http://broken!!!!/

I see what you mean Jye.... the detail on the little red cross has been totally destroyed! ;)

lol, sorry I'm having problems with photobucket, normal service will be resumed as soon as I wake up properly, still slightly hung over from last night :D

Reason: bah - he fixed the image! ;)

:D

eeeek, the excitement of it all

;)

Can someone explain to me (in simple terms :D ), the key differences (I get the 18-17mm bit) between these lenses, all of which I've seen offered in a kit....
Maybe pros/cons too.

AF 28-80mm f/3.3-5.6G
AF-S DX 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G SG IF ED
AF-DG 28-200mm 3.5-5.6 (IF)


Ta.

Been looking into the difference in lenses myself, and have come to the following conclusions:-

The 24-85mm Lens offered by Jessops in their £1099 Kit is generally reckoned to be the best available in a kit with the D70.

The 18-70mm is highly commended too - but, is quite a bit away from the 24-85mm above. Supplied in the Kit costing £928 from Amazon and other places.

The 28-80mm lens, as offered by Dixons and some others at about £799 for the kit, is considered to be the poorest lens available in the D70 Kit. (I would say it should be avoided, if you are paying this kind of money the extra few £100 is worth it for the better lens)

Your 28 - 200 offering is probably a Sigma lens? Sigma do excellent lenses BUT, a zoom of that range suffers under compromise (it will be outstanding at one setting, say 135mm - average at most other settings and very poor at a couple, say, 28mm and 200mm)

Pete

The 28-200 is a Nikon lens - the clue is in the nomenclature. "G" lenses are like "D" lenses, but have no aperture ring on the lens. Not an issue for anyone using a modern camera... Both G and D provide distance information to the 3D evaluative matrix, and also for use by flash computations.

ED signifies enhanced dispersion, or something like that. It's a coating to cut internal reflections in the lens, and reduce chromatic aberation.

For lens reviews, check:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/nikkor.htm
The G lens review - http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/28200g.htm

Hope this helps somewhat.
Nick.

Wow... how confused am I...????? I thought people on the thread were saying the 18-70 was the one to go for...?

More questions...
What are the specs of the Jessops lens?
If G and D are different, what's a DG?

I've seen body only, in stock, for 671 inc which seems not bad, would it be worth getting that with a compromise lens and chasing down a higher spec lens later?

my sigma 70-200 2.8 arrives from hong kong tommorow!

£399 and 10 mins on ebay- brand new!

T

The 18 - 70 is said to be a great lens in its own right for the D70, especially if you only have one lens. It has a more 'all round' and useful focal range (mainly the wider angle) over the 24 - 85 lens. It's also an AF-S lens which will focus faster on the D70 than a D lens will.

Its also a bargain in kit form :)

my sigma 70-200 2.8 arrives from hong kong tommorow!

£399 and 10 mins on ebay- brand new!

T

Looks like my next purchase :D

jye- look at digitalrev.com

i transfered funds to their UK bank acc and they put the lens in the post same day- 2 days to get here and £200 + below UK costs.

The general concensus is that, assuming you want a wide angle equivalent (which you do in most instances), buy the 18-70 as part of a kit. It's a good quality, sharp lens that is well worth the 200 quid it costs in kit form.

If you do not need something that wide, look elsewhere but be aware that to get a decent wide lens in the future will cost money. The Sigma 18-55 DC at 100 quid seems to be a very marginal lens, so your options for a quality lens are seriously limited at the moment, unless you want to spend big.

Hence, if you want wide, go with the kit lens!

Hope this helps somewhat.
Nick.

Thanks Tiggs, will do

Right.....mine's ordered, and comes back from Singapore in my friend's hand luggage on Saturday ;) :D

D70 + 18-70 lens - SGD 2100, or about £690 in GBP :D

Also ordered SB600 flash at SGD 380 - around £120.

Incidentally, how many images can you get on a 512mb card?

Each image is about 2.5-3MB in size for high quality large jpeg.

That SB600 is dirt cheap, but the best advice seems to be to get the SB800, even if you don't think you need the extra facilities of the 800. The reach is quite a lot better, and you're getting a more comprehensive flash. Might be worth phoning a friend :) , as it'll still be cheap compared to buying in the UK. (git!)

I got some excellent images from TOTB3, despite the bloody awful light! Colour management is now giving me serious headaches, as I shot in AdobeRGB, and making stuff look good on the web is a near impossible task as all browsers seem to use sRGB. I'm now shooting in custom optimise mode, with AdobeRGB, no sharpening and all other in-camera stuff turned off. Works nicely :D

Gaaaaaah!

Nick
Cheers. So around 170 images at 3mb each. Excellent, got around 60gb hard disc space on my PC, time for some serious snapping :D

Will be a step up from my Olympus OM1N and Fuji Finepix 4700 current setup!

Am also going to get a Nikon 70-300 f4-5.6 AF ED lens, but not much dearer to get that here so will pop down to Jessops :)

Off to the States in four weeks, one week holiday then one week business, will have to pack the new toy - just got to learn how to use it in the meantime :D

D70 ppl...i have photoshop CS which opens the nef files and lets me alter WB, EXP etc....so is there any point in getting NC?

I dont fancy spend ing £100 if i dont need it?

(although another £100 after the sigma 70-200 2.8, the SB800, the two 1gb cards, close up lens, etc, etc might not make much difference!)

Tiggs, I wouldn't personally bother. Photoshop CS is pretty hot for everything like that, and I cannot abide some of the NC user interface foibles.

Dave, you'll probably get more than that on there, as I managed 119 on a 256MB card! Have a look at the Sigma 70-300 APO II, as that gives you a macro facility and is cheaper than the 70-300ED. Also, the 70-300ED is made apparently by Tamron, who make a 70-300LD with macro for around 100 quid which is by all accounts a good lens. However, the Nikkor will be worth more come resale if that bothers u...

Nick

LOL, 200+ images on 512mb is a bit better than 25 on the 16mb card in my Fuji! :D

I had already looked at the Sigma, but had decided to keep all Nikon badged, even if it is made by Tamron!

Thanks for your input. Can't wait to get it :D

dave- check out the sigma 70-200 2.8.....i got it last week and its stunning. i did some stuff indoors with no flash and the results where great.

Tiggs
I would, but want the extra bit of reach that a 300 will give (although an extra fstop on the 200 2.8 is nice). Should be able to do everything I want with the 300 and the 18-70 then :)

dave- i have just got the sigma 2x converter which gives me the exra range and as the lens is fast the two stops of light lost are not a big deal

Tiggs
I'm personally not a great fan of converters. You probably lose another f stop and some clarity. Besides, just trotted up to Jessops in the City and bought the Nikon 70-300 ED. Just need the camera to go on the end of it now :D

Tiggs
Just need the camera to go on the end of it now :D


Some ppl are never satisfied are they!

:p :D

Ya know, get onto moles and reinsurance, and this could be a classic old timers thread...

if i had the energy i post up some of sti-go fast's pics of "huntin horses"..........but i havent got the energy so just use your imagination :D

LOL, the moles threads - I have a feeling the derelict barn I am trying to buy will almost certainly have a mole problem - watch this space..... :D