A friend of mine is taking some astonishing pictures w/out flash.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

Her lens is 50mm prime, 1.2 (aperture?)

I. Want. One.

I think I have my husband talked into buying me one for a combo birthday/Christmas gift. (My birthday is in Nov.)

I hate changing lenses, but her work is so amazing, I really think there will be times when I will really want to do it.

My camera (for the foreseeable future) is my Nikon D50.


Any thoughts/ideas/suggestions would be appreciated!

On edit, here is her most recent one of me:

[CC]

1. Go for it.

You can get a Nikkor 1.8 for just over $100. You might want to try it. The 1.4 double is in price. It is a great all around lens. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/247091-USA/Nikon_2137_Normal_AF_Nikkor_50mm.html So you can see a price. Mine is also my lightest lens weight wise and make the camera not so bulky to carry around.

[postatomic]

2. Your friend is using a prime 85mm f/1.2 lens

The camera and the lens is about a $4,500 to $5,000 setup. She set the ISO at 6400 and the camera exposure is set to 4 stops down. The photo is significantly underexposed because it appears that she doesn't know very much about exposure or metering. Her first clue should have been the 1/1000 second exposure.

I have no problem with someone who wants to spend that kind of money on a 'tool' they don't know how to use. It's not my money they are blowing. I'd just hate for you to spend thousands on a new camera setup thinking you can produce good quality low light photos simply based upon getting a new camera.

The newer large sensor digital compacts are great in low light. Take a look at the Fujifilm X100.

I lost two 'puters in the last month and photobucket is driving me crazy (need to find a better way to link photos) but this is what the photo should have looked like adjusting for the 4 stop exposure. I didn't change much else. Like, removing the noise.



In those lighting conditions my dinosaur Canon set at ISO 1600 using a 50mm f/1.4 or 85mm f/1.8 would have produced a better photo for a fraction of the cost. Just be smart about buying camera equipment. Do your homework if you're going to lay down a large chunk of change thinking it will do x-y-z.
:hi:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. I'm not in the market for a new camera, just a new fast lens.

I'm going to keep using my Nikon D50 with some sort of appropriate lens that will work in low-light conditions.

I have no intention of spending (or of having my husband spend) thousands of dollars.

Now, you've given me your advice. It's very different than what CC told me. I don't understand how you both could tell me such vastly different things.

This thread is about me doing my homework!

:hi:

[ManiacJoe]

5. Your statements have changed.

"I'm going to keep using my Nikon D50 with some sort of appropriate lens that will work in low-light conditions."

This is a different statement than your opening post.

The 50mm f/1.8 (and the other 50mm versions) and the new 35mm are all good lenses for low light work at reasonable prices. Even the 85mm f/1.8 is not all that bad is price. Working with those razor thin depths of field can take practice, but the rewards can be worth it.

[postatomic]

6. We were basically saying the same thing

I said:

In those lighting conditions my dinosaur Canon set at ISO 1600 using a 50mm f/1.4 or 85mm f/1.8 would have produced a better photo for a fraction of the cost.

Being a member of The Royal Order of Curmudgeons That Say Ni, I had to add commentary about the camera setup that your friend has, and her apparent lack of knowledge in using it. You just had to wade through that to get to my eventual point. Sorry.

Personally, I think you'd do just as well with the Nikon 50mm f/1.8. A "purist" might tell you that the optics are better on the 50mm f/1.4 but in The Royal Order of Curmudgeons That Say Ni purists are not allowed and they usually test the 'quality' of a lens at f/8.0 or there abouts.

When you finally make a purchase decision I can give you some pointers on getting great bokeh out of any lens. There is a widely held belief that you need to have great optics (lens) to get good bokeh. Ni Ni.

[ManiacJoe]

3. Your example uses an 85mm f/1.2.

This will be different than what you get with a 50mm, even though the field of view on your D50 will resemble a 75mm lens. (The FX Canon 5D2 helps a lot, too, shooting at ISO 6400.)

The new Nikon 50mm f/1.2 retails for $725, the 85mm f/1.4 for $1700.

[CC]

7. I did not look at the image

info on the photo Peggy so did not realize it wasn't a 50mm. I still haven't looked at the info. I would still suggest you try a Nikkor 50 mm 1.8. Now to correct my awful typing, the Nikkor 50mm 1.4 is about double the price of the 1.8 so I would just get the 1.8 unless money is of no concern. Most of us have to worry about the cost and what I do is weigh the price to what I will be using it for. If I found that the 50mm became my workhorse lens then I might spring for the 1.4. That is me. I also believe the best way to learn a lens is the use it, a lot and using different settings on both your camera and lens. If you have a camera shop that provides rentals that might be a good way to try it before you buy it. (Keeping in mind it is a rental and many do not treat them well.)


There are a few others in the group that have 50mm and I hope they chime in. You can also do a search. I think JeffR was using one for a bit though with all the primer, glue and flux fumes I have inhaled the last few days I might be wrong on the who but am pretty sure we had a 50mm discussion in the group at some point.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. Thanks!

I plan to use this lens as a secondary one. I have a nice zoom lens for every day stuff.

Money is an object! But I think what I'll do is talk some to my favorite camera shop people, since they have always given me good advice. Between them, and all of you, I should have more than enough info to make a good decision.

I just want to get reasonably good pics in low light without using the flash.

:hi:

[bluesbassman]

9. Check out my Bird of Paradise post Peggy.

I recently bought a Nikkor 50mm 1:1.8 and I'm very happy with it. Especially considering it's relatively inexpensive price tag.