Handle

Nikon D70 f/4.5 70mm 1/20 sec

There are a couple of times of day during spring when the light in our front room is perfect. One is in the morning as the light comes in from the east and the other is about 20 minutes or so before twilight. Some of my favorite shots occur during these times.

I love the shallow depth of field when using the zoom as a fake macro. Since I’m new to the Nikon SLR family, does anybody have favorite lenses? The lens that ships is very sweet, and there have only been a few times when it hasn’t been enough, but I really dig on macro shots (at least for the past few years) and want to look into some expansion options. I know the Canon lens line pretty well, but not so much the Nikon. Feel free to comment or email.

Also, over the weekend I made some slight adjustments to the recently published sidebar links (only on individual entry pages). It might be a bit much, but I’m trying to make CSS my bitch.

  • http://www.joh3n.com joh3n

    My absolute favorite Nikkor lens is the 85mm f1.8 portrait lens. I dont do portrait photography, so that gives you an idea of how robust a lens it is. I have an old one, so it wont give all the goodness to the d70, but there’s a chance the 85mm f1.4 (DROOOOL!) does. I also love my 24mm f1.4.

  • http://www.joh3n.com joh3n

    Addendum (sorry for the double post). In general, I had always shied away from multi focal length lenses because of the higher f stops and field aberrations. I’m lifting that embrago now after seeing what Nikkor and others have done in recent years (a great example is the stock lens that comes with the d70).

    Ok, ok, I wrote allthat just to say ‘field aberrations’. Sue me.

  • http://www.pinchworm.com Dan Bradley

    Can you explain what you mean by “using the zoom as a fake macro”? I’m a photography newbie looking to learn. I know what macro is, but beyond that I’m not sure what the technique is that you’re describing.

  • http://www.iprettymuchhateeverything.blogspot.com Torrie

    I too, am down with macro.
    There was a guy on the subway yesterday, and I was drooling on his D70. I asked him if he loved it, and he said no. He said he’s had it for about a year, wasn’t thrilled with the applications (whatever that means), and that he prefers Cannons.
    How do you feel about it now that you guys have had it for a good amount of time? Do you think you made the right choice?
    I’ve never seen a bad picture taken with the D70 (I’ve checked out a bunch on Flickr).
    Anythings better that my six year old Leica.

    I’d love to hear your opinion.

  • http://www.elliottrounsavall.com elliott

    Be careful with that 85mm 1.8– I used to have it when I was shooting film (excellent portrait lens), but when I converted to a D100, the results were unacceptable. I think some lenses just don’t like the digital format– the colors were washed out, poor contrast, and soft. I ditched it and picked up the 28-105mm f/3.5–4.5D– http://​www​.nikonusa​.com/​t​e​m​p​l​a​t​e​.​p​h​p​?​c​a​t​=​1​&​a​m​p​;​g​r​p​=​5​&​a​m​p​;​p​r​o​d​u​c​t​N​r=1971
    It’s an excellent zoom lens for the $, good colors, and nice and sharp. Not as wide or fast as I’d like, but a good compromise. I actually like shooting at ISO 1200 or so– It produces noise that looks a lot like film grain.
    Also, the lens has a macro mode, and you can close-focus down to about an inch or so. Not much you can’t do with this lens.

  • Ari

    Hey John — maybe you can help me out. I’m a long time Canon user but I just stepped up to the new Digital Rebel XT and I’m with you on the zoom-as-macro thing. I’m wondering if you had any favorite bargain type lenses on the Canon side you’d want to tell me about.

  • Kendra

    Hey Ari,

    I was just looking at the Canon Digital Rebel XT the other day, and havn’t got my grubby little hands on hit yet. How do you find it so far? The place I was shopping at has it as well as the old Canon Digital Rebel for two thirds the price. So far, can you see any reason to spend the extra $$?

  • http://www.jigglebox.co.uk/beth Beth

    I love this shot, dj. We have a D70 too. Mostly the fault of you and your lovely wife and me nagging my husband. Thank you.

    We have a Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm which I love to pretend is a ‘macro’. I’ve got some pretty decent shots that way. But right now my baby is the 50mm f/1.8. Swing low, sweet chariot. That lens lets so much light through, and the DoF is sweeeet. Wanted the f/1.4 but we also wanted to eat. :)

  • http://www.ovoworks.com andy

    I second Beth on the 50mm f/1.8. Smoking fast and very little distortion compared to zooms. Very good for architectural shots. Only $100, to boot.

  • Ari

    Kendra,
    Yes yes yes! Spend the extra money and get the XT. The main difference is that Canon put the DIGIC II processor in it, which is the guts of the D20 and the other higher end cameras. Startup is 0.2 seconds instead of 2 seconds so you can effectively leave it on all the time (goes to sleep after 1 minute) and it’s ready to shoot as soon as you pick it up. 8 Megapixel vs. 6, fast USB transfers — if you want to talk deals, email me at iowagary (at) yahoo [dot] com and I can point you to some really good deals.

  • http://www.blurbomat.com dj blurb

    Canon/Nikon debates tend to be just like Mac/PC ones. Or Ford/Chevy/Dodge debates. Since we never use the bundled software, that isn’t something that we care about.

    When we purchased the D70, it was a little more money than the original Canon Digital Rebel, but we felt it was worth it. I don’t know what our choice would be if we did the same comparison using the Digital Rebel XT.

    The most important thing is to go to a shop that will let you shoot with each camera you are interested in. Try to take shots in the store that will be the kind of shots you would take if you owned the camera. Porn excluded, unless you’re into seeing how far the store will go and you are into that sort of thing.

    People have the weirdest reasons for loving and hating their tools.

  • http://www.understood.com John Battistini

    The day after I got my D70, my wife and I picked up the 70–300 Nikkor Zoom. Didn’t spring for the ED version as it was $200 more. I know it is worth it, but budget it budget.

    I’ve found that covering 18-300mm focal lengths, really fits most of our shooting situations.

    I’ve only just gotten back into photography after a 10 year hiatus. But previously The lens I used regularly on my film camra were:

    35–70 with macro
    80-200mm zoom
    400mm f2.8
    2.8mm 2.8
    50mm 1.4

    These days I will probably skip the 50mm and the 28mm and just grab a superwide zoom from Nikon.

    It doesn’t matter whether the lenes are for Canon or Nikon, you just need the right focal length for the right image.

    You know.

  • http://vtol.blogspot.com PTC

    I used to be wary of non-brand name glass, but after trying Tamron’s Di lenses, I’m never going back. The performance has been equal, if not superior to similar Nikkor lenses and the cost is at least 50% less. I have both the 17–35/2.8 and the 28–75/2.8 and have been very, very happy.

  • http://www.understood.com JohnB

    Are the Tamron lenses fully supported by the cpu in the digital Nikons? Including Apeture Priority mode?

    If they are, I might really look into that.

    I had a Tamron years ago for a film camera that was outstanding.

  • http://vtol.blogspot.com PTC

    JohnB, yes and yes. As I said before, I’ve always been a little leery of non-brand name glass, but after doing a lot of research, particularly at http://​www​.steves​-digicams​.com, I went the inexpensive route. The motors are a little noisy, but other than that, I have no complaints.

  • Larry Miller

    I third what Beth and Andy siad. That Nikkor 50MM F1.8 AIS is a sweeeeeet lens. A real light gatherer! The contrast, resolution and sharpness are tops. I’ve used the F1.2 but it’s not near as sharp as this baby!