[Pavel]

Comments welcome. Pavel
Motorcycle reflector


Motorcycle engine


Motorcycle gas tank

[matthew]

It's good to see that you're enjoying your new lens. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

[enviroguy]

Hi, Pavel! Great captures of the reflections and the colours are well done. I especially like the goldish/brass tint in the photo of the motorcycle engine parts. 2 TUs... OOOPS.

First the new lens; now I am concerned that you are considering a motorcycle.Oh Oh!

Regards.....Dennis

[Pavel]

I am not an expert, Mathew and you can look at the photos. To me they look nice and crisp, even wide open (see firehydrant) and even at the edges. It is of course not an ideal lens to take photo around the city. I really wanted to use something wider. It is quick and responsive on D300. The viewfinder is even brighter than usual with this lens. I am anoyed that there is not sepparate mount for the "lens shield" (how do you call the damn thing?). You have to screw it on after a filter. I hate it with a polarizer and to add insult to the injury, Nikon does not provide it wioth the lens. Had to go to 3 stores (including Aden) before I found one at Henry's. I love the diminutive size. If there was a sharp 20mm-25mm prime equal size and price with similar performance, I would snap it up and use most of the time in place of 18-70 or 18-200. However, 75mm effective lense is not as versatile for outdoor photography. I really liked using it and will get a lot of use out of this lens, but it is usefull for me only about in 10 to 20% of situations. I also got spoiled with zooms, because composition often does not require you to walk around, stand in the midle of the street etc. A 20 to 25mm lens (30-37 effective) would be useable in 50 to 60% of my shooting situations, I guess, but there is no great prime available for D300 (unlike D3) in this range. For me 20mm would be ideal, as it would fill the gap between Tokina 11-16 and 50 f/1.4. I should say though, that 18-200 is a very convenient and practical lens covering the 20-25mm range and so does my 18-70, which has a prety good optical quality and is quite convenient.

With the purchase of the 50mm lens, I started thinking of two tear system. 18-200 (with tripod) covers I estimate 70% of the situations where I wish to take a photo. 25% I estimate I would prefer a wider lens. The rest of the time, I would prefer faster, wide apperture lens for indoor candids with good depth of field and low ISO, narrow depth of field, sharper lens or macro lens. My two primes cover this ground. My idea is than that when I wish to travel light, I pack only 18-200 and the 11-16 (when I get it).

When I am alone or with other photo nuts, I will go for tier 2, using the 11-16, 18-70 when 50 will not do it and 100 macro. I found the macro very sharp and contrasty and I love using it, as I like the 50. I would cary 18-200 just in case I really needed longer lens, which is rare for me.

Pavel

[Pavel]

Hello Dennis and thanks. The fake gold is my favourite too. 2TU? great. However your reviews are not reviews anymore. I am not sure that I will give you a TU for this review. I think reflections are fun and we should do more of them - it is an interesting world. Thanks for dropping by. Pavel

[Keith Alan]

That must be a great lens for shooting bands in nightclubs--the focal length is good if you can move around for your shots, and the extra light of an f1.4 can make all the difference in the world.
I've been using f2-f2.8 at a noisy (small sensor) iso400 and 1/30.
Being able to improve any one of those specs would be great---this lens looks to be capable of improving on all three at once on your body.

[Pavel]

For your application Keith, it would be a great lens. With D-300 you could go to ISO 800 and still have relatively modest noise, except in deep shadows. Nikon has also longer lenses which are very fast, but probably more expensive and likely not as sharp (I did not read the reviews). You probably know this site, but just in case, this is a good place to look. http://www.photozone.de/all-tests.