LoL, still can't make up your mind? Better to know what you want first.
Or straight go for Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8,

Have you tried lens with constant fix aperture? Maybe you should try it and snap some photo and compare the quality; You might just get your answer.
For low budget and constant fix aperture, the choice is between Tamron, Sigma and Tokina; Tamron being the cheapest option and you can get VC version topping up a little over the Sigma. The Sigma have some macro capability of :3 magnification ratio when fully zoom to 50mm.

70 and 55 not much difference bro; You will still find it short if you want tele...
18-55 = About 3X zoom
18-70 = About 3.8X zoom
18-105 = About 5.8X zoom

70-300 focus much faster than 55-200/55-300; Test and Nikon BTS and you will feel the difference immediately, plus the build quality, etc.

As I said, know what you need and what you shoot; if you need constant aperture, later you want to upgrade again. If you don't need, then honestly, the 18-55mm kit lens is good enough anyway.....


Get 50mm f/1.8D, it's way cheaper, with the money saved, you can get a Flash SB-600 or SB-700;

Correction:
50mm f/1.4G/D vs 50mm f/1.8D; Unless one have the $$$, go for G; but for tight budget, just get the f/1.8D, cheap and good lens, can invest the rest of the money on Flash OR even get the 35mm f/1.8G OR top up more for f/2D.

BUT, some people does prefer 50mm than 35mm after testing, they prefer the tele range for portrait purpose. My friend opt for 50mm over 35mm after testing both; Although he struggles when taking group photo or tight situation, have to keep move back and back.

This post has been edited by Andy214: Feb 8 2011, 09:31 PM

How's the exposure? Is it underexposed?

Turn on Histogram function in your camera and view the histogram; It can help to determine exposure, but may not be correct for every situation.

If you camera have raw processing then easy. Process the raw image, change the exposure and see; You can also change the Picture Control, etc.

If the background is some area is bright, using matrix metering might cause the exposure meter wrong, therefore underexpose the subject. For this situation, you can try change the metering modes or change the exposure compensation.

The price difference between 50mm f/1.4G and 50mm f/1.8D is A LOT, over RM1K. The price difference can get you another 35mm f/2D or SB-700 Flash.

50mm on DX body will become 75mm, and the minimum focusing distance is around 1.5ft; basically you need to stand further back to fill the frame and if you cannot get too near.
Depends in you have ample space or not and/or how you want to fill the frame also.

Depends on budget lo; As I said previously, if have $$, definitely 50mm f/1.4G. The person asking actually has tight budget mah.

---

Added on February 8, 2011, 10:57 pmBudget constraint different story loh; For the 50mm f/1.4G price, can also get 85mm f/1.8D and quality


This post has been edited by Andy214: Feb 8 2011, 10:57 PM

Before the G, people get nice quality photos with the D, you call that crap? I wouldn't say crap, plus, not everyone is PROFESSIONAL photographer or so particular or go into the fine details; even 50mm f/1.8D is good for many people, especially for the price.
As I said, it depends on individual preferences what a person want to use for. I'm suggesting based on the person's budget and I don't said get this and don't get that, in the end, it's up to the person to decide.

85mm and 50mm have different perspective, so does 35mm and 50mm. It depends on the person buying, not you or me. Maybe he/she will prefer 85mm, who knows; just like some people prefer 50mm over 35mm, etc. And if you want to talk about cropping, then you're changing the point of getting certain lens. You might even mislead people to think of getting wide angle, and crop.

If you prefer the range of 50mm, you can opt for 50mm f/1.8D, and get a Flash;
Else you can go for 35mm f/2D and save up later for the Flash.
The flash will help you a lot as previously you mentioned you're shooting indoors, parties, etc. Even with primes with wide aperture, you might find the need for flash.

For the difference, you can actually test out at the shops and feel the difference for yourself, in terms of the quality and the range, etc.

I remember you're looking more into videos, if yes, then these lens are without VR and you will face some difficulties on video stability and you'll loose the zoom. If you really need one, you can consider cheap 2nd hand 18-55mm VR.

Before 1.4D, there is 1.8D; Before D, there is also older lens; Of course, if you compare and based on your preference, then different story, but not everyone have same thoughts; there're people who prefer the 85mm over 50mm, as well as people who prefer 50mm over 35mm, etc. You read other forum, some people suggest 85mm instead as they prefer it for their needs; It all boils down to the person.

If you have read previously, I also suggest 35mm, but it still depends on the person using; As I also replied to you, a friend of mine prefers 50mm over 35mm, and you ownself also reply you prefer 50m over 35mm.
The reason i suggest 85mm f/1.8D is because the price range is close, that brings up the option; Is there anything wrong to bring up another option to choose? I don't see anything wrong here. So, are you saying giving another option is wrong? Head over to other forums, it's not only me who suggest this, plus, it's just an option, why so worked up with it? Is it you hated this lens so much?

I did NOT say you suggest him to buy wider lens to crop; but bringing the topic about cropping, you're also misleading people to think can get wider angle and crop.

ANYWAY, what you think or what I think is not important to the person buying, most important is for the person to get what he/she needs and within his/her budget. Everyone has difference preferences, if I cannot accept others preferences, I would be arguing with my friend who prefers 50mm over the 35mm already "loh"

In the first place, when talk about food, I suggested 35mm already.

The rest is history, it's not even about food photography, it's more like 50mm f/1.4G vs 50mm f/1.8D.

