Hi over last few weeks I have sold most of my camera kit, didn't realise I had so much cash tied up; D700, 24-70, 25-84, 35 1.4 AIS, 105 AIS, 28 1.8, 85 1.8, SB 900, X100 and few other bits and bobs. I needed to free up some cash so it worked out well.
I bought an old D80 with just 4000 clicks on it (how is that possible!! 5/6 years old camera hardly used) for what looked like a great deal (£275 with 18-105). Now I have just 2 lenses 18-105 and 70-300 vr. I am happy the image quality I am getting the challange though is when trying to shoot in low light. Situations like taking indoor pictures of my son, walking around in the evenings/ at night, in museums etc.
I am considering adding a fast prime to my new(old) setup and the lenses I am considering are 35mm 1.8 DX, 50mm 1.8 and 50mm 1.4. I am leaning towards 50mm 1.4 but not sure if that will be too long for my use. ideally I would have liked 24 1.4, as I like 35mm effective focal lenght, but that one is out of my budget.
35 1.8 is a sweet lens...also, the sigma 20mm 1.8 is pretty sweet as well (if you get a good copy)....i've always wanted one, but they wont work on the d7000...i guess i could use it on my d300...
However, the 35mm is the lens that gets brought out for general purpose "walk-around" shots. The 50mm is, in my opinion, too long in many indoor situations. I regularly find myself backing up with the 50mm.
One of my favorite lenses on DX when I first started shooting Nikon (~5yrs ago) was the Sigma 30 f1.4
If you can "try before you buy" since AF fine tune is not an option on your D80...there are amazing copies
out there. If budget allows, a used Nikon 28 f1.8G is another stellar option. GL
Thank you for your input so far, I sold 28 1.8 2 weeks ago, I used it on D700 but didn't try on d80. One consideration there is that 28 1.8 is close enough price-wise to make Fuji X100 a possibility, loved that camera for the simplicity of operation, and it does decent enough job in low light.
the 35mm 1.8G replaced the 18-55 lens. that's how good it is. As for low light conditions, how well does the D80 perform? I'm contemplating on getting a D80 body as a Christmas gift for a relative.
2of9 wrote:
As for low light conditions, how well does the D80 perform? I'm contemplating on getting a D80 body as a Christmas gift for a relative.
It is quite an old camera so low light performance is not great, having said that I can get decent enough pictures upto ISO 1600. The picture below was shot at 1600, f5.0, 1/10. It is unedited. I think noise is not too bad.
hashaama wrote:
Hi over last few weeks I have sold most of my camera kit, didn't realise I had so much cash tied up; D700, 24-70, 25-84, 35 1.4 AIS, 105 AIS, 28 1.8, 85 1.8, SB 900, X100 and few other bits and bobs. I needed to free up some cash so it worked out well.
I bought an old D80 with just 4000 clicks on it (how is that possible!! 5/6 years old camera hardly used) for what looked like a great deal (£275 with 18-105). Now I have just 2 lenses 18-105 and 70-300 vr. I am happy the image quality I am getting the challange though is when trying to shoot in low light. Situations like taking indoor pictures of my son, walking around in the evenings/ at night, in museums etc.
I am considering adding a fast prime to my new(old) setup and the lenses I am considering are 35mm 1.8 DX, 50mm 1.8 and 50mm 1.4. I am leaning towards 50mm 1.4 but not sure if that will be too long for my use. ideally I would have liked 24 1.4, as I like 35mm effective focal lenght, but that one is out of my budget.
I would go with the 35mm f1.8. I think the 50mm in a DX body is to long for general shooting inside a house or building. Outdoors you may be able to put more distance between you and your subject. Not always possible indoors.
