Advice on new lens for nikkon D50

R

Rev

New member
Hey folks, could use your advice!

I am not hugely knowledgable about lenses.

Roughly 5 years ago I bought a nikkon D50 with an 18 - 70 lens that I have been using merrily, alongside gimp, to produce nice pics of my minis. I have a good light box set up

Recently the lens broke (rough family life!) and I need a replacement.

I've been looking on eBay at the cheaper 18-55 but don't really know what the numbers mean!!

Do I need macro? I've not used it so far and had decent pics?

What 'numbers' or spec is ideal for minis?

Cheers!

Rev
 
L

loydb

New member
Are you going to do anything with it but shoot miniatures? What is your budget?

Think of low numbers as wide-angle, and high numbers as zoom.

For a great 'all around' lens, the 18-200 VR (http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-18-200mm-3-5-5-6-ED-IF-Nikkor/dp/B000BY52NU) is hard to beat.

If you want a 'specialist' close up (macro) lens (that is also great for portraits), they have a nice 105 macro (http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-105mm-2-8G-ED-IF-Micro-Nikkor/dp/B000EOSHGQ/).

I own and use both, and they cover pretty much all my photographic needs.
 
R

Rev

New member
Thanks for the reply loydb!

Those seem to be above my budget, which is about £150.

I'm considering a lens purely for mini shooting. Possibly even another 18-55 or 18-70 cheaply off the eBay.

What is the difference between a nikon 40m and a 105m macro?

Cheers

Rev
 
shponglefan

shponglefan

New member
Couple points on lens terminology:

The numbers in millimeters (mm) refer to the focal length. The lower the number, the more wide angle or further away things will appear; the higher the number, the more zoomed in or closer things will appear.

Lenses with a range (18-55mm, 18-70mm) are "zoom" lenses. This means the focal length can be set to a specific number within that range. Lenses with just a single number (40mm, 105mm, etc) are "prime" lenses. This means they cannot change their focal length. Which means if you are standing in particular location and taking a picture, you can't change the field of view of the image without physically moving backwards or forwards.

Macro lenses are designed to take pictures extremely close up. But for taking pictures of standard miniatures, you don't need a macro lens.
 
griffongames

griffongames

New member
Assuming you haven't already purchased a lens, you should consider just getting yourself a nice 50mm lens. Most of the photos that I've taken of my minis over the last several years (you can see there here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/dullspork/) were taken with a 50mm 1.8 lens. Fixed lenses tend to be sharper than zoom lenses and they are also much less expensive. Macro isn't at all necessary if you're sharing your pics online (as opposed to having them published in a magazine) as you can just crop any excess after you've shot your photos. I'm pretty sure that this is my lens (I don't have it handy) http://amzn.to/1f5m1qt
 
heavybolterbob

heavybolterbob

New member
A very important thing to take into consideration: Nikon has a number of different series of lenses. Not all cameras can use all lens series. Look up your D50 on the Nikon website and see which lenses it can use. Some cameras have focusing motors in the body and can use lenses with or without motors. Other cameras do not have built in focusing motors so must use lens series that have built in motors.
 
K

Kretcher

New member
If this lens works for you it is a very nice one, you generally get more lens for the money if they are none zoom lens. the 50mm 1.8 is a nice one.

griffongames said:
Assuming you haven't already purchased a lens, you should consider just getting yourself a nice 50mm lens. Most of the photos that I've taken of my minis over the last several years (you can see there here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/dullspork/) were taken with a 50mm 1.8 lens. Fixed lenses tend to be sharper than zoom lenses and they are also much less expensive. Macro isn't at all necessary if you're sharing your pics online (as opposed to having them published in a magazine) as you can just crop any excess after you've shot your photos. I'm pretty sure that this is my lens (I don't have it handy) http://amzn.to/1f5m1qt
Click to expand...
 
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