New to photography - Lense help

[karbine]

Ive only just got into photography with DSLR's as before i was using a slim 6mp casio exilim camera.

I got given a Nikon D50 for free,however it has no lense cap and the flash doesent work also...however apart from this it works great and im really liking using the camera.

However lots of you may have seen ive been taking closeups of insects in my garden.

My camera currently looks like this with a 18-55mm lense:
http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Ni...onD50_main.jpg

However i have seen some D50's with a lense slightly bigger such as this
http://www.outbackphoto.com/reviews/...50/300_d50.jpg

I havent a clue when it comes to lenses and just wondered what the difference between the larger lense in the photo and my standard one would be?

When i looked at the prices of lenses i couldent believe how much they are...more than my camera is worth!

I have however seen some older Nikons like this F65, could i buy this camera and remove the lense and use it on my D50? If so what more would it give me?
http://i19.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/a5/e1/4912_12.JPG

[miketoll]

I am a Canon man so don't know the different Nikon models but your 18-55 gives you a wide angle of 27mm to tele of approx 82mm in 35mm terms. Any other lenses you get should extend this range either wider or longer depending on your interests. If insects interest you look at the thread on macro on the cheap. There are many second hand lenses on the market to choose from without camera bodies attached! The Nikon users on the forum will no doubt be happy to advise.

[greypoint]

The great thing about the D50 [I used to have one - super camera] is that you can pick up any number of old Nikon fit lenses on Ebay etc. even many old manual focus ones will fit if you don't mind focussing for yourself. Obviously some are better than others - the lens I used for most of last summer was an old 75-300mm metal bodied and built like a tank - picked up for 70.00.

[Don Hoey]

A bit of a quick answer here so please ask further if you still have difficulty understanding.

Looking at the pics in your links the difference in size is down to one lens having a built in focus motor ( AFS ) and the other not having it but being driven by a screw drive from the camera body.

The first thing to understand about lenses is ' focal length ' this equates to angle of view. Look through your camera and zoom from 18 to 55 and you will see that at the 18mm end the view is considerably wider than at 55mm. Check out this link to see the effect over a wider range of ' focal lengths '.

http://www.tamroneurope.com/flc.htm

Lens size is down to several factors.
1) Built in focus motor ( AFS ) will give a greater lens body diameter than a manual focus or screw driven A/F lens.
2) The size of the front element is down to the size of the largest aperture. If a lens can open up to f2.8 then the front element glass will be of a larger diameter than a similar lens where f5.6 is the maximum aperture.
3) Focal length of the lens itself. As the focal length increases say from 55 to 300mm so the length of the lens grows.

Cost ..... well that is purely down to the quality of the optics. Lenses that have been well corrected optically and give high resolution ( ability to capture fine detail ) cost a lot more than those of lesser ability. Also zoom lenses that cover a huge range say 18-200mm are costlier to design and make than a lens covering 18-55mm. Now add a focus motor and possibly a VR unit and the cost goes up again.

Don

[Don Hoey]

Ben,

Before going off for a look on e-bay you also need to understand lens compatability with the D50. I had a quick look and noticed some that are NOT compatible ( cannot be fitted without modification ) so I have taken and attached some pics to show what to look for.

Be aware that lens development lept forward with the advent of CAD design in the late 90's. Quite a number of earlier Nikon AI lenses do not give best performance on a digital sensor, and I would stay away from most of the independants from the 70s and 80s unless you can get a recommendation as to image quality.

I can vouch for the following AIS lenses on the D2X so they will be fine on a D50 but of course you will not have metering : 28mm f2.8, 50mm f1.4, 55mm f2.8 Micro, 105 f2.5, 200mm f4 ( a bit of CA ) and 400mm IFED f5.6.

Of my collection the 300mm f4.5 ( not IFED version ) is soft.

As you mentioned size I lined some fixed focal length lenses up and took a pic that I have attatched.

Don

[Joe]

Don,
sorry to put a posting on 'off topic', but I just had to comment here....

My word!....your lenses look well looked after!?....
an impressive array too.
Many of my current lenses look worn....my old nikkors I got rid of shortly after uni days looked far far worse than yours!

Do you collect Nikon gear...and if so, I hope it has pride of place in a display cabinet!....Please pardon me for being a bit of an 'anorac', but isn't some photo gear just sooo beautiful!

[phili1]

Karbine. The question is what do you want to take photos of. Insects, then you need a 90mm to 180mm macro lens. Birds then you need 300mm and up. Race cars then you need a fast lens around f 2.8 300mm. Now I am a believer of buying name brand NIkon Canon but because of money I own several Tamrons. If you own the D50 you do not want a maanual focus lens, you will be disapointed. What you have to do is figure what you want to shoot and buy a lens for that. Buy a third party lens because it is cheap and when you can afford it go Nikon. Prime lenses cost more so a zoom, lets say 70 to 300 will give you a wide range and some do macro. Tamrons has a 18 to 250 mm for $499.00 NIkon has one 18 to 200mm for $749.00.

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by Joe

Don,
sorry to put a posting on 'off topic', but I just had to comment here....
...................................
Do you collect Nikon gear...and if so, I hope it has pride of place in a display cabinet!....Please pardon me for being a bit of an 'anorac', but isn't some photo gear just sooo beautiful!

Hi Joe,

Boys and toys

A bit of a bulge as the rubber on the focussing ring has come a bit unglued on the 28mm visible in pic 2, but apart from the 135 and 300mm all are in use so not in a display cabinet. As these are smaller than the current A/F versions they are a lot easier to carry. 105, 200 and 400 have sliding lens hoods so very compact.

Collection wise I have kept a touch of history with Nikkormat, F2AS, and F3HP as digital is so much easier than film and I don't have a scanner.

Don