My Lens Ratings

Hey,

I decided it would be useful to create a rating system for my lenses.  I will add these to the bottom of all of my Lens Reviews as well as have the links for them in this post.  I kept it a little basic and out of 5.  So 1 being an awful lens you should never buy and 5 being perfect, and I would change nothing about it.  I broke the rating into an overall rating and other categories best suited to what I have used the lenses for.  I thought this made the most sense since I won't rate it for doing something I don't use the lens for.  The overall rating I take into account everything about the lens beyond just the focus of what I use the lens for.  For example how well built it is etc.  Without further adieu, here are the ratings of the seven lenses I have owned:

#1: 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 ED VR DX

Rating: Overall 3/5

For a beginner kit zoom lens: 4/5                                                                      

Overall lens: 3/5

#2: Tokina AT-X 11-16mm f/2.8 Pro DX

Rating: Overall 4/5

Landscape Lens: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

#3: AF 50mm f/1.8 D

Rating: Overall: 4/5

Portrait Lens: 4/5

Low Light Ability: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

#4: 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor

Rating: Overall 4.5/5

Macro Photography: 4.9/5

Portrait: 4.5/5

Overall: 4.5/5

#5: 50mm f/1.4 D AF

Rating: Overall 4.5/5

Portrait: 4.5/5

Low Light: 4.9/5

Overall: 4.5/5

#6: 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Nikkor

Overall: 4/5

Full Body Portraits: 4/5

Low Light: 4/5Overall: 4/5

#7: 17-55mm f/2.8 IF ED AF-S DX 

Rating: Overall: 4/5

Landscape: 4/5

Portrait: 3.5/5

Events: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

Best lenses I own in my opinion is the 50mm f/1.4D and the 105mm Macro VR.  Could have called that one haha.  I love the 17-55mm however being a zoom, it is versatile however it doesn't compare to the 50mm or 105mm.  However I would only sell it if I went FX/FF for the 17-35mm.  I am headed to Arizona soon and it might be the only lens I bring and I know it won't disappoint me.  Anywho, those are my ratings of the lenses.  Hope that helps!

If you want an in-depth review of the above lenses please click on the respectively lens and you will be linked to the its lens review post.  Also if you want to see my best work/portfolio please visit my site, www.tomhoustonphotography.ca.  Also it would mean a lot if you signed the guest book under the connect tab.  It would be neat to see where everyone is visiting my site from!  Also I don't mind if you sign it in another language other than english.  My french and spanish is alright and if not I will translate it somehow.  

Focus: Megapixels

Focus: Megapixels

I decided to write this from a question I got from my cousin.  He asked about upgrading cameras.  So I will go over one of the main selling points of a camera that a lot of people base choices on.  Common question is "how many megapixels does it have?"  First off, what is a megapixel? Lets start there.

A megapixel is one million pixels.  Mega is just a prefix for a number and a pixel is a really small square of light that makes up images on a sensor/screen.  So the more pixels you have effectively, the more detail and resolution you should have in your photos.  So if you have a lot of pixels you can have more detail and such.  However, how many is enough?  Using the new iPhone 4 as an example, they have more pixel detail in their screens than our eye can see.  So for example, the screen detail could get more pixels and better resolution but we wouldn't be able to tell.  So there is a limit for our eyes.

So what is a good number of Megapixels (MP)?  I would say between 10-12 MP will be just fine for your average shooter.  However with that said you can get great photos with less than 10 MP.  And if you are lucky enough to be shooting with lets say a D3X with 24.5 MP then I am sure you can get good photos too.  So next I should answer what do these MP's do for you?

Well they let you do two main things from my experience other than make for more or less resolution in your photos.  First, the more resolution you have, the more you can blow up your prints to larger sizes.  Second, the more resolution the photo, the more you can crop it and still have it be a good resolution.  With my D90 at 12.3 MP I believe, I can print out a 2'x3' print of a photo I took with my kit lens(18-105mm).  So I have this photo that is two by three feet framed above my bed:

Haida Gwaii Beach - 18-105mm

It wasn't that large of a file, between 2-3 mb.  So not a lot of detail but the print looks amazing.  So why are there cameras with more than 12 MP?  Well for two reasons I know of.  One, is you can print out even larger photos without even thinking about it looking bad from lack of resolution.  That is why the D3X has 24.5 MP.  You can print off a billboard and not break a sweat with that camera.  Do most people do this? No.  And the other reason is cropping.

Some people don't want to crop images because they think you should keep all your resolution you can.  And also it is usually a compositional issue if you are cropping.  Some believe that composing your image should be done at the time of the shot rather than after.  But if you start with a lot of detail then you will still have hopefully a lot of resolution left after you crop.  So having more MPs let you crop photos more.

So after a point, MP's don't matter a lot if you are not printing 8 foot prints or cropping your photos right down to nothing.  So if you are getting a new camera or upgrading, keep this in mind.  There are many other features to look for rather than megapixels.  

Hope this helps!

Focus: Which Lenses To Start With?

Focus: Which Lens To Start With?

Well to start off on a wrong foot, I actually can't tell you the perfect lens for you.  But I can tell you what good lenses are and why and go from there.

So I will discuss this post as if you are starting with your DSLR and you're looking for another lens to go with your kit lens.  And since I use Nikon, this will be Nikon oriented since that is what I know.  So most start with a 18-55mm or 18-105mm.  These are decent lenses however are limited in quality of glass and maximum aperture size.  So usually this is noticeable in dark settings with the limited aperture ability of the kit lens.