Whatever "lah", there is no wrong or right for a person to choose whatever lens he/she wants; if anybody can't agree with that, then I'm truly sorry

This post has been edited by Andy214: Feb 9 2011, 12:35 AM

No worries; Don't mind us, it happens in forums; Most importantly, things don't turn ugly and ends peacefully (hopefully).

Anyway, as long you know what you need, you will make better investment/purchase. Glad to hear you tested and know what you don't want/need before you made the purchase.

By the way, you can go to Nikon Centre at BTS, there you can test all the lens there, they have nice miniature models for your to shoot; You can understand more about the lens focal range, focusing distance, etc. It can help you decide easier because test at shops is quite limited.
Plus, at Nikon Centre, they have Flash available. Try play around with Flash and see the different results.
If can bring your friend along to test it on his camera, save the pictures on the memory card for review later on the PC.

This post has been edited by Andy214: Feb 9 2011, 01:22 AM

Bro, it's just a review. Doesn't mean you have to believe/follow everything. Just like buying many mags, the reviews of a same product can differ from different reviewer; Plus, he doing it for free here. You're also free to read other reviews.

Bro, don't worry so much; Most important is you to choose what you feel best and which you prefer more; People who prefer different system will favor the system over the other. Some people prefer the feel of Canon, or maybe the "brand/name" like fashion, the design and menu system, the performance, etc. or vice versa. Most important is what YOU feel, not others. The best is to try out yourself.

As for pictures, it's more about skills; Camera is just the tool to help to take picture, just like art tools help artist paints. Of course, good tools will help, but skills is still more important.
For the colour differences, if there are differences, probably becuase they shoot JPEG, but EVEN within same system, the JPEG image colour produce from different model of the SAME brand can be different.

ANYWAY, eventually or most probably you're going to edit or post process (pp) the photos (especially if you shoot raw), so you're still going to tune the colours to your personal preferences. Even if you're not going to pp the photos, there is still "picture control" in the camera you can set AND also adjust to your personal preferences;
So, first, check with the person who tells you about the colour thingy, do they play and adjust the "picture control" or do they do pp?
Personally, I would say this is not really an issue unless one just use standard/same picture control and compare.

Even you shoot without PP, in the camera, you can choose the "Picture Control" profile; For newer Nikona DSLR, they have "Portrait" profile already which renders the skin tones very nice. Plus, as some members already mention, older Nikona DSLR which uses CCD could also renders the color differently.
If the preset profile is still not up to your liking, you can still customize it to your liking. So, don't worry so much about it, besides if you want to go into detail about it, you also need to calibrate your monitor,

1) Most DSLR sensor is APS-C which is bigger than 4/3', most (if not all) digital camera have small sensor. N8 have sensor bigger than some digital camera, so you can feel some differences on the image quality and low light capabilities, but it doesn't just rely on sensor size only of course. Technology keeps improving, you can't keep up unless you're loaded with $$$.

2) If you want low budget, D90 is a good DSLR; If you willing to spend more, D7000 is good choice. Yes, lens matters most. If you spend most of your money on an expensive body later got no money buy good lens, you might not get the result you wanted. Flash is also plays another important role photography.
Cheaper alternative between D90 and D7000 would be Canon 60D which SHIFU aspire is using; It's a different system different body design, menu system. Since you're Nikon user, you will need to try it out to know if you like the feel, grip, etc.

If you decide to stick to the D7000, you can invest on some lens now first, such as the 50mm f/1.8D. You can try it and experience the quality from your current kit lens and the wide aperture for low light or bokeh for blowing out the background. From this, you will also notice the important of lens.

It's only take long time if you're NEW to it; Once you learn up, you can touch up very fast; Basically, there're many ways to touch up, even minor touch up is good, such as improving the contrast, vibrance, clarity, blacks, etc.
Plus, in lightroom, IF you're lazy, you can apply the settings to ALL your pictures, and then have a quick review which one needs further adjustment.
It all depends on you.

All I can say is, once you do PP "properly", you will start to appreciate it and see the difference; You can always compare BEFORE and AFTER. Best if you shoot RAW, as you can adjust more; To see the difference, you can shoot RAW+JPEG, then compare the PP results from RAW VS your JPEG produced by the camera... You can improve your PP skills by first matching the JPEG results and then slowly improve further. Then you will ask yourself, do you still want to PP?
Besides, if you shoot RAW, and your camera have RAW processing, you can process your RAW image and do adjustment like adjusting the Picture Control, sharpness, etc. EVEN with this, you will see the difference already,

PP is not a must; but it's makes a difference.

2) Don't worry, there're no rules for photography nor must to do PP.

Most important is whether you're satisfied with the results. OR if you're shooting for somebody/client, just make sure they like it; If they like move vivid colours, then adjust the camera picture controls, etc.

PP is just like "add-on"; You can explore later when you want to. Who knows, maybe one day you see some photo looks really nice after PP, then you have the sudden urge to do it; just like how you were "awaken" back into photography

FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE of your T8T8 club, I know what you mean

This post has been edited by Andy214: Feb 11 2011, 11:34 AM

live view meh bro, like this maybe you consider get PEN PEN 2 or GirlFriend 2.

Or, NEX-3 or NEX-5 with APS-C size sensor like DSLR. NEX-3 package less than RM2K

Sounds like you want *articulating* LCD