Lenses - What do you have? What do you want?

[Carolc]

Since Fioontje's beautiful photos of Disneyland Paris got me wanting a wide angle lens, I thought I'd start a thread for lenses.

• What lenses do you have? How do you like them?

• Are there any that you are thinking about buying?

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I have two kit lenses that came with my Nikon D50. They are good, but far from excellent quality.

I purchased a Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor lens back in the Fall. It handles low light much better than the kit lenses. I like it a lot because of the speed, but I probably should have gotten a 35mm because you need to stand away from the subject quite a bit. So eventually, I will probably try to get the 35mm.

Here are a few sample photos I took aboard Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas (using this lens with a Nikon D50 set on aperture priority)

This is totally blurry, but I love the unedited saturation of color.


These were from the ice show, handheld, no flash




Misc




this was of the giant screen while Rihanna was performing. While not high quality, I kind of like the look of this


This was at the Atlantis hotel in the Bahamas... example of how 50mm isn't wide enough



What I want...

I want to get a wide angle... seriously considering Tokina 11-16mm, Sigma 10-24mm, and Nikon 10-24mm

[Fioontje]

Cool thread Carol

I own a Sony A350 with:

Kitlens 18-70 mm 3,5-5,6. I don't use this lens very much, but can still be handy sometimes...


London Eye...

The second lens I bought is a 70-300 mm 3,5-5,6. It's a telelens and also has a macro function...





My third lens is a 10-20 mm 4-5,6 ultra wide-angle lens. This one is my absolute favorite lens and no matter how big the Disney castle is, I can get it on picture



And my last lens is a 18-200 mm 3,5-5,6 allround lens. I bought this lens specially for the parks, so I don't have to change my lenses a lot. With this lens I can take photo's of everything that is nearby and further away without changing lenses. This lens is the reason why I don't use my 18-70 lens a lot. I can make the same kind of pictures with it.

[Carolc]

Fiona - I just found a great UWA lens thread on DIS: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2264410 Gdad's photos are my favorite.

I am thoroughly blaming you and your wonderful photos for making me want to get a wide angle lens. I ordered the Tokina 11-16mm the other day and am anxiously waiting for its arrival so I can try it out (though with a bit of buyer's remorse as it is more than I've ever spent on a lens). I just hope I learn how to use it before my trip next month. Any tips are greatly appreciated!

[Fioontje]

Oh WOW Carol, those pictures are fantastic!
I want to make those too! Especially the ones with all the fireworks
And when nothing goes wrong, I'll get the chance this year (that's right, Fioontje is coming to the States in september! )

Did you receive your lens Carol? I've read good reviews about the Tokina lenses. I'm anxious to see some of your pictures with your new lens.

I'd like to have a 50 mm 1,8 lens someday, for all the indoor (less light) pictures and portrets. I hope to have it before our Florida vacation.

I'm going to look some more to all those great pictures, I really love them!

[Fioontje]

A few weeks ago I finally bought my 50 mm 1.8 lens and I am SO very happy with it! You can take the most beautiful portrets and macro pictures with it!


Kitten Max (10 weeks old)

[TanyaH666]

oooh, i have been thinking about a 50mm lens and now seeing that kitty picture makes me want it even more!!

and thanks to that castle picture, i NEED a wide angle lens!!

[inkspots]

Tanya, the 50mm is the absolute best in terms of bang for your buck. It's one of my favorite lenses. I too though am having lens envy and want that 10-20. It's actually been on my wish list for awhile. We also have an 18-250 that is a fantastic all around lens, especially on sunny days and a 100mm macro which is great, but can be heavy and cumbersome for any all-day shoots.

[WenRob]

I use a Nikon D90:
I have the 18-105 3.5-5.6 that came with it. Don't use it much but I keep it around for back up.

Tamron 28-70 F/2.8 and Tamron 17-50 F/2.8 by far my two favorite lenses though the poor 28-70 has been a little neglected since I got the 17-50.

Sigma 30 F/1.4 (the dirty thirty)-made taking pics on Pirates a piece of cake this last week. I'm not keen on it for portraits but low light pics it rocks. People look at me like I'm nuts snapping away with no flash, lol.

I used the Tammy 17-50 and the Sigma 30 for the entire trip. I'd brought along the 18-105 for the extra zoom but never even took it out of the bag-I've just learned to zoom with my feet I guess.

On my wish list the Tokina 11-16 F/2.8 and Tamron 70-200 F/2.8(would love to have the Nikkor but um, yeah, can't justify it). That would totally round out my kit.

I learned this week that trying to take artistic shots is near impossible with kids and the beginning of summer at Disneyland (though it wasn't too crowded). I need a day in off season to go by myself and just play.

I will post some pics when I get some edited. (I took close to 900!)

[TanyaH666]

ooh i really want to see your Pirates pictures! i am dying to get something that will let me take pictures in the indoor rides like that! will the 50mm get good indoor ride pictures like that as well?

[WenRob]

I know a lot of people get them with the 50 f/1.8. The biggest issue would be having enough room to get the whole shot. I read a ton of threads on dark ride shots and what I ended up doing was setting my camera on shutter priority 80-100, auto ISO and -.07 EV. (also made sure to turn off my focus assist) I've only previewed them but I like what I see so far. I missed the Pirate skeleton that is at the ships wheel though. My camera wouldn't grab focus and when he was lit up again we were too far past him. I was in the back of the boat which was perfect. I'll try and get some up tomorrow. I also did Monsters and It's a Small World. Oh I did Astro Blasters too, had to since DS had to "defeat Zerg" a bazillion times, lol! Wanted to do the Haunted Mansion but it just didn't happen. (stupid fireworks clogging the place up, lol)

eta:all those threads made it seem so hard to get and I found it relatively easy.