Nikon 28-80mm 1:3.5-5.6D Lense... good for? Speedlight SB-600?

[DanInNewEngland]

I inherited a Nikon D50 but sold it and upgraded to Nikon D5100 but still have a nice lense though older from the other camera. It fits and works on my new one. What is it good for? What types of photos? How is it different than my 18-55mm? I also have a Speedlight SB-600 that works with my camera as well. Is this a good flash? Seems to have alot of features.

[Polar01]

Dan:
What is it good for? Answer: taking pictures
What type of photos? Answer: whatever is of interest to you
How is it different than my 18-55mm? Answer: not as short but longer, same speed, older
Is it a good flash? Answer: yes
Seems to have alot of features: Answer: yes.
Dan I believe that you can answer those questions, ask yourself what good are you other lens, what type of photos do they take, and how do they differ from the old len. You are asking questions my daugthers did 15 years ago they are now 25, I will help you, but I am not going to do it for you. Give me you thoughts on the questions you asked, and I will let you know if you are going in the right direction to better understand.

Cheers:

Allan

[DanInNewEngland]

Hmmm. I'm not sure if you talked down to your daughter that way Allan but your answers were of zero value to me in any way. Your info about the lense being longer etc. was incorrect as well. I'm not an idiot please don't treat me as one. I thought my questions were valid. Thanks for trying.

[Dave Humphries]

Ok Gents, let me try instead.

Dan,

The 28-80mm, is "a little longer" - i.e. it goes to 80mm, not 55mm - and we are talking about focal length, not physical (barrel) length here, since focal length is more relevant.

You have the 18-55mm; the 28-80mm won't be of much benefit, especially since it won't Auto-Focus on a D5100 and you have a 55-300mm lens. It doesn't have VR either.

The SB600 speedlight is about a quarter to one third 'up' the total scale of Nikon flash/strobe Units; much better than the SB400, but not as versatile or powerful as the 700/800/900 series. This is just my general knowledge, I don't have a Nikon flash. If you have it, use it, would be my suggestion.

Cheers,

[jiro]

Looking at your signature, I doubt it if your 28-80mm lens would work properly with your Nikon D5100 since it's a D-type lens. Only the gelded (G-type) lenses would work on your camera right now. The 28-80mm overlaps both of your 18-55mm and 55-300mm lens so it is not much of value to you in terms of practical use due to redundancy of range. I'd probably consider selling it and use the extra money to buy filters or some good accessories. The SB-600 is a good flash unit. If you want to go to the Strobist path, this would be a good unit to start with. Buying a remote flash trigger system would make this more versatile for off-camera operation. Good luck on your photography then.

[DanInNewEngland]

Thank you Dave. I may have been ignorant about focal length and want to thank you for educating me about that. Primary reason for asking about the lens was to confirm my suspicion that is was a redundant lens for me at the moment based on my other lenses. I want to buy one more lens for my hunting/fishing/camping/hiking in the White Mountains and other areas. It is the http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...6_3_DG_OS.html Sigma 150-500 lens. I doubt I can get anything for my older 28-80mm lens. Any suggested price off the top of your head for it? I got $400 for my Nikon D50 and wish I had packaged the lens with it for more. As for my flash thank you for the feedback. I will keep it. It seems pretty nice and I have a great video I found on lighting and using strobe lights so I will incorporate it in the future as I progress in my knowledge and skill level. I didn't put "Extreme Rookie" in my sig for no reason "The less I know the more I learn" - ME (just made that up and like it lol)

[DanInNewEngland]

Hi Willie Funny thing about the lens... it fits works AND takes *very* nice photos. Strange huh? I mentioned above to Dave that I was asking to confirm that this was an older redundant lens for me because I am interested in selling it to buy another lens... the http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...6_3_DG_OS.html Sigma 150-500mm for wildlife/outdoor photography. I still need to pick up the ME-1 mic for my camera. I may invest in the remote flash trigger in the future when I learn more about the stobe flash. I have found some excellent tutorials on using the flash and need to practice with it. I have a UV filter for both my lenses and a polarized one for my telephoto that I don't use. I thought maybe the 28-80mm would be better for portraits/close ups/etc. but I will have to look into better lenses for those specific purposes. I hope your using your interval timer to watch the grass grow

