I just got a D5300 two months ago with a 18-55mm kit and a 50mm f1.8G.
As I was using the 50mm as my main lens and started learning photography, I find that the 50mm is a very limited usage lens.
It forces me to think or switch to the kit, thus losing large aperture. I wonder if how soon do you sifus change the kit once u started photography?
Was planning to switch to a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 as a multi-purpose zoom. But spending extra money on a new lens is very burdensome for a student like me.

I need some suggestions on whether should I replace the kit, or rely on it as I fear that the image quality of the new sensor is sacrificed by the lens. And under low light situations, how do you guys workaround with the small aperture when its night time photography?

All help is much appreciated

no rule. just change to suit your purpose.

The kit lens is plenty sharp and does not sacrifice image quality.

Most change and upgrade to F2.8 zoom lens. Becuase most learn by buying first then do trial and error. Will a F2.8 zoom lens solve dark situations? The answer is no. Its better than the kit lens in the dark but problem is not solved.

2 gears that people use to deal with the dark situations are tripods and flash guns. Anyone who gets serious about photography eventually invest in both.

the tamron isn't that much better when wide open (f2.8), and you lose a lot in the wideness since you will be starting at 28mm instead of 18mm. does IQ really bothers you that much and stop you from taking pictures?

for lowlight, a zoom lens is still pretty limited since the brightest you can go is f2.8 (the sigma 18-35 is an exception) and you will still be using ISO6400 or higher. a flash gun is best for moving subject and tripod is a must for longer exposure.

I would say stick with the kit lens first, and maybe get a flash gun if you shoot in lowlight often. I used the 18-135 kit lens from canon for 2 whole years until i decided to change system then only i sold it, IQ of kit lens isn't really that bad if you don't plan to print super large or pixel peep everyday.

I agree

@TS
Even with a F2.8 lens, indoor shots (especially taking photos of more than one subject) works better with an external flash. That said, flash photography may be a bit challenging to learn if one is not very familiar with the basics of a DSLR- People always say its ~3x harder

Since a flash is not cheap; if you are short on money perhaps its best to just stick to what you already have, those are pretty good for starters. Learn all the basics by shooting outdoors (out in the sun) first, then only moving on to darker conditions. I used to take very crappy photos indoors too (I have a 18-105mm kitlens then), since I have no idea how to use a flash then; it all boils down to (1) choosing brighter areas to take photos; (2) use objects as hand support for sturdier shots [most people don't bring tripod whenever they go I'm afraid haha]; (3) use handphone torchlight as a light source [best if not shone directly on the subject, but rather bounced off walls etc.]; (4) take "artistic" shots i.e. low-key shots

Just my 2 cents~ The biggest thing that I missed about my kitlens is the superb focal range

Psssst, Yongnuo YN560 IV (available for Canon, Nikon, Olympus and Pentax) retails for ~RM 250.

That's cheaper than the cheapeder cheapest of the cheapest cheap Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens.

http://www.tamron-usa.com/lenses/prod/2875mm.php#ad-image-0
28-75mm will result to 43-116mm on your D5300.

Yeah I know sifu haha, and there's Nissin too
But RM250 is worth a month's rent for a student, and perhaps also 250 packages of Nasi Lemak

@TS, the Yongnuo is one of the most bang-for-buck flashes out there (and not lousy at all) , if you have the money, its worth considering

Beli Nissin flash, then eat Nissin noodles for the rest of the month.

Thanks everyone. But some of the places I shoot in low light does not allow usage of flash eg: stage performances. I do cosplay shots from time to time, other than that just event shots for the college or schools.

I think a Rm300 flash is still ok for my budget as I do have part time work for impulse purchases. I guess I'll stick with the 18-55mm for now. if memang too far away I'll just workaround with 50mm f/1.8 then crop.

So what is next? Flash or Tripod?

what type of stage performance?

cosplay photos varies, i also photograph cosplay.

