camera lenses

[pontifex]

what are the top 3 camera lens manufacturers as far as quality?
or maybe a better question might be which company has the best lenses for the lowest prices?

this would be for a Nikon D50 DSLR.

i'd like ot get my own lenses but I have no clue what to get.
currently have the kit lens 18-55 (i think) and borrowing my dad's 70-300 and 28-80 (i think) haven't really used it much lately so i forget what it is i am using exactly.

 

[NuroMancer]

not a huge camera expert here but I have heard really good things about Sigma lenses.

 

[OdiN]

Canon and Nikon....some Tamron lenses are good. Some Sigma are good but most sigma are usually a bit lower quality. I suppose Zeiss but I'm not sure what all they manufacture for SLR these days.

Tamron

That's a decent Tamron, especially for the price.

 

[vi edit]

"Best" is hard to quantify.

Are you talking sheer optical quality, or are we factoring price into this as well? There's a jewel or two in every brands lineup. It's just a question of what sort of valuation you use to describe "best".

 

[tfinch2]

Every brand has excellent lensesbut it's hard to beat either Canon L glass, or high-end Digital Zuiko lenses, but neither of those help you. What range are you looking for? Wide? Telephoto? Nikon makes some of the best lenses as well, but if you want quality you are going to pay like with every brand.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Every brand has excellent lensesbut it's hard to beat either Canon L glass, or high-end Digital Zuiko lenses, but neither of those help you. What range are you looking for? Wide? Telephoto?

well, i'd like to get a telephoto, something similar to what i'm using now - Tamron 70-300. I don't seem to use the 28-80 very much though so i could probably hold off on soemthing like that for awhile. the telephoto is the main one i'm worried about for now.

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Every brand has excellent lensesbut it's hard to beat either Canon L glass, or high-end Digital Zuiko lenses, but neither of those help you. What range are you looking for? Wide? Telephoto?

well, i'd like to get a telephoto, something similar to what i'm using now - Tamron 70-300. I don't seem to use the 28-80 very much though so i could probably hold off on soemthing like that for awhile. the telephoto is the main one i'm worried about for now.

Check this out...

I have heard decent things about that Sigma. It is not as good as the Canon 70-200, but it's supposedly not bad. I've never used one.

I haven't seen a really high quality 70-300.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: OdiN

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Every brand has excellent lensesbut it's hard to beat either Canon L glass, or high-end Digital Zuiko lenses, but neither of those help you. What range are you looking for? Wide? Telephoto?

well, i'd like to get a telephoto, something similar to what i'm using now - Tamron 70-300. I don't seem to use the 28-80 very much though so i could probably hold off on soemthing like that for awhile. the telephoto is the main one i'm worried about for now.

Check this out...

I have heard decent things about that Sigma. It is not as good as the Canon 70-200, but it's supposedly not bad. I've never used one.

I haven't seen a really high quality 70-300.

I was just about to recommend that lens. How much do you want to spend? Hmm, looks like the Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 is about the same price. I'd get that over the Sigma.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control...REY&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: OdiN

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Every brand has excellent lensesbut it's hard to beat either Canon L glass, or high-end Digital Zuiko lenses, but neither of those help you. What range are you looking for? Wide? Telephoto?

well, i'd like to get a telephoto, something similar to what i'm using now - Tamron 70-300. I don't seem to use the 28-80 very much though so i could probably hold off on soemthing like that for awhile. the telephoto is the main one i'm worried about for now.

Check this out...

I have heard decent things about that Sigma. It is not as good as the Canon 70-200, but it's supposedly not bad. I've never used one.

I haven't seen a really high quality 70-300.

I was just about to recommend that lens. How much do you want to spend?

def. not $839!

no mroe than $300 probably. guess i got into another hobby that is going to be too expensive for me to keep up with. guess i'll have to do with my dad's lenses for now.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: OdiN

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Every brand has excellent lensesbut it's hard to beat either Canon L glass, or high-end Digital Zuiko lenses, but neither of those help you. What range are you looking for? Wide? Telephoto?

well, i'd like to get a telephoto, something similar to what i'm using now - Tamron 70-300. I don't seem to use the 28-80 very much though so i could probably hold off on soemthing like that for awhile. the telephoto is the main one i'm worried about for now.

