so I just want to talk about lenses, what you use for what. Which are your favorites? Which do you plan on getting?
I'll just start.
My favorite is the Nikon 50mm f1.8 I think it's just brilliant because it is really sharp, with such nice bokeh and makes everything just look like art somehow. it is great at street photography. I just put it on and spend a day in the city.
Also it is really affordable <200$.
I think it's a great lens for a beginner because it just makes taking pictures so fun.
I plan on getting a Sigma 70-200 f2.8 for christmas (probably used) I really want it because it delivers great bokeh, is perfect for portraits and can also be used for wildlife photography, since I am travelling to South Africa in January.
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These are the lenses I use for wide field astrophotography.
From left to right:
Tokina 16-28mm f2.8 - Decent performing wide angle with fairly large aperture. Great for single frames and timelapses.
Sigma 24 Art - My most used lens. I use it for most of my panoramas. The f1.4 allows for shutter speeds as low as 5 seconds and still provide a decent exposure for milky way shots at ISO3200.
Sigma 35 Art - Same use as the 24 Art. Optically, the 35 Art is closer to perfect than the 24. But I still prefer the 24mm focal length.
Nikon 58mm f1.4G - I love my 58 as it excels at portraiture and street photography. Using it for astrophotography, you can achieve a "medium format" look. And even though it's a 58mm lens, the 1.4 aperture allows for decent milky way exposures at ~5 seconds.
SIGMA ART SPOTTED!!
SIGMA ART SPOTTED!!
SIGMA ART SPOTTED!!
Just received my 50mm f1.4, bloody beautiful lenses, gives my Carl Ziess 50mm f1.4 a run for its money!
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I'm "invested" in the canon ecosystem, but here's my frugal advice: For most purposes buying old stuff is a great idea. For the same price as a single modern lens you can get four or five older lenses used on eBay or locally. The caveats of course are that most FD era lenses don't have Autofocus, and could have been poorly maintained. However, the glass is usually the same (or sometimes higher quality) as anything you buy new.
Don't buy old zoom lenses though, most highly mechanical components don't age well. Primes though are a great investment.
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yeah, they are bloody fantastic. the 35 art in particular is wonderful. ive used it for astrophotography and its the sharpest and best coma control out of all the lenses i have.
i would love to own the 50 and the 20 art lenses as well but cant justify getting so many primes. :)
you can always justify getting primes! The sharpness. The simplicity. You just have to zoom with your feet.
I would love to have a sigma art, but that's just to expensive for me right now. Still need to get some other gear and plan on getting a compact camera as well to always have a camera with me.
I just ordered a lensbaby spark. It seems like a fun lens to experiment with and it's only 80$ so what the heck.
And i got a Sigma 70-300 F4-5.6 on ebay for 60€. I wanted to get a higher zoom lens for my trip to South Africa in January so I can get some pictures of animals, but normally I don't use such high zoom so I didn't want to invest a lot of money.
