Hahahahahahahaha, that ISO button-thingy really cracked me up.

Today, I just helped a colleague of mine get grips with his D80. He had one lying around and decided to pick it up and use. Lucky b*stard

We played around, talked a lot about what affects exposure. He asked me stuff like how to get OOF backgrounds, panning shots, the various numbers on lenses and what they mean, etc. It was fun talking about photography technicalities. I used gear to show examples but that's about it e.g. f1.4 to effects of a large aperture on shutter speed and DOF, what does a wide angle lens do, what does minimum focusing distance mean, how shutter speed/aperture/ISO affects on an image, demonstrated the effectiveness of Sigma's OS, how to calculate the minimum shutter speed needed for hand holding, the effect of 1-stop in aperture on shutter, what is bulb mode, showed that there 1" shutter and more, what is bracketing, talked a bit on CLS (didn't bring my speedlight), talked a bit on HDR (no sample photos nor software), talked about different types of filters, batteries, camera bags, etc.

But ultimately, those were mere things to get out of the way. The more important thing to him and me (and this was on my mind all the time while briefing him) is how to prepare to take great pics for his Taiwan trip.

So to those that keep on going and going about gear, maybe go somewhere and talk OK? Because photography is not about gear. Really. Just go somewhere. Let's reserve the D40/x/60 thread for those that need help to get their camera out of the way to get great pictures. And also for sharing tips and nice pics lol

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Added on September 13, 2008, 1:24 amI think this advise has been given before and because it's still valid, I'll repeat it again. With slow telephoto like this one, try to get one with VC/OS/VR. Any sort of vibration reduction. Usually shutter speeds can be quite low during the golden hour (dusk/dawn). So basically you won't be able to handhold properly during the hours in which you are suppose to go take pictures. Not good. That's why Nikon's 70-300VR is expensive.

But of course, if you don't care about this, I guess this lens is as good as any. Nikkor's older 70-300 won't auto-focus. Sigma's new 70-300 will though. Image quality wise, between Sigma and Tamron, it's a toss. I really wouldn't expect one to outshine the other too much. Sigma's does offer a pseudo-macro mode (not 1:1 magnification) but I'm not sure about Tamron. If you like shooting flowers/bugs or any other macro work, the Sigma does offer a bit of a stop-gap measure before getting a real macro lens.

This post has been edited by ebernie: Sep 13 2008, 01:24 AM

Now really, I didn't think I'm that smart actually. But if you insist

Oh, I give up. xandman, you are right. I just envy your D3 and you having so much money. I really do. You got me. Since I only do Java for a living, no way I can splurge on a D3 or the expensive Nikkor lenses.

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Anyone seriously considering the D90? As a 2nd body maybe? Quite a few at the flickr D40/x/60 group has started their transition. Wondering if it'll happen here hehehe

Yes, indeed the D90 would be the primary body

It's too bad there no body-only option yet.

Yeah, it's the 18-105VR f3.5-5.6. It's a good starter lens (replacing the 18-135 methinks).

I've ignored the D40x and D60 and will continue to ignore this D60 special edition lol. But I bet their target buyers are new DSLR users, not us.

Oh, congrats on your baby, Darthbaboon. A good time to have a DSLR for you then.

Motivation to upgrade? Mostly the high ISO performance, bigger viewfinder, more auto-focus points, 3" high-res LCD, motor-in body. And the fact that my gf might want to pick up my D40 for her own use. But, frankly speaking, I'm not sure I wanna spend 4.5k on it. For that kind of money, I'll get a 2nd hand D300 (body only).

Ultimately, it's just a dream for now. Money is an issue.

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Btw, I'm selling off my 18-200 Sigma. Planning to snatch a new lens. Maybe a 17-50 tamron.

I 2nd that. Absolutely unique look. Me like

Oh and btw, got myself a D80. D40 now with my girlfriend

Finally, can have decent pictures of myself. You know how photogs always end up with very little pics of themselves. Tsk tsk tsk.

Ah, thanks!

A bag and 4GB SD? The bag looks niiiiiice though. Just nice when don't want to carry all the gear.

Regarding macro lenses, if only using for product shoot, why not hunt for a 55mm f3.5 micro AIS lens? With extension tubes, it'll still cost less than 400 ringgit. Damn cheap if not a bugger shooter

Bugger shooters need longer lenses. Heard Sigma 150mm + Raynox can get quite stunning results.

No metering and no auto focus. Not really a problem la (depending on what you shoot). For product / still life macros, how hard is it to guess the shutter/ISO/aperture, then snap. Check the pic, change a bit, snap again. To save around 1.3k (compared to the new 60mm AF-S), why not?

Btw, AIS lens will meter on D200/D300 (and I assume the other pro bodies).

This post has been edited by ebernie: Sep 15 2008, 08:07 PM

Here's my own shot of the moon using my D40 + 18-200 Sigma


You actually can use quite a high shutter because need to underexpose the moon by quite a few stops.

This post has been edited by ebernie: Sep 16 2008, 02:28 PM

KTCY, when you find a nice sky like this one, better to frame it or anchor it with another subject.

