S2 and Soligor Lenses

Hi there,
I'm on the way to buy an S2 and I need some Lenses.

My favorites are at the moment:

• Soligor AF 19-35mm / F3.5-4.5 (ca.280$)
• Soligor AF 28-105mm / F2.8-3.8 (ca. 265$)
• Soligor AF 100-400mm / F4.5-6.7 (ca. 380$)

I havn't any special motive, I shooting everything: StillLive, Studio, Landscape, etc.. until know I worked with the Canon Powershot Pro 90 and the 7-70mm (37-370mm) AF F2.8-3.5 IS.. I used the whole range and wished to more in both directions..

What do you think about the lenses?? Any Experiance?? God or bad??

Thanks for help and advice

Hi

sad to let you down.. but the only decent lens among thses ones is the 19-35 (actually it is a 20-35 as I read from an evaluation). The other ones are cheap in almost every sense.

The combination high-end S2 with a cheap lens will let you down.

Purchase one good lens now and save to the other ones is my advice.

The Nikkor 18-35/3.5-4.5 is a very good lens to a pretty good price.

Regards
Johan
http://www.motljus.com

Christoph Schleiss said:

Hi there,
I'm on the way to buy an S2 and I need some Lenses.

My favorites are at the moment:

• Soligor AF 19-35mm / F3.5-4.5 (ca.280$)
• Soligor AF 28-105mm / F2.8-3.8 (ca. 265$)
• Soligor AF 100-400mm / F4.5-6.7 (ca. 380$)

I havn't any special motive, I shooting everything: StillLive,
Studio, Landscape, etc.. until know I worked with the Canon
Powershot Pro 90 and the 7-70mm (37-370mm) AF F2.8-3.5 IS.. I used
the whole range and wished to more in both directions..

What do you think about the lenses?? Any Experiance?? God or bad??

Thanks for help and advice

Click to expand...

--
Regards
Johan
http://www.motljus.com

Christoph Schleiss said:

Hi there,
I'm on the way to buy an S2 and I need some Lenses.

My favorites are at the moment:

• Soligor AF 19-35mm / F3.5-4.5 (ca.280$)
• Soligor AF 28-105mm / F2.8-3.8 (ca. 265$)
• Soligor AF 100-400mm / F4.5-6.7 (ca. 380$)

I havn't any special motive, I shooting everything: StillLive,
Studio, Landscape, etc.. until know I worked with the Canon
Powershot Pro 90 and the 7-70mm (37-370mm) AF F2.8-3.5 IS.. I used
the whole range and wished to more in both directions..

What do you think about the lenses?? Any Experiance?? God or bad??

Thanks for help and advice

Click to expand...

Don't do this to yourself, there are better choices out there if even used.
The camera is only as good as the glass you put on it.

That said, one lens which breaks the rules is the Nikkor 28-105 3.5-4.5 ( $359 and it has a $40 rebate going right now from nikon to lower that price some more). It's a great lens for the dough and interfaces perfectly with the S2. Not the most advanced lens made, but it's got great color , sharpness and contrast for the money, and it even has a 1:2 macro mode as well.

Consider the Sigma 15-30 for a wide lens, or as another poster suggested perhaps the 18-35 Nikkor. Both are good, the Nikkor more saturated, the Sigma maybe a bit sharper edge to edge in my experience with my camera anyway. Both are in the mid $500 range but Nikon is running a $50 rebate right now on the Nikkor.

Can't help on the long lens right now, except I would seriously consider the Nikon 80-200 2.8 personally, but that's for entirely personal reasons ( need the 2.8 straight through for a specific application in that length).
David

Don't buy junk lenses!

If you need to save cash (and who doesn't?) start with something used, and start with a smaller collection of better lenses.

If I were you, I'd get the Nikon 28-105 or the Tamron 24-135 and skip the other two lenses entirely for the time being. Then save up for the Nikon 18-35 or 12-24, or the Sigma 15-30.

One long lens that's pretty good for bargain prices is the older Nikon 70-210 f/4, I got mine used for $175 - it's definitely not as good as the 80-200 2.8, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper, and pretty darn sharp.

--
Charles Bandes
http://www.bandesphoto.com

hmmm... it's looks like soligor is quite bad... but what wrong with them??? why are there bad???

and how does it looks with other brands???

Tamron AF 24-70mm / F3.3-5.6 ASL ?
Tamron AF 70-300mm / F4.0-5.6 LD Macro ?

Sigma AF 24-70mm / F3.5-5.6 ASP UC ?
Sigma AF 70-300mm / F4.0-5.6 DL ?

Tokina AF 24-200mm/ F3.5 SD-AS APO ?

Thank you for any comments - I'm new in the SRL business

Christoph, the lens makes the image. The body only records it. It doesn't matter how good a recorder (body) you have if the image (lens) is bad. If the image is of top importance, then the lens is where to put your money. I know lenses aren't as fun/sexy as bodies. But, they are more important. For our S2, the safest bet is to stay with fast Nikon glass. Read here (use the search) and you will find a few exceptions.

