Want a new lens - on a budget

[Leonard Migliore]

For portrait use though, I can see the distortion with my 35mm when I get a tight crop. If I got a normal range zoom, I would probably be shooting with it maxed out at 70mm for nearly all of my portrait shots.

Note that there are two sources of distortion when you use the 35mm f/1.8G. One is perspective distortion, caused by having to be too close to the subject because of that lens's field of view. There's nothing you can do about that other than using a longer focal length so you can back off. The other source is the lens's inherent barrel distortion, which can be eliminated in processing. So it may not be as bad as you think.

 

[Doss]

The Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 is a great lens... You won't find a bad one.

I did. Three of them. All had to be returned (1 faulty aperture, other 2 unusably soft at long end)

I'd rate the Tamron as better optically but it is also not f/1.8.

Wow! That's an accolade. Even on your D700? You must have had a good copy. Interesting (but quite annoying!) to know they do exist. Maybe I should try for 4th time lucky...

 

[Bjorn_L]

The Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 is a great lens... You won't find a bad one.

I did. Three of them. All had to be returned (1 faulty aperture, other 2 unusably soft at long end)

The above is out of context. I said:

Before you rush to judgement, read the reviews. You won't find a bad one.

Meaning I've never seen a bad review of the lens. I'm quite sure there are bad copies of every lens ever made. I've only ever tried two copies of the Tamron 28-75. One without a motor (screw drive focus like AF-D lenses) and one with a motor (called a BIM in Tamron speak at the time). On my d700 and a d300 the screw drive one focused faster.

I'd rate the Tamron as better optically but it is also not f/1.8.

Wow! That's an accolade. Even on your D700? You must have had a good copy. Interesting (but quite annoying!) to know they do exist. Maybe I should try for 4th time lucky...

If I were to replace mine. I'd get something that was weather sealed like the new Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 or Nikon 24-120 f/4. But I've never upgraded the 28-75 because it has served me so well.

--

See my plan (in my profile) for what I shoot with. See my gallery for images I find amusing.

 

[Doss]

The Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 is a great lens... You won't find a bad one.

I did. Three of them. All had to be returned (1 faulty aperture, other 2 unusably soft at long end)

The above is out of context. I said:

Before you rush to judgement, read the reviews. You won't find a bad one.

Fair enough, sorry if it appeared I was quote-mining. (I'll blame your placement of the full stop for the reason I misinterpreted )

If I were to replace mine. I'd get something that was weather sealed like the new Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 or Nikon 24-120 f/4. But I've never upgraded the 28-75 because it has served me so well.

Seeing as the 28-75's go so cheap on the 2nd hand market these days (and I think the aforementioned 24-120 or 24-70 are overpriced) then maybe I will indeed give this lens one more try.

cheers

 

[markag]

I think I'm leaning towards the 80-200mm f2.8 if I can get one for under $300. I like the fact that the glass in it has carried over to the latest generation 80-200 lenses from Nikon. It tells me they got it right. I would just be giving up VR and autofocus in the lens. Also, I don't have a lens right now that goes above 105mm focal length. So it would fill in for anything that needed that extra reach.

 

[Guidenet]

I think I'm leaning towards the 80-200mm f2.8 if I can get one for under $300. I like the fact that the glass in it has carried over to the latest generation 80-200 lenses from Nikon. It tells me they got it right. I would just be giving up VR and autofocus in the lens. Also, I don't have a lens right now that goes above 105mm focal length. So it would fill in for anything that needed that extra reach.

It should autofocus just fine on your D90.

 

[markag]

I think I'm leaning towards the 80-200mm f2.8 if I can get one for under $300. I like the fact that the glass in it has carried over to the latest generation 80-200 lenses from Nikon. It tells me they got it right. I would just be giving up VR and autofocus in the lens. Also, I don't have a lens right now that goes above 105mm focal length. So it would fill in for anything that needed that extra reach.

It should autofocus just fine on your D90.

 

[Bjorn_L]

I think I'm leaning towards the 80-200mm f2.8 if I can get one for under $300. I like the fact that the glass in it has carried over to the latest generation 80-200 lenses from Nikon. It tells me they got it right. I would just be giving up VR and autofocus in the lens. Also, I don't have a lens right now that goes above 105mm focal length. So it would fill in for anything that needed that extra reach.

It should autofocus just fine on your D90.

 

[markag]

What would your opinion be on an old 70-210 f4 lens? It seems like there are a few for sale and would fit easily in my budget. Would I be giving up a lot by limiting myself to f4?

 

[DigitalPhilosopher]

What would your opinion be on an old 70-210 f4 lens? It seems like there are a few for sale and would fit easily in my budget. Would I be giving up a lot by limiting myself to f4?

f4 @ 210mm is decent, although the D90 isn't exactly stellar over 1600 ISO. It depends on the situation - although I always prefer (aperture) speed over, say, VR, perhaps a 55-300 VR would be preferable.

- f/5 @ 200mm (so, not a huge difference over f/4)
- VR
- AF-S
- at 200mm, better optically than the 70-210 wide-open

 

[markag]

What would your opinion be on an old 70-210 f4 lens? It seems like there are a few for sale and would fit easily in my budget. Would I be giving up a lot by limiting myself to f4?

f4 @ 210mm is decent, although the D90 isn't exactly stellar over 1600 ISO. It depends on the situation - although I always prefer (aperture) speed over, say, VR, perhaps a 55-300 VR would be preferable.

- f/5 @ 200mm (so, not a huge difference over f/4)
- VR
- AF-S
- at 200mm, better optically than the 70-210 wide-open