Michael Benveniste

As with used lenses, each person has to judge the savings versus the risk on their own subjective scale.  Remember, whenever anyone returns a lens for being soft, or backfocusing, or frontfocusing,...

When you say "close-ups," are you talking about close-up portraits or something else?  Because of perspective, it be very unusual for me to take a portrait from closer than 80-85cm, which is the...

I think that these two shots illustrate one thing very well.  For portraiture the choice of lenses of similar focal lengths is one of the least important aspects of the shot.

In my previous response, I neglected to mention that I've been playing with an Amscope 3.5-90x low power trinocular scope and a Nikon V1 with 1:1 relay lens.  Optical quality is "meh," but it's a...

Approximate percentages: Nikon 105mm VR -- 70% Tokina 90mm f/2.5 -- 17% Sigma 180mm f/3.5 -- 10% Pentax-FA 645 120mm f/4 -- 3% Nikon Macro 120mm f/5.6 Nikkor-AM(ED) -- 0% (I still haven't taken a...

Quite true; they are independent "features."  But in at least two cases, Nikon made significant design changes between the "D" and "non-D" versions of a lens.  The two I can think of are the 28mm...

Newfoundland is something like 108,000 square kilometers.  While it's highest point is only about 800 meters above sea level, that still offers sufficient diversity so you can find a use for pretty...

As others have stated, it is possible to reverse the 35mm f/1.8DX if you hold the aperture wide open.  You should set the 35mm to infinite focus as well.  Focus distance is critical -- you've only...

The original poster asked specifically about FX cameras.  While there are certainly people who shoot both formats, that wasn't at issue here.The long history of Nikon F-mount semi-compatibility...

None of which are FX.

Unless you remove some material from the mount, mounting this lens on a modern dSLR can be dangerous. Compared to a modern lens you'll see lower contrast and increased likelihood of flare due to...

If I remember correctly, the only "truly manual" lenses which will allow autoexposure with a D5200 are those with CPU chips.  It's possible to add a CPU chip to an older AI-S lens, but with an AI...

Get the lens repaired, keep or resell it as you wish, and accept that you've just paid tuition at the school of hard knocks. I'm typing this on a business-issued laptop, so I'm not even going to...

Always?  No.  Here's what he was using when he passed on:http://www.mountainlight.com/rowell/gr_camera_bag.html He did use the 75-150mm for "Rainbow Over the Potala Palace," IIRC.Thom's comments...

Since I haven't tried either lens I'd be guessing, but at the current street price I would take a hard look at the Sigma.

The Tamron weighs 550 grams, the Sigma 726 grams, and the Nikkor 790 grams.  So if weight is your concern the choice is more obvious, but each of them are lighter than your 24-70mm. Now for the bad...

Is there some reason the Sigma 105mm OS isn't on your list?  At the current street price of under $800, it's quite competitive. I purchased my 105mm VR well before the Tamron came out, and find...

They do make 95mm CPL and protectors in their Super DHG line.  (There's a less expensive offering on eBay, but not from a company I...

For your reading pleasure, I offer Patent Number 2682603: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2682603.pdf Quoting: "Among the principal objects of the present invention is the provision of an...

Or any other lens, for that matter.  At portrait distances and f/2.8, my copy of the 105mm VR is no sharper than my 85mm f/1.8D or 135mm f/2 DC.  It's roughly equal to my 180mm f/2.8D.  I've also...