Firefish photo..

[weileong]

3000mm (f/12, 1sec exposure) enough for you?

[weileong]

same shot but with 85mm.

[ervine]

3000mm??? u mean 300 right? or u using ur telescope??

image stabalizer? Sigma lens?

Hehe.. here's another shot I took... got up at 545am this morning to get there in time for sunrise... yawn

[weileong]

I meant 3000 mm (three thousand). Using my telescope Whole thing mounted, too heavy to carry with hands.

[ervine]

Ahhh.. Hm.. maybe I should borrow my brother's telescope too hahaha...

No seriously... got suggestions for zoom lens?

[roidan]

if u are patient..maybe u can wait for this lens out in spring 2005...

18mm- 200mm

on your DSLR it will be a film equivalent field of 28.8mm to 320mm...somemore got macro ability to take insects on your nature trail....

u get the zoom range of wat your friend is using now 70-200, and yet u have the wide end of 18mm (28.8mm) as well....a total one lens solution

picture quality we don't know since it's not out yet..but i am sure it should be pretty neat especially when stopped down.

http://www.tamron.com/news/35mm/18200di2.asp

[roidan]

anyway,

here is a useful site

http://www.photozone.de/bindex2.html

u can see performance surveys of your nikkor lenses as well as those from 3rd parties

[williammuk]

3000mm (f/12, 1sec exposure) enough for you?

weileong, your lens power manz!!!

I'd be very worried if I were staying in this block ...

[ervine]

wah 18-200mm.. one lens can go everywhere liao!! and in such a compact body!!

Cool.... but prob will cost quite a lot man... I'm considering a lower end one for now... since I don't like taking sports...

[roidan]

price wise should be cheaper than the nikkors of that zoom range....

i am currently using a sigma 18-125mm lens now and its about $500 bucks....i figure the tamron 18-200mm will be less than 1k

i also feel like getting the canon 17-85mm lens with Image stabiliser....just because of the IS...but then i ask myself why i need it since i am doing pretty ok without IS......and this lens cost 1k...many people feel that it's not worth that...at that price range can consider some of the premium L lenses from the canon range already.

well...that sums up what we DSLR users face....the pleasant dilemma of choosing lenses

but seriously your 18-70mm kit lens is good enough already for most photographic situations...so maybe u can just tahan the itch not to play with lenses and ur wallet should be safe

[ervine]

But need a zoom leh.. sometimes just need it.. haha.. like today..

Anyways, I thinking of getting the Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO Macro Super II... got best of both worlds, got my zoom and my Macro... haha... supposed to go for approx 300+++....

Any comments?

Can see sample images using the sigma lens at http://www.pbase.com/cameras/sigma/70-300_..._macro_super_ii just hit refresh to see more

[roidan]

if u want a super power zoom lens but yet a fraction of what you would pay for the nikkors...

here u go

http://www.naturescapes.net/092003/hf0903.htm

http://www.vividlight.com/articles/413.HTM

http://www.lonestardigital.com/Sigma_50-500.htm

Those using it, lovingly refer it as the BIGma ....hehe

[roidan]

yup, u can get the Sigma 70-300mm for about 200plus....quite a number of sellers in the 2nd hand market for this lenses whether in the canon or nikon mount....guess they have moved on to other lenses

so if you want to try try....should be a cheap try-out at 200plus...even if u dun like it in the end and want to sell it, you won't be losing much money also

anyway, i also recommend using microdrives for cheap storage per GB compared to CF. i used to have worries over its reliability, but i brought 2 microdrives to japan. one hitachi 4GB and one seagate 5GB and both worked well and never lost a picture.....

http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?...=26532&hl=japan

[ervine]

as much as I wish I could have the 50-500, it's a bit too overkill for now... I think I start with the cheapo sigma one first... like u said sell also don lose much money

[ryz]

my cheapo Lumix FZ 20 has 36-432mm lens plus 4x digital zoom. with the Mega Optical Image Stabiliser can take clear and sharp pix with 48x zoom carrying the camera on my hands. quite cool. the picture quality doesn't drastically deteriorate after I use digital zoom. v fun to play with lol. so it's like having up to 1728mm zoom.

[mv3i]

nice shots !!!

me newbie also in DSLR... wat's extension tube , prime lenses ???

[roidan]

Extension tubes are designed to enable a lens to focus closer than its normal set minimum focusing distance. Getting closer has the effect of magnifying your subject (making it appear larger in the viewfinder and in your pictures). They are exceptionally useful for macro photography, enabling you to convert almost any lens into a macro lens at a fraction of the cost while maintaining its original optical quality.