[jiro]

I believe it would work but won't autofocus. This lens has 2 versions - The black plastic body and the silver one. The silver one is "sharper" though it's a cheap kit lens. Such it the main difference with a D-type to a G-type lens - Autofocusing. If it works beautifully for you then that is good. The resale price falls at $50.00 - $70.00 so I might as well keep it.

[DanInNewEngland]

TY again Willie... I'm thinking tommorrow about looking into a AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G lens. It is fairly inexpensive as compared with others. Would a 50mm be better for portraits? I enjoyed your blog btw and the shot of the girl with her brother is amazing. Those are the kind of shots I love to take as well. Do you think 35 or 50m would take nice shots like yours or did you have specialized lenses and filters?

[TheEvilDonut]

Hello Dan,

Just thought I'd share this.

I went to my photo store with the intent of getting the 50mm f/1.8 and walked out with the 35.

The sales guy was kind enough to let me try both lenses. I found the 50 to be very tight. If you intent on using it inside you may run out of room if you want to include more than one person in your frame. I am very happy with the 35mm and do not regret the purchase one bit.

[blakemcguire]

Jiro, there are D lenses that are AF-S, and I know there is at least one G lens that is AF. Just a minor thing that I want to point out.

Dan, The 35mm would be a good choice as a standard lens. A 50mm might be a good idea for portraits, but the biggest difference is that it would have more compression (meaning less of the background will be included in the picture)

[DanInNewEngland]

Thank you very much Luc! I plan on grilling the sales staff as well as bringing my camera to see the difference. Unfortunately the store I bought my camera at is closing but it's a chain and there are two others not to far from me. I do want to use it inside as well as outside which I plan to use my other lenses for mostly. Based on your feedback I will probally go with the 35mm http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/RI541533725.htm it has an excellent description. Now I need to read up on DX and FX formats lol

[DanInNewEngland]

My lense is an AF and I don't think it actually autofocuses with my camera. I don't know about anyone else but the autofocus on my D5100 is...... ok. I have to manually focus almost all the time to get a proper photo. I do like that it goes to 3.5 vs my other lenses which are 4.5 and I think going with the 35mm f/1.8G will be exactly what I am looking for. Thanks Blake!

[jiro]

TY again Willie... I'm thinking tommorrow about looking into a AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G lens. It is fairly inexpensive as compared with others. Would a 50mm be better for portraits? I enjoyed your blog btw and the shot of the girl with her brother is amazing. Those are the kind of shots I love to take as well. Do you think 35 or 50m would take nice shots like yours or did you have specialized lenses and filters?

The 35mm would be a good option for you since both my D70 and your D5100 is a DX crop sensor camera. The 35mm lens will work very similar to a true full-frame 50mm equivalent which others say is the one closest to how the human eye sees images with respect to coverage. I don't have any special lenses with me. So far, what I have is the 18-70mm lens (my go to lens everyday), a 50mm f/1.8D lens, and a salvaged 80-200mm f/4.5 -5.6D lens from my old Nikon F70D film camera. I use all 3 in street photography depending on my relative distance to the subject and in my intention to isolate my subject from the background. The 50mm works well because of the wide aperture though the issue is that I need to walk back and forth to properly compose my shot. At times I lost that decisive moment because the 50mm actually acts like 75mm so the framing is a bit tight. I usually use the 18-70mm 90% of the time for street photography but lately I seem to agree with the idea that a long zoom range is really good for street shots since your subject will never know they are being photographed because you are actually on the other side of the street zoomed at 200mm! You are very fine should you buy the 35mm lens. I plan to buy one but I can't afford it right now. Good luck on your choice of lens then.

