Nikon D50 Battery Grip!

[rienz]

Originally Posted by NoFlashPhotography

Would I need an 18-55mm? If i had a 70-300mm zoom lens and a 50mm prime lens?

If you are only going to use your lens for skateboarding and stuff I guess you wouldn't need 17-55 ... but the 17-55 is a nice lens to have in your gear, especially the Nikon 17-55 VR kit lens as it is quite cheap ... you will find it very useful in places where you can't back up any further eg. in a room/train etc ... I know a guy who took a magnificant photo of the interiors of a Pandolino Train, (while travelling from Glasgow to London), with Nikon 17-55 kit lens (none of my photos with my "fancy" 24-15L can match up to that photo ... it just goes to show that it is not the camera/lens that makes a photo great but the hands & eyes behind it) ... if your budget permits go ahead and get one ... if you search around you might find a used Nikon kit lens for a killer price.
But if you are willing to lighten your wallet a bit more, you can go for the much better Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 VC lens. Happy shopping.

[NoFlashPhotography]

Originally Posted by rienz

If you are only going to use your lens for skateboarding and stuff I guess you wouldn't need 17-55 ... but the 17-55 is a nice lens to have in your gear, especially the Nikon 17-55 VR kit lens as it is quite cheap ... you will find it very useful in places where you can't back up any further eg. in a room/train etc ... I know a guy who took a magnificant photo of the interiors of a Pandolino Train, (while travelling from Glasgow to London), with Nikon 17-55 kit lens (none of my photos with my "fancy" 24-15L can match up to that photo ... it just goes to show that it is not the camera/lens that makes a photo great but the hands & eyes behind it) ... if your budget permits go ahead and get one ... if you search around you might find a used Nikon kit lens for a killer price.
But if you are willing to lighten your wallet a bit more, you can go for the much better Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 VC lens. Happy shopping.

Ok so I like photographing skateboarding and close ups. The 50mm is good for close ups because of the shallow DOF. In skateboarding the idea is to get in as close as possible to the subject. Does that mean all I probably need is the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens and then later i'd buy a telephoto?

[NoFlashPhotography]

Originally Posted by rienz

There are fancy technical explanations on sigma website, as well as other sites, but I am not a technical guy, nor fancy ... so 3 years ago I googled, to understand what is APO ... and this is my understanding:
APO (Apochromatic) lenses use some kind of special optical designs and elements to get better contrast, sharpness & color correction by minimizing Chomatic aberration, over a comparable non-APO lenses.
I am sure there will be others, in the forum, who can explain it better.

Personally (in Sigma's 70-300 case) I feel it seems to make a noticable difference and I feel it is worth the $40 difference ... I've used both ( Sigma's APO & non-APO 70-300 lenses), don't ask me why as I got cheated by a very close friend (who is no longer "very close" - but a friend nonetheless) into paying APO price for a non APO lens ... it is a looooong story, (from the days when I used to be a bigger idiot), ... a story better reserved for another time and place.

Now I'm getting really excited about the 50mm f/1.8.

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/va...808089849.html
^Check out that link for one in my area for $135 brand new^

The guy said it's brand new in box and is in mint condition, I could maybe bargain him down to $100?

[rienz]

Originally Posted by NoFlashPhotography

Ok so I like photographing skateboarding and close ups. The 50mm is good for close ups because of the shallow DOF. In skateboarding the idea is to get in as close as possible to the subject. Does that mean all I probably need is the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens and then later i'd buy a telephoto?

Yes & No!
Why No:
The 50 f/1.8 is a great lens for portraits, close-up, low light, night photography etc when the subject is still but skateboarding (with subject moving very fast) is a different ball game. Nikon f/1.8 autofoucs is slow for such action shots ... the probability fo getting lots of blurry photos is high.
Why Yes:
If your panning technique is good, you can get your camera to lock on auto focus on the subject while he is still and then pan (follow the subject) as he is skating (the shutter button is half depressed all along, to lock on autofocus) and then take the photo when the subject reaches the point where you want to take the photo, make sure to follow without moving the camera up or down to prevent subject blur) ... this should get you great photos. Google the net for good panning techniques and implement them and the 50mm will please you with the results.

Originally Posted by NoFlashPhotography

Now I'm getting really excited about the 50mm f/1.8.

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/va...808089849.html
^Check out that link for one in my area for $135 brand new^

The guy said it's brand new in box and is in mint condition, I could maybe bargain him down to $100?

B&H is selling brand new Nikon f/1.8 AF lens with warranty for US$ 114.95 ... even if you can get him to sell for $100, it might be better to get a brand new one with warranty for $15 difference.
Also, the photo (of 50mm lens) in link above seems to be an AF lens but do make sure it is AF lens.

[NoFlashPhotography]

B&H is selling brand new Nikon f/1.8 AF lens with warranty for US$ 114.95 ... even if you can get him to sell for $100, it might be better to get a brand new one with warranty for $15 difference.
Also, the photo (of 50mm lens) in link above seems to be an AF lens but do make sure it is AF lens.

But on $114.95 there is about $20 tax+shipping/handling. I live in canada.

[rienz]

Originally Posted by NoFlashPhotography

But on $114.95 there is about $20 tax+shipping/handling. I live in canada.

I see ... I was under the wrong impression that B & H ships it free within US & Canada. If you can get him to sell the lens for $100 it is pretty ... I wish you luck

[NoFlashPhotography]

Originally Posted by rienz

I see ... I was under the wrong impression that B & H ships it free within US & Canada. If you can get him to sell the lens for $100 it is pretty ... I wish you luck

Thanks. Someone also just told me that a good lens for shooting skateboarding would be the Tamron AF55-200mm F/4-5.6 Di-II LD Macro. It's good for skateboarding and just overall walk around?

[rienz]

Originally Posted by NoFlashPhotography

Tamron AF55-200mm F/4-5.6 Di-II LD Macro. It's good for skateboarding and just overall walk around?

I doubt it but I've never used that lens, so can't be sure. Generally, 24-70 (or there abouts) is considered to be a "walk around" lens on Full Frame ... and 17-55 on Cropped Frame Cameras. 55-200 is not really considered to be a walk around lens ...unless you are going complement it with a 17-55 lens on your cropped frame camera you will miss out on the wide end.

[NoFlashPhotography]

Originally Posted by rienz

I doubt it but I've never used that lens, so can't be sure. Generally, 24-70 (or there abouts) is considered to be a "walk around" lens on Full Frame ... and 17-55 on Cropped Frame Cameras. 55-200 is not really considered to be a walk around lens ...unless you are going complement it with a 17-55 lens on your cropped frame camera you will miss out on the wide end.

Alright well I've narrowed it down to the Sigma 70-300mm DG APO or Tamron 70-300 Di LD plus the nikkor 50mm f/1.8. Getting both would be the best decision? Just i need to know what zoom lens to get. The Tamron apparently is cheaper but better. That could be good!

[rienz]

Originally Posted by NoFlashPhotography

The Tamron apparently is cheaper but better. That could be good!

From the little experiance I have, I find Tamron optics are better then the equivalent Sigma lenses. I say this because I've used Sigma 17-50 f/2.8 & Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 ... Tamron optics were better.
Also used Sigma 105 f/2.8 Macro & Tamron 90mm f/2.8 ... once again Tamron was better.
But when it comes to build quality Sigma is a clear winner over Tamron.
One more but ... the exterior of Sigma lenses have a habit of attracting dust (especially the lens hood) wheras Tamron doesn't seem to have this problem (this is not really a big issue but I like to have my lenses looking clean and shiney) ... on the other hand Tamron lenses have "cheap plasticy" kind of look about them - IMO