Oh, and in PC can crop also ma

Have to remember that D40/x/60 viewfinder coverage is only 9x%, this means that things you DON'T see will be captured in your pic. What I usually do is after framing, I move my camera left and right slightly to see if there's anything I can see. If there is, there's a chance those will be captured, despite not seeing it in the viewfinder.

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Added on September 17, 2008, 5:42 pmFor 2K I'll get a D80 body

Oh, wait, I did

This post has been edited by ebernie: Sep 17 2008, 05:42 PM

Shooting? Where? Sound fun

I bought it by scurrying around in 2nd hand forums (yes, it's 2nd hand). Build is good, much better than the nikkor 50mm f1.8 or f1.4. Totally sealed lens with no moving parts. It's also all metal, and is heavier than your regular prime. 62mm diameter so it looks mightily large on your camera. When I bought it, I brought along a laptop and printed a focusing chart to check for focus errors. Shot at f1.4 - f2 and the lens is OK so I bought it

Performance wise, as long as there's no focusing errors it's a darn handy lens. It's best at f1.8 and above. At f1.4 it is *slightly* soft but still a very good lens. Don't hesitate to shoot wide open, just make sure you focus correctly. At f1.4, you can shoot without flash in most situations, even at night.

P/S: most lens (dare I say all? Maybe except the old Nikkor 35mm f2) is softer wide-open than stopped down.

Also, after using this lens, I realize that it's no replacement for a 50mm. 50mm is very suited as a short portrait lens (plus at f1.x, you get good bokeh). 85mm too (but a tad long-ish for me though). So no doubt I'm now hunting for an el-cheapo 50mm f1.8 as a portrait lens.

Just a shout out too - anyone with a 70-210 f4 AF (not e-series) do contact me. I want a budget telephoto with constant aperture.

This post has been edited by ebernie: Sep 18 2008, 10:52 AM

You just said it yourself - the 70-200VR is softer wide open than stopped down

Just noticed in my flickr list of contacts - darthbaboon is officially a daddy

For discrepancies in Sigma's 30mm pricing, do take note that they differ greatly between locally warrantied lens vs parallel import stuff. Difference is for locally warrantied stuff, you can drop by JOne or Sigma office/workshop at Damansara to service your lens. For grey market, you'll need to ship it (or wait for your seller to ship it) back to a country outside Malaysia (might be HK/Singapore/Thailand/Japan).

Ah, sweet god a new 50mm f1.4! It seems small and light, with a small filter size. That alone is good against Sigma's monster of a lens. 72/77mm is really quite large for a prime lens.

Side topic: anyone ever saw a 90mm f1.0? Canon mount. That lens is as big as a child's head.

Yeah, but I literally had one in my face. I swear I can fit my entire face into that 90mm diameter lens Manual focus some more! Hahahaha

But true, Sigma's lens actually is sharper than a Carl Zeiss lens (which is sharper than the old Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF D). I'm still crossing my fingers and hope Nikkor engineers somehow managed to beat Sigma with a smaller package.

In the mean time, my 30mm will cure whatever urge I have

Btw, it's true that 50mm f1.4 AIS/AI lenses is cheap (they're only 450-600 ringgit), I still can't convince myself to manual focus. No split-screen and all.

Btw, anyone saw the latest micro-4/3 from Olympus? It's freaking sweet. It looks like a compact with a DSLR lens (with a 4/3 sensor). No mirror and viewfinder though. So it seems in the not-too-distant future, compacts will have 4/3 (or APS-C?) size sensors. I really can't wait for this. I love street shooting and having a DSLR in your hands really don't fit the bill. I hope this will spur a price war in the rangefinder cameras too. Then I can leave the Nikon DSLRs to do the heavy duty stuff while street shooting using something much smaller without compromising quality. Sweet

This post has been edited by ebernie: Sep 22 2008, 09:39 PM

Manual metering is easy la. It's the focusing that's tough. And like you mentioned, advanced bodies can meter with AI-S lenses.

Manual metering is not tough. It's tough if you can't check your images right after you take them but since we have the LCD screen to review the picture right after taking them, not to mention the uber useful histogram, manual metering is not tough at all.

Of course, I'm talking from experience shooting in manual mode all the time. Any exposure errors can be easily corrected by manipulating the shutter/aperture/ISO (in that order). If you shoot in any program modes, then have to fool around with exposure compensation... maybe troublesome a bit.

Now, compare this to manual focusing.
1. you can't really use the D40's LCD to check for sharpness
2. the green dot helps in focusing (duh), but can you tell what did u focus on?
3. what if your subject moves? can ur hands match the speed of a focusing motor to track the subject?

And ultimately, unlike fixing exposure errors, you can't just turn a knob on your camera. To make matters worse, focusing errors are also almost impossible to fix in post-processing. Not so with exposure issues.

Anymore questions kids?

This post has been edited by ebernie: Sep 23 2008, 12:20 AM

Sorry, but I lost you back there. Are you saying you need to do stop down metering with the D40 with AIS lenses? Are you sure?