So, what could you get next?  Well that mostly depends on what you want to shoot so I can't help you there but I can help with some good ideas that are lenses you wont want to sell later.  The two lenses I would recommend is a 50mm or 35mm.  Both these lenses are lenses I know people don't replace unless it is for a f/1.4 version.  Also these lenses can be cheap, and they are small.  They are prime lenses so they do not zoom, so that means you have to walk around a little more to compose.  This trains you a little more with composition which isn't terrible since that helps you especially at this stage.

So the 50mm's.  There is the 50mm f/1.8 D, and the 50mm f/1.8 G.  I used the 50mm f/1.8 D and it was great.  It is an amazing lens and it is cheap.  Less than $200, and for the quality of the lens that is quite the bargain especially when you are starting out.  So the 50mm is a great portrait lens so if you take photos of people a lot this is a great lens.  Since it is a prime lens they are very sharp and have very wide apertures.  The 50mm f/1.8 G I am sure is also a good lens.  I have never used it but the 50mm is classic, Nikon wouldn't mess that one up.

Now if you want to capture a little more in your photos the 35mm is less zoomed in.  It would capture a person and their environment better, or a small group of people.  Now of course you can walk closer or further away with either the 35mm or 50mm but with the 50mm I found myself backing up into walls and tables to get more than one person in the photo.  So the 35mm is a good "do it all" type lens because it is wide but not too wide to take portraits still.  The 35mm f/1.8 G is a good lens and very sharp.  My full review of the lens you can find here.  It isn't a very expensive lens but it is more than the 50mm f/1.8 D. 

So if you are not interested in a prime, well that's too bad but there are other lenses.  An 18-200mm is a good lens as a kit lens as well but that is a lens that you usually do not keep.  It again is a variable aperture zoom which doesn't fix the aperture constrictions you have with your last kit lens.  I have a friend who is a photographer and they bought a 18-200mm as a kit lens and now wants a new lens.  It is a good lens but is a "jack of all trades but a master at none."  So usually you replace it with other lenses that are masters.

Another option now for DX or cropped sensor cameras is the 40mm Micro (macro) lens.  It would be like the 35mm but you could experiment with macro photography as well.  This lets you take photos of flowers and bugs etc.  I have never used it and it is relatively new but it is a lens to think about for sure.  I love macro myself so I got the 105mm VR Macro but that is a fairly pricey lens.  Or was when I bought it.

There are some lenses a lot of people are tempted to get for a second lens like the 55-200mm.  Again, it is a beginner lens which works I am sure but you will want to sell it in a year so you may just want to save your money and get a better lens now.  The advice that is always tossed around is to invest in glass (lenses) instead of cameras.  Lenses usually hold their value more and are replaced less often.  So don't be afraid to invest in lenses.  It is usually worth it.  The lenses that do decrease in value are the starting kit lenses because people usually buy them and then try to sell them within the year so there are a lot of them floating around.

So usually try to get a fixed aperture lens.  They help you with low light and they usually are better than a variable aperture lens.  The less expensive ones are usually primes like the 35mm f/1.8 G and 50mm f/1.8 D or G.  I hope that helps.  I just wanted to get some of that information out there to help photographers starting out and trying to get a second lens.

Lens Review: Nikkor AF-S DX 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 ED VR

Lens Review: DX 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 ED VR

Thoughts and Opinions:

This is a very good kit lens that I got with my camera (D90).  I used it for roughly a year and it got a lot of use.  The construction of the lens was decent considering it was a kit lens.  The focus and zoom rings were plastic but felt good while focusing or zooming.  The range of 18-105mm was very useful for starting out. I remember debating between the 18-55mm and the 18-105mm in the camera store.  The 18-55mm was cheaper however I did not want to have to replace the lens down the road because of any lack of reach.  

I put this lens to go use with a 19,000 Km road trip across most of Canada.  The lens performed very well from the landscapes of the Rockies to capturing wildlife.  It is a very sharp lens for the cost.  Obviously, it isn't very wide, or zooms in that much in comparison to other lenses however for a starting kit lens it does the job quite well.

After roughly a year, I had invested in the Tokina 11-16mm and the Nikkor 50mm f1.8.  These two lenses, for my use, basically replaced the 18-105mm and since then the kit lens has been a paper weight.  There wasn't anything wrong with the lens in my opinion, just that there were other lenses that are better. A classic saying I have heard mentioned about a lenses like this is, "it is a jack of all trades but a master at none."

Usage:

As mentioned, I used it as I traveled through Canada.  It was taking good photos from Ontario through to British Columbia as well as in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.  It did well in all of the conditions for the most part.  I also have used it around my house when I was home from school in the summer and it did a decent job with pictures of flowers in the garden as well as using it on hikes.

Pros:

- Very versatile 

- Fairly light weight 

- Covers a good range

- Sharp

- Very good starting lens

Cons:

- Plastic construction

- Variable aperture

- Prone to some flares at the wide end

- Not very good at anything specifically (Could also be a pro)

Sample Images:

Humming Bird - 18-105mm

Rain Forest - 18-105mm

NWT Sunset - 18-105mm

Conclusions: 

I highly recommend this lens for a lens to start out with.  You pay a little extra than the 18-55mm but you get a better a larger zoom range.  Personally, I found this zoom to be helpful and useful to a beginner who may not know what they like photographing.  You can definitely got your money's worth with this lens.  


Rating: 


For a beginner kit zoom lens: 4 out of 5
Overall lens: 3 out of 5