Nikon User Thread

Some pics I took last weekend at a picnic I was at.

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I am a relative newcomer to photography. I have read some theory, but have never really shot a lot. I am trying to rectify that. I own a D200 and one lens, the 50mm 1.8D. Everyone talks about the colors and the crispness of this lens, but honestly, I have never gotten results I am happy with. That obviously speaks to my skill and not the quality of the lens.

Today was the first day I got pictures that I am a bit happier with. We were driving along the beach and happened to notice a kite festival at a state park. I didn't even know such things existed, but when we saw...literally hundreds...of kites flying in the air, we had to stop.

These (I thought they were good :P ) came straight out of the camera. I like the color tone and the range you see in the blues (on the first two - the third is really just to show the craziness). Nice Sunday.
 

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alveraz said:
Nice shots. The 1.8 comes with practice. It'll get nice and sharp when used correctly. Good luck!
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I agree... Stop the lens down past f/4 and it gets sharper. The D200 is a crappy camera if you don't know what you are doing because almost all of the images need some manipulation in post (it is a pro line camera vs. an amatuer camera). The curve settings in a D(4,5,8)0 are much better if you are looking for some keepers right out of the camera.
 
Jeremy Ordan said:
I agree... Stop the lens down past f/4 and it gets sharper. The D200 is a crappy camera if you don't know what you are doing because almost all of the images need some manipulation in post (it is a pro line camera vs. an amatuer camera). The curve settings in a D(4,5,8)0 are much better if you are looking for some keepers right out of the camera.
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Interesting. I had been trying to follow what I thought was the general advice of keeping at a stop or two just short of wide open (2.2 I believe on this lens). I will have to stop it down a bit more and see what I can get in terms of increased sharpness.

The other problem, of course, is that I don't own a tripod. I really need to get on that (in my opinion) if I am ever going to make the jump to better looking photos.

A general question - do you have a "next lens" recommendation? I like the sound of an 18-200 because I would really like the ability to shoot wide, but I also feel like I don't have anything that can do portrait-type closeup work. Keep in mind that I am obviously still a beginner and so a beginner-friendly lens, to the extent that such a thing exists, would be great.

Thanks for the feedback guys...much appreciated.
 
After a short delay... Heres a recent one, I wanted to test the actual range of focus on something with a lot of texture, and this turned out well.

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D80 18-135mm f/3.5
 
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M Street Studios said:
Interesting. I had been trying to follow what I thought was the general advice of keeping at a stop or two just short of wide open (2.2 I believe on this lens). I will have to stop it down a bit more and see what I can get in terms of increased sharpness.

The other problem, of course, is that I don't own a tripod. I really need to get on that (in my opinion) if I am ever going to make the jump to better looking photos.

A general question - do you have a "next lens" recommendation? I like the sound of an 18-200 because I would really like the ability to shoot wide, but I also feel like I don't have anything that can do portrait-type closeup work. Keep in mind that I am obviously still a beginner and so a beginner-friendly lens, to the extent that such a thing exists, would be great.

Thanks for the feedback guys...much appreciated.
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Wide open is NEVER on any lens the sharpest point of a lens. Do a search for some lens reviews to find the sweet spot of a lens, where it is sharpest.

Now, for a next lens??? Do you prefer to shoot primes or zooms? I don't like the 18-200 because it is SSSSSLLLLLOOOOWWWW.

Personally I like fast glass, so if you have a 50mm already look into something like a Sigma 24-70 f2.8 or something like a Nikon 70-200 f2.8

Otherwise look into primes like a 28mm 2.8, 85 1.4, 105 2.8, or 300 2.8
 
well, here are a few from playing with someone's 70-300mm lens (which is currently in the mail), click away, let me know what you think.

decorative waterfowl make me smile:


a nice happy flower in my friend's yard


after playing with it in lightroom:


-brad
 
Alv,
If you don't mind me asking and you don't mind answering. How much do you charge to take images and process them and or how many do you take of the person, so on and so forth? Send me a PM if you feel more comfortable answering through there!

Thanks
Adam
 
Hey Giz,

I have a rates section at www.ricardezphoto.com. I'm pretty consistently booked now and pay the bills with actor headshots. It's a great gig for a filmmaker cause I set my own hours around whatever film projects I'm on. Not that you asked, just though it was relevant considering the forum.
 
Well it wasn't a ring flash. It was a LED ring light that the school had! It works! I also brought down the sharpness in post because it looks a little better with it being not as sharp!
 
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