when going Digital.

This is a nice lens, but the D70 crops it. If you want equivalent wide angle
you will need about a 12 mm lens. The 10.5mm DX fish-eye is, by all
accounts, a great lens which can also be used as an ordinary wide angle.
Nikon Capture can automatically adjust pictures taken with this lens to look
like wide angle instead of fish-eye.

> I also have the 50mm f/1.4D AF, 80-200 f/2.8D ED IF AF-S, 85mm f/1.4D IF AF,
> and a 60mm f/2.8D AF Micro, along TC-14E and TC-20E teleconverters.
>
> Is there anything weird about the Micro on a digital camera body?

I use the Micro a lot as a normal lens, not just close-ups. Performance on
the D70 is excellent. The lens is sharp as a pin. The D70 is very strong as
a macro camera, allowing all kinds of manipulation that is simply impossible
with film. Consider using the Micro to take many photos of the same object,
each with a different focus point. You can then layer these photos, erasing
the fuzzy areas on each layer to reveal the sharp layer below it, giving you
incredible depth of field. In fact, you could use this technique to create
pictures with infinite depth of field, even with a wide aperture.

The kit lens is nice, but it really duplicates what you already have. I
would get the body only.

> The 12-24 sf/4G DX AF-S sounds promising, but f/4 seems slow, is this the
> "replacement" for a 17-35 on a digital body, albeit slower?

Basically, yes.

> Apart from a really long lens, I wonder what is really needed with the
> above already onhand. I suspect more wide-angles will be in the offing
> soon, especially if the D70 takes off in sales.

The D70 is currently one of the best selling SLRs on the market. I would not
wait for a DX lens, though, if Nikon has one that will work already. There
does not seem to be any particular advantage to the DX series as of yet. For
a really long lens the 80-400mm VR works very well, although it is slow.
OTOH, how often are you going to need the extra speed on such a long lens?
It is not like you will be using it indoors... :-)

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Tom - 04 Jan 2005 15:57 GMT

I bought a D70 and found it worked with all my old lenses. I especially
liked the 75-300mm f4.5-5.6 as I then got a 450mm lens. I did find that
the 75-300mm was quite adequate but I also used my ghastly too heavy
200mm f/4 ED/IF Nikon lens for serious closeups of dragonflies. There
is a real difference between the sharpness when you start to shut down
beyond f/8. I doubt most people who see the pictures would notice this
differnce but it does exist.

I accidentally fell into a mountain stream and lost the D70 and the
older 35-135mm Nikon lens attached at the time. My personal items
policy completly covered the loss and since there was no longer a
35-135mm lens, I got a deal on the D70 with the Nikon 28-200mm "G"
lens. This lens will NOT work with any lens whose f stop can't be
changed by the dial on the camera body. It is light, sharp, and
extremely useful. Until I buy the 80-400mm VR, I am stuck with my old
75-300mm. Or am I? Does anybody know with certainty if I could use the
TC-14E with the D70 and 75-300mm lens? This would save me a lot of
money. I could then buy an SB-600 and the TC-14E for less than the
80-400mm VR. The VR feature will be useless to me as these days I try
never to shoot a picture without a tripod and seldom take a photo with
the lens aperture any wider than f/11.

Tom

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Ed Ruf - 05 Jan 2005 10:36 GMT

>I bought a D70 and found it worked with all my old lenses. I especially
>liked the 75-300mm f4.5-5.6 as I then got a 450mm lens. I did find that
>the 75-300mm was quite adequate but I also used my ghastly too heavy

snip

>? Does anybody know with certainty if I could use the
>TC-14E with the D70 and 75-300mm lens? This would save me a lot of
>money. I could then buy an SB-600 and the TC-14E for less than the
>80-400mm VR. The VR feature will be useless to me as these days I try
>never to shoot a picture without a tripod and seldom take a photo with
>the lens aperture any wider than f/11.

For AF you need a combined f# of 5.6 and lower. The TC-14 causes the loss
of 1-stop.
________________________________________________________
Ed Ruf Lifetime AMA# 344007 (Usenet@EdwardG.Ruf.com)
See images taken with my CP-990/5700 & D70 at
http://EdwardGRuf.com

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