The extension tubes have no optics. They are mounted in between the camera body and lens to create more distance between the lens and film plane. By moving the lens father away from the film or CCD sensor in the camera, the lens is forced to focus much closer than normal. The greater the length of the extension tube, the closer the lens can focus.

as for prime lenses...they just mean lenses of fixed focal lengths...

means u cannot go tele or wide on such prime lenses...

for 18mm prime..it means just fixed at 18mm ....28mm means 28mm and so on...

u have to move yourself to capture the subject rather than zooming the lens to capture

generally they are sharper than their zoom counterparts....say 18mm prime lenses tend to be sharper and better optically than 18mm on zooms, but of coz u have to put up with the hassle of changing prime lenses when the situation changes and you need a longer range....

for a zoom user...u just zoom to the range u want and continue taking your pics...for a prime user..that means reaching the camera bag for your prime lenses of other focal lengths and switching lenses....thus photographic moments may be lost...

but for situations where u dun really zoom much like studio/product photography, you can probably make do with a prime lens of your favourite focal length

[cheese]

3000mm (f/12, 1sec exposure) enough for you?

Bro, how did u mount the telescope to your D70? What brand of telescope was that? Where to get? Please teach me leh. I have wanting to get one for a long long time for all my Nikon's SLR.

I'm using the D100 bought way before D70, and now saving for a 12-24mm lens.

Cheers!

[roidan]

he is using Takahashi Mewlon 250 on the William optics GT-ONE German Equatorial Mount

http://www.lsstnr.com/M250.htm

USD$12 000 ???

weileong

[roidan]

weileong, i think u should get a worthy DSLR body for such a power telescope....

me targetting the canon 1Ds MKII, canon launch price is $14 999, but street price is $12,900 to latest sources...buy 2 together maybe got more discount

but since u nikon camp, u can wait for the Nikon D2X

super cam for super telescope....

[ervine]

madness... BTW teles should not be used in daylight right???

[cheese]

he is using Takahashi Mewlon 250 on the William optics GT-ONE German Equatorial Mount 

http://www.lsstnr.com/M250.htm

USD$12 000 ???

weileong 

Wow!!! Extremely rich man leh! I normally thought any lens exceeding 10k would only own by studio, didn't know....I really "5 body-parts drop floor" Weileong, u r my God! At least, now I know I m not alone that have spent so much on photography.

My next dream...Nikon D2X.

[roidan]

D2X

http://jancology.com/blog/archives/2004/12...from_japan.html

According to digitalcamera.jp and PC Watch the noise of the Nikon D2X on ISO400 exceeds the Canon EOS-1D mark II. On ISO800 it is still competitive with ISO400 of the Mark II.

no wonder Nikon is pricing the D2X way below the Canon 1Ds MarkII....

go go Nikon

rumours of D80 is coming....8mp to bia with canon 20d in the 8mp league ...hehe

p.s. D2X finally went the CMOS way, breaking away from Nikon's CCD tradition...and guess who made D2X's CMOS sensor?

SONY. hehe..but no surprise again... Sony is the manufacturer of the CCD sensors used in previous Nikon digital SLR's

[cheese]

D2X

http://jancology.com/blog/archives/2004/12...from_japan.html

According to digitalcamera.jp and PC Watch the noise of the Nikon D2X on ISO400 exceeds the Canon EOS-1D mark II. On ISO800 it is still competitive with ISO400 of the Mark II.

no wonder Nikon is pricing the D2X way below the Canon 1Ds MarkII....

go go Nikon

rumours of D80 is coming....8mp to bia with canon 20d in the 8mp league ...hehe

p.s. D2X finally went the CMOS way, breaking away from Nikon's CCD tradition...and guess who made D2X's CMOS sensor?

SONY. hehe..but no surprise again... Sony is the manufacturer of the CCD sensors used in previous Nikon digital SLR's

Ha, ha, not uncommon. Nikon is always noiser and famous for it too. But no choice leh, too many Nikons at home liao. And Canon update their model like changing water like that, cannot even catchup with them (just personal feel, maybe wrong). So, personally still prefer Nikons. Otherwise, later spend so much on MarkII, months later MarkIII come out liao. At least, even my D100 already retired in the market, it's functions still up to expectation. And no regret so far, just like all my F range SLR.

Looks like I found another kaki who is very current on photography huh. So, what u play? Do u join those snapclub photo shoot sessions?

Cheers!

[roidan]

never join those clubsnap events even though i was there since 02...hehe...

basically just snoop around learn abit here and there...

yeah lor...canon change models like new handphone models like that..got good got bad lah....good is that you won't have to wait very long to catch up on what current technology can offer....ie..u always have one of the best updated cameras around....bad thing is that...it hurts your wallet...hehe

but once decided on a brand...best is to stick to it...otherwise switch systems can be quite costly...unless some decides to maintain 2 systems....then i nothing to say also hehehe

i only shoot family, kids, fishes, vacation...

haven't ventured into wedding and the more *serious* events yet