I use a 50mm and 24-120 for this album https://www.flickr.com/photos/goldfries/set...57647659907534/ (that's around 35mm for and 16-85 for crop sensor body)

Wait a sec.... I saw this photo somewhere. No wonder.
So you are the one who shot this! Saw your pics on FB comic fiesta 2014 page. Those shots are gorgeous. And btw, you might have seen my super long feedback post as Belson Lim.

Thanks. I haven't visit the CF page to look at the feedback.

I'm still junior in cosplay photography, experimented quite a fair bit during CF.

Your 18-55 and 50mm would be able to get the shots as what I did. 50mm on crop sensor has the same perspective, only tighter field of view which is quite difficult to get good framing at cosplay events that's crowded as such.

You got paid to shoot that? Or friend drag you to shoot it casually/free?

Paid? No la, I just go around shooting just like anyone else who attends that event.

It's a casual outing. Had to hunt for subjects.

True, the sardine-ness of the CF hall makes it difficult to shoot with a 50mm. But if I shoot with the kit, you know la, the belakang so many props and people walking around xbleh dibokehkan.
But not having a zoom really makes u think.

I guess I'll leave the zoom lens to a later date, and try to master the kit and 50 first. But how do u workaround lets say in CF stage events? 18-55mm is not telephoto enough and x bleh flash photography lagi.

Anyways, nice to meet you (not physically). How did I do? This is what I took from CF2014 (minus the non-cosplay)


CF2014



This post has been edited by shinnasuka: Jan 2 2015, 05:49 AM

Few way to do it
1.)Use wide end of focal length and somewhat make it work because you don't need so high shutter speed(1/focal length rule)
2.)Use 50mm F1.8

Alternatively if 50mm F1.8 can consider trying 30mm F1.8 or 35mm F1.8

Flash and tripod IMO is a must so budget accordingly and get whichever you can afford
That also applies to me actually

stage performance you want to use tripod ah?

no la, that one usually wide aperture telephoto zoom / prime.

What kinda low light situation ?
IMO, if you mean places without a whitish wall/ceiling to bounce(outdoor), flash would be less useful.

You could blast directly in front, but it'll look awful.
Some diffuser helps a bit, but it's still so harsh. Better diffusers are cumbersome and large.

Eg: a stage performance or orchestra performance in a dimly lit environment. I only worry about flashbanging the performers when I use flash. I might get a flash gun and a tripod once I get my allowance for CNY. Any cheap and cheerful suggestions?

However, how does the weird focal length 28mm-75mm Tamron F/2.8 perform for a general purpose 1.5k zoom lens? I heard of 24-70 as the generic zoom lens focal length, but why the weird number?

This post has been edited by shinnasuka: Jan 2 2015, 03:41 AM

Full frame lens using on your D5300 are pretty useless.
So 24-70 or 28-75 lens won't really suit your needs.
A nikon flash has more tuning options, you can adjust the flash's power, but that's 3X more expensive than 3rd party flash.

the number is not weird.

you must understand that for Nikon system there's DX and FX body.

24-70 was made for FX body.

It can be used on DX body but the equivalent focal length will be multiplied by 1.5 so it's 36-105 which is the lenses loses out a lot on wide.

field of view for 24-70 on FX is almost the same as 18-55 on DX body.

Don't ever use flash during a stage/orchestra performance.
If I'm the organizer, I will chase you out.

To be honest I try to be wary with orchestra performance even from the sound of my shutter.
Even quiet mode isn't quiet. Leaf or digital shutter wins here.

As for lens for orchestra. Best budget option is the 85 f/1.8
> 2x more light than the Tamron with better optical quality.

This post has been edited by LegendLee: Jan 2 2015, 10:17 AM

Arent FX lenses compatible with DX bodies?
DX lenses no need to times crop factor?
When I read online, my kit also subject to 1.5x crop to an equi. of 27 to 82.5mm

This post has been edited by shinnasuka: Jan 2 2015, 11:24 AM

Whatever numbers you see written on the lens, you will need to times with 1.5 when you mount it on a DX camera body to get an equivalent field of view on a full frame body.

