A. MACRO Lens - to buy or not to buy
The macro - before I owned the DSLR - macro shots were my favourite too and I was running around to get the first lens as the macro. Long story shot for macros.
1. Do NOT buy the 1x, 2x,4x,10x filters - waste of money, does not give what you want.
2. After evaluating a lot of lenses, I have finally zeroed in on - NO LENS - yes, I simply use a lens reverse ring. If you have two lenses, you can mount one lens on another facing each other (of course you need manual ring for aperture)
3. Additionally, I have used a cheapo non-optic ET (extension tube) to reduce focal length - and presto - the macros come to life.
4. In yet another blog, I shall share more info on this.
B. What lens to buy - purely depends on what you want to do. Let me share with you, what I have gone through to collect my lenses.
1. Brand - I have come to realise, there is a reason why Nikon is expensive, or Tokina for that matter. You also have options of Sigma. They all are good.
2. I have tried to cover my spectrum in two areas... focal length and aperture. For average work - limit to 2.8-3.5 - but for some piece of art - work @ 1.4
Focal length
2.1. I need one for Wide angle - I settled on Tokina 11/16 - USD 799 - one of the most popular lenses, and fast going out of stock from all over - This is the only UW lens, that you can get @ 2.8 aperture. VERY USEFUL for night/evening photography - if you see, the last pic in the damdama lake series it was shot by this lens. Other choices for you - 10/20-3.5 Nikon, or Sigma (10-24 or something)
2.2 I need one long distance zoom lens - I zeroed in on 80/500 mm - Nikor lens - but when I handled it I realised, it is not something I can use for normal zooming, ONLY WILDLIFE. It is so heavy that its lens hydraulic moves on its own weight if you are not keeping the camera horizontal. If you want to do some serious Wildlife - with dual tripod etc... go for it. The alternative was to reduce my need upto 300 mm. I then stepped into 70-300mm/4.5 - about USD 499. This is an AVERAGE lens - nothing great to write home about - but gives sharp pictures.. again check the posts I have made, some of the output of this lens is superb.
2.4 The kit lens, that you will get will be cool to manage basics of day to day... will be the least used.... keep it for time being - after some time, you can choose to dispose of it, if you dont want it any more.
2.5 Prime Lens: None of the above lens, will give you apertures of 1.4/1.8 - the reason you need these fast lenses is not only for the low light photoshoot - but - the fact that @ 1.4, you get some fantastic portraits - people, pets, things - with some very smooth bokeh. Also, due to the fact, that it is 1.4 - even @ low light, you can get high shutter time, thus getting richer photos.
This is why you need prime lens.
I picked up, my most prized lens, (pre-used) Nikor 85mm/1.4 D. This was for Rs,. 20,000 or so... but the new ones cost around Rs. 65,000.00
This lens, has given me more shots than perhaps all of the above put together. It is fast, smooth, focuses in no time and makes you an instant master photographer.
For D7000 - which is NOT a full sensor body, 85 mm is equivalent to 125 mm or so... the problem with this is it is challenging to take portraits with this focal length. Which is why I intend to buy one more prime lens
a 35mm/1.4 or a 50mm/1.4 - not yet bought. I am inclined to pick up a 35mm/1.4 - but these things are BLOODY expensive - Rs. 65-70k - So hunting for pre-used one :)
Well that was my saga with lenses - you decide what you want to complete.
Tip: Please ALWAYS buy a filter (UV or anything) with EVERY Lens - it is the ONLY protection worth its money many times in gold.
Alok Sinha
The macro - before I owned the DSLR - macro shots were my favourite too and I was running around to get the first lens as the macro. Long story shot for macros.
1. Do NOT buy the 1x, 2x,4x,10x filters - waste of money, does not give what you want.
2. After evaluating a lot of lenses, I have finally zeroed in on - NO LENS - yes, I simply use a lens reverse ring. If you have two lenses, you can mount one lens on another facing each other (of course you need manual ring for aperture)
3. Additionally, I have used a cheapo non-optic ET (extension tube) to reduce focal length - and presto - the macros come to life.
4. In yet another blog, I shall share more info on this.
B. What lens to buy - purely depends on what you want to do. Let me share with you, what I have gone through to collect my lenses.
1. Brand - I have come to realise, there is a reason why Nikon is expensive, or Tokina for that matter. You also have options of Sigma. They all are good.
2. I have tried to cover my spectrum in two areas... focal length and aperture. For average work - limit to 2.8-3.5 - but for some piece of art - work @ 1.4
Focal length
2.1. I need one for Wide angle - I settled on Tokina 11/16 - USD 799 - one of the most popular lenses, and fast going out of stock from all over - This is the only UW lens, that you can get @ 2.8 aperture. VERY USEFUL for night/evening photography - if you see, the last pic in the damdama lake series it was shot by this lens. Other choices for you - 10/20-3.5 Nikon, or Sigma (10-24 or something)
2.2 I need one long distance zoom lens - I zeroed in on 80/500 mm - Nikor lens - but when I handled it I realised, it is not something I can use for normal zooming, ONLY WILDLIFE. It is so heavy that its lens hydraulic moves on its own weight if you are not keeping the camera horizontal. If you want to do some serious Wildlife - with dual tripod etc... go for it. The alternative was to reduce my need upto 300 mm. I then stepped into 70-300mm/4.5 - about USD 499. This is an AVERAGE lens - nothing great to write home about - but gives sharp pictures.. again check the posts I have made, some of the output of this lens is superb.
2.4 The kit lens, that you will get will be cool to manage basics of day to day... will be the least used.... keep it for time being - after some time, you can choose to dispose of it, if you dont want it any more.
2.5 Prime Lens: None of the above lens, will give you apertures of 1.4/1.8 - the reason you need these fast lenses is not only for the low light photoshoot - but - the fact that @ 1.4, you get some fantastic portraits - people, pets, things - with some very smooth bokeh. Also, due to the fact, that it is 1.4 - even @ low light, you can get high shutter time, thus getting richer photos.
This is why you need prime lens.
I picked up, my most prized lens, (pre-used) Nikor 85mm/1.4 D. This was for Rs,. 20,000 or so... but the new ones cost around Rs. 65,000.00
This lens, has given me more shots than perhaps all of the above put together. It is fast, smooth, focuses in no time and makes you an instant master photographer.
For D7000 - which is NOT a full sensor body, 85 mm is equivalent to 125 mm or so... the problem with this is it is challenging to take portraits with this focal length. Which is why I intend to buy one more prime lens
a 35mm/1.4 or a 50mm/1.4 - not yet bought. I am inclined to pick up a 35mm/1.4 - but these things are BLOODY expensive - Rs. 65-70k - So hunting for pre-used one :)
Well that was my saga with lenses - you decide what you want to complete.
Tip: Please ALWAYS buy a filter (UV or anything) with EVERY Lens - it is the ONLY protection worth its money many times in gold.
Alok Sinha
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