Christoph Schleiss said:

hmmm... it's looks like soligor is quite bad... but what wrong with
them??? why are there bad???

and how does it looks with other brands???

Tamron AF 24-70mm / F3.3-5.6 ASL ?
Tamron AF 70-300mm / F4.0-5.6 LD Macro ?

Sigma AF 24-70mm / F3.5-5.6 ASP UC ?
Sigma AF 70-300mm / F4.0-5.6 DL ?

Tokina AF 24-200mm/ F3.5 SD-AS APO ?

Thank you for any comments - I'm new in the SRL business

Click to expand...

--
Tom Ferguson
http://www.ferguson-photo-design.com

Look on photozone.de and photodo.com for lens reviews.

It just doesn't make sense to buy a high-resolution camera and put a low-resolution lens on it - you're spending $2400 on a camera, be willing to pay an extra hundred or two to get a lens that will make decent pictures for you

Some rules of thumb -

1. By and large, Nikon lenses will be better than third party lenses

2. You get what you pay for, a $100 lens is not going to be comparable to a $500 lens (usually)

3. Primes will be sharper than zooms, the greater the zoom range, the lower the image quality. (Except for the really expensive zooms, and even then.)

4. There's a wealth of knowledge on this and other forums, don't try to reinvent the wheel.

The only lens you mentioned that people seem to like much is the Tokina 24-200. But it really isn't going to give you the same quality as the Nikon 28-105 or the Tamron 24-135.

I have used that Sigma 70-300, it is terrible

My advice -

1. Read some reviews

2. Buy just one decent lens to start, rather than building a collection of junky ones

3. Check with your local adult-ed center and take some non-digital photo classes, seems like you might benefit from some technical training.

--
Charles Bandes
http://www.bandesphoto.com

Christoph Schleiss said:

hmmm... it's looks like soligor is quite bad... but what wrong with
them??? why are there bad???

Click to expand...

Christoph,

Please take the expert advice here and dont buy cheap lenses. I learned the hard way with a sigma lens. Now I use the sigma lens as a paper weight. First you must determine what you will be shooting as to select the proper focal lenths. You may not even need zooms. Primes are sharper.
Here are some lenses which offer very good to exellent quality:

Nikon 50mm1.8 this is only a $100 lens but dont be fooled it is an exellent lens.
Nikon 18-35
Tokina atx pro II 28-70 2.6-2.8 very sharp lens at f4 and above
Nikon 28-105 great value and good range
Nikon 35-70 2.8 great quality lens for the price

Nikon 80-200 2.8 this is my favorite lens. I cant say enough good about this one.

You wont be disapointed with any of these but I sugest you save up for better lenses you wont regret it.

Best of luck to you,
George

I disagree with your statement that it's safest to stick with fast Nikon glass. The 28-105 is a great lens and it's 3.5 - 4.5. The 80-400 VR does a spectacular job with the S2 and is super slow at 4.5 - 5.6.

I understand what you're getting at, but your statement could mislead some people.

Teski

Tom Ferguson said:

Christoph Schleiss said:

hmmm... it's looks like soligor is quite bad... but what wrong with
them??? why are there bad???

and how does it looks with other brands???

Tamron AF 24-70mm / F3.3-5.6 ASL ?
Tamron AF 70-300mm / F4.0-5.6 LD Macro ?

Sigma AF 24-70mm / F3.5-5.6 ASP UC ?
Sigma AF 70-300mm / F4.0-5.6 DL ?

Tokina AF 24-200mm/ F3.5 SD-AS APO ?

Thank you for any comments - I'm new in the SRL business

Click to expand...

--
Tom Ferguson
http://www.ferguson-photo-design.com

Click to expand...

Good point, I should have expanded on my meaning of "safest". If you typically shoot in bright like (outdoors in daylight) than the better quality F/4 to F/5.6 zooms may be a perfect match for you and save you $$ and weight. If you shoot indoor sports or late/early in the day or other "avaliable darkness" situations you may find yourself often shooting wide open (not a good resolution situation) and having autofocus issues.

Indeed the 28-105 F/3.5-4.5 is on my wishlist.

Teski said:

I understand what you're getting at, but your statement could
mislead some people.

Teski

Tom Ferguson said:

Christoph Schleiss said:

hmmm... it's looks like soligor is quite bad... but what wrong with
them??? why are there bad???

and how does it looks with other brands???

Tamron AF 24-70mm / F3.3-5.6 ASL ?
Tamron AF 70-300mm / F4.0-5.6 LD Macro ?

Sigma AF 24-70mm / F3.5-5.6 ASP UC ?
Sigma AF 70-300mm / F4.0-5.6 DL ?

Tokina AF 24-200mm/ F3.5 SD-AS APO ?

Thank you for any comments - I'm new in the SRL business

Click to expand...

--
Tom Ferguson
http://www.ferguson-photo-design.com

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
Tom Ferguson
http://www.ferguson-photo-design.com