DSLR Hell

[mtclimber]

John-

I certainly did not perceive it is bragging at all. Rather I saw it as very supportive of the spirit of this thread, which has been to demonstrate, in as many ways as possible, to point and shoot folks that DSLR cameras are quite capable of producing higher quality photos.

Your wonderful, highly detailed, photos demonstrate that theme ever so perfectly. Thanks for posting them.

MT

[Stevetynant]

Thanks for the reply folks - those photos are absolutely stunning although I think a budget of $1800 for a lens is a bit outside myrange at the moment.

Out of interest and another consideration for me - how heavy is the lens that you took thosebrilliant shots with. The heron shot is hand held? Thats either fantastic image stabilization or perhaps the lens are not as heavy as I first guessed.



Steve

[squirl033]

which heron shot are you referring to??

[mtclimber]

For P&S folks who are concerned about the high cost of DSLR lenses, here is another photo sample. This was taken with a KM 5D equipped with a Vivitar Series One 70-210mm F 2.8-F 4.0 lens that sells for $79.

It is a push-pull zoom lens, but it is sharp and can record fine detail quite well.

MT

[milrodpxpx]

good to see this thread still going! i picked up a pentax f2 50mm lens saturday morning for $20 at the local camera shop (wanted the f1.7 but when i went to try it, the focus ring was broken!) to preface this, i've never used a manual, non zoom lens really, at least not since i had a film kodak camera when i was 10!

i'm floored after using it for a couple of days. i want to throw away all the zooms i just bought. the fixed lens makes you think so much more about what you're shooting, and framing the shot. and i can't recommend a fast lens enough, even an f2 is awesome! playing around with depth of field is a blast. haven't uploaded any pics to the pc yet unfortunately, just thought i'd post the amazing experience with my 2 week old pentax isl dl and a $20 lens - i can't believe it still!

[mtclimber]

milrodpxpx-

It is great to hear that you are having so much fun with your $20 purchase. Prime lenses do shine and they can be an excellent learning tool.

MT

[Stevetynant]

"just for comparison, here are a couple of shots taken with the Sigma EX 80-400, at 400mm zoom, hand-held..."

I'm assuming its a heron - British Birds I'm reasonably familiar with - US ones I'm not.

I've probably misunderstood your point aswel not being very technical unfortunately. The shots are astoundingly clear whatever - congratulations

Steve

[mtclimber]

Here is a different camera/lens combination. This is a Pentax DS equipped with a Pentax 80-200mm lens.

MT

[Ikki]

I would second the suggestion of the Sigma 18-200mm on a KM (or Sony) DSLR. It works very well. I couldn't tell you the precise distortion at wideangle, but it hasn't been an issue. If you check out the link suggested above, you will need to ignore many of the comments as the Canon 350D doesn't seem to get along with this lens (at least their test camera didn't), on the KM 5D the AF works extremely well with this lens.

I think the 'reverse engineered' tales are reaching the point of urban ledgend. Some early Sigmas in the Minolta A mount had problems because of the built in chip. Some of these can be reprogrammed, others can't but we are talking about a small number of old lenses. I am not aware of any incompatability problems with recent lenses.

Here is a link to some test shots that I did with the 18-200mm on my KM 5D:

18-200mm KM 5D test shots

[mtclimber]

Ikki-

If my memory serves me correctly, this is the first posting in quite awhile. Welcome!Thanks for posting a lovely set of photos. I certainly do agree with you that the Sigma 18-200mm lens works very well indeed with both the KM 5D and the 7D.

Meanstreak had asked about perspective control, and this lovely set of yours certainly put any qualms to rest rather securely.

MT