If mounted on FX body, those numbers work as advertised

All crop sensor need to multiply by its factor, Nikon is 1.5. So the kit lense of 18-55mm, actual is 27-82.5mm.
If you put a 24-70mm, it will be 36-105mm, you will lose out wide angle.
a 24-70mm under FX body are wider than DX's 18mm.

So in the end, what lens would you guys recommend for a kit lens replacement? In the long term I don't see the point of having crop lenses since by chance i might swap out for an FX body.

why not u go for Nikon 17-55mm f2.8?? If u really serious bout photography, shut invest 1 good lense u will use most. If budget too tight, Tamron 17-50 f2.8 still ur choice

If this is your route on getting FX later on, then just use what ever you have. No point on getting more lens for DX. 18-55mm are quite good but can't really compare to FX lens.
While F2.8 zoom lens do perform better than entry level lens, but under low light situation, it still won't zoom as fast as you expected especially 3rd party lens.
That's why FX bodies are more much expensive as they can perform better in low light, higher dynamic range. Still, low light is a killer for any cameras, that's why you need a flash.
For flash, is good to have Nikon flash as they can continuous flash non stop compare to 3rd party have to wait after each flash.
I've tried before on my SB-700 flash non stop for 200 photos(non on full power) which causing the batteries red hot, never using the 2700mAh also, just normal 2000mAh.

This post has been edited by supersound: Jan 3 2015, 09:02 AM

I do agree supersound comment, but u need to know what u really want.... not everyone will end uo in full frame, if u think DX is suit u best, then u can invest some good lens for long term use

70-200 f2.8 for long shots..find 2nd hand one 3rd party..

Let's talk about what does "enough" means
Starting with 18-55mm lens
Does 18-55mm's 55mm long enough for me?
Does 18mm wide enough for me?

If you bought a DSLR that comes with kit lens, it's enough. Otherwise you would have been looking at others (body only) & buy a lens which suits you.

Not really, when I bought my first DSLR, I bought body + 18-105mm, as I know 55mm are not enough for me.
But once I tried to take a far object, I know that 105mm are not enough for me also.
A person won't really knows what zoom range are good for them until they test it.

Exactly my point. Otherwise you would have been stuck with the kit lens...errr...I thought 18-105mm is kit lens too?

This post has been edited by treblecase: Jan 4 2015, 02:18 PM

Yup, D7000, 5200 do come with 18-105mm.

I got the kit lens initially because that is pretty much what I can afford. And then I got a 50mm for portraits. No point getting a body only when I have no lens to begin with.

So now basically my case is like what supersound said. 18-55mm not long enuff. 24-70 not wide enuff. 18-140mm should be fine for now.

I'll just stick with it a bit longer, then I'll consider if I need to get a 55-200mm, or a 18-140mm. For now I think I'll focus on getting a decent speedlight and reflector. Are SB600 any good? Stumbled upon a second hand shop selling those.

I myself got
1) Sony DT 18-55mm,
2) Sony DT 50mm f1.8,
3) Tamron 18-200mm f3.5-6.1
4) Tamron 17-50mm f2.8

But I generally use 17-50mm f2.8 for all my day/night portrait photography
Therefore, I recommend 17-50mm f2.8

Get SB-700, better and you no need to upgrade better flash when you going for FX.
55-200mm may suit your needs now.
Flash I don't really go for 2nd hand as some people may abuse it(continuously flash it during event), maybe knowing the capacitor and bulb's price will be good(this is the parts that may fail). If it is just rm100-200 cheaper than new, then just go for new.

Yup, fully agree

Only 2nd stuffs that I'll consider is D lens, since it has minimum electronic parts inside.
Others I only consider if they price are <50% from its current market price.

Bro, where do u usually get yr stuffs?

AmCorp's J-one, Times Square's 6th or 8th floor