[Black Pearl]

My lense is an AF and I don't think it actually autofocuses with my camera. I don't know about anyone else but the autofocus on my D5100 is...... ok. I have to manually focus almost all the time to get a proper photo. I do like that it goes to 3.5 vs my other lenses which are 4.5 and I think going with the 35mm f/1.8G will be exactly what I am looking for. Thanks Blake!

Can I ask how you're using your camera. I suspect you're using it like a compact or a phone and shooting in Live View mode framing the shot using the LCD. I say this as the AF through the viewfinder is very good. While 11 AF points isn't the best on the market I've never heard anyone complaining its so bad they need to use manual focus.
In Live View mode I'll agree it's slow, plus it does a full range cycle with each half press, but really that's not the way to use a SLR.

[DanInNewEngland]

Hi Robin. I started out using Live View mode but learned that using the viewfinder is much better and doesn't heat up as quickly so it's better for my camera as well. The lcd is only used for viewing my menus now and after shot photos to see how they came out. I will stand by my comment that I am dissapointed in the autofocus for getting the sharpest photos. It seems to be very close but I have to flip it to manual often but not always and tweak it to get the sharpest image. Sometimes it used to just go back and forth and not even be focused when it stopped focusing. Annoying and time consuming. I am sure it is just me not the camera right? I don't mind using manual especially if I get the sharpest photo that way but for the price of lenses I would expect it to snap to the sharpest image using all the technology it has to determine that. I'm practicing with changing the meter settings to see if that makes the difference as well.

[TheEvilDonut]

I will stand by my comment that I am dissapointed in the autofocus for getting the sharpest photos.

I must say that I am also a bit surprised. I use a D3100 which has pretty much the same entrails as your D5100 and my AF is pretty much spot on most of the time. The lens of course can be a factor. For instance when I use my Nikkor 55-300 the AF will sometimes have some difficulties when zoomed to 300mm but that is due to the lens (as stated by Ken Rockwell), not the camera itself.

I do hope you find the problem though. The D5100 is a very good camera.

[krispix]

TY again Willie... I'm thinking tommorrow about looking into a AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G lens. It is fairly inexpensive as compared with others. Would a 50mm be better for portraits? I enjoyed your blog btw and the shot of the girl with her brother is amazing. Those are the kind of shots I love to take as well. Do you think 35 or 50m would take nice shots like yours or did you have specialized lenses and filters?

Hi Dan,

You seem to be getting a lot of good advice already, so I'll keep this short. For portraits you want to have a lens between 1.5X and 2X standard focal length, this is to avoid distortion (big noses etc.). There's nothing to be gained at the moment by going into the science of how 'standard' is established but on your camera it's going to be about 35mm, so ideally you'll want between 50 - 70mm. As the f1.8 50mm is a great lens (and very cheap for what you get) I would strongly recommend you go for that. Mine is rarely off the camera!

[DanInNewEngland]

I agree Luc. I really notice it when I am trying to take nice shots of my cats or vegetables in my garden. I want to see the whiskers and clear eyes on them or water droplets and fine hairs on the veggies. I noticed the photos were off so I went to manual and got ultrasharp photos the way I thought they should be. Take a glance at the photos I have online in albums here to see what I mean if you have a minute. Love the camera don't get me wrong though I am eyeballing the D3200 (RED). Might surprise my daughter with my D5100 as an upgrade to her point & shoot.

[Black Pearl]

Personally I'd get the D5100 checked out as it should be razor sharp and super fast almost without fail.

It uses the same AF chip as the D90/D200/D5000/D3100 and they all have a good following - I had a D200 and whilst it wasn't the best at tracking fast moving stuff it was very precise with static subjects and I rarely if even needed to use it in manual mode.

If you just want to shoot portraits then yes a 50mm will be the best but if you want a day-to-day lens to use as a 'standard' lens I'd go with the AF-S 35mm f1.8 DX. I have both and rarely use the 50mm, in fact I often leave the 16-85mm at home and just go out with the 35mm....its that good.