Check this out...

I have heard decent things about that Sigma. It is not as good as the Canon 70-200, but it's supposedly not bad. I've never used one.

I haven't seen a really high quality 70-300.

I was just about to recommend that lens. How much do you want to spend?

def. not $839!

no mroe than $300 probably. guess i got into another hobby that is going to be too expensive for me to keep up with. guess i'll have to do with my dad's lenses for now.

If you don't want to spend more than $300, you're not going to get anything better than what you have now, unless it's the Nikon 70-300mm ED lens, which is better optically, but a slow lens.

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: OdiN

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Every brand has excellent lensesbut it's hard to beat either Canon L glass, or high-end Digital Zuiko lenses, but neither of those help you. What range are you looking for? Wide? Telephoto?

well, i'd like to get a telephoto, something similar to what i'm using now - Tamron 70-300. I don't seem to use the 28-80 very much though so i could probably hold off on soemthing like that for awhile. the telephoto is the main one i'm worried about for now.

Check this out...

I have heard decent things about that Sigma. It is not as good as the Canon 70-200, but it's supposedly not bad. I've never used one.

I haven't seen a really high quality 70-300.

I was just about to recommend that lens. How much do you want to spend?

def. not $839!

no mroe than $300 probably. guess i got into another hobby that is going to be too expensive for me to keep up with. guess i'll have to do with my dad's lenses for now.

Yeah...the camera hobby is not cheap when it comes to buying quality glass.

I have probably spent $10,000 at B&H. Damned thieves 😛

 

[OdiN]

If you had a canon...this is one awesome lens:

Linky

Not quite L glass and not a very fast lens, but the size of that thing vs. the focal length is amazing.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: OdiN

Yeah...the camera hobby is not cheap when it comes to buying quality glass.

I have probably spent $10,000 at B&H. Damned thieves 😛

hmm...lets see some og my past and recent hobbies:

computers
guitar
astronomy - sorta like cameras, the eyepieces are EXPENSIVE!
dslr photography

at least my dad had these lenses i can use.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: OdiN
If you had a canon...this is one awesome lens:

Linky

Not quite L glass and not a very fast lens, but the size of that thing vs. the focal length is amazing.

If you're going to spend 1200 on that slow lens, might as well spring a couple hundred more and get the legendary 70-200mm f/2.8 IS

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: OdiN
If you had a canon...this is one awesome lens:

Linky

Not quite L glass and not a very fast lens, but the size of that thing vs. the focal length is amazing.

If you're going to spend 1200 on that slow lens, might as well spring a couple hundred more and get the legendary 70-200mm f/2.8 IS

Have you lifed that thing? It is quite heavy. The DO makes an absolutely wonderful lens for taking on a vacation or something. Compact yet amazing zoom.

I personally wouldn't get the DO myself. I would get that 70-200 and if I need longer just load a teleconverter on it and make a 140-400 out of it.

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: OdiN

Yeah...the camera hobby is not cheap when it comes to buying quality glass.

I have probably spent $10,000 at B&H. Damned thieves 😛

hmm...lets see some og my past and recent hobbies:

computers
guitar
astronomy - sorta like cameras, the eyepieces are EXPENSIVE!
dslr photography

at least my dad had these lenses i can use.

Well at least I'm getting paid for it now. I shoot weddings and portraits and such.

 

[pontifex]

thats what my dad does. he has his own business. thats why he had the extra lenses sitting around. he took classes at a community college (got them for free because he got hurt at his last job and he wouldn't be able to work for them anymore. i guess they paid for his education). he started out with film and moved to digital. he still does some film but mostly digital.

i'm just doing it as a hobby and i don't think i'm good enough even though most people who see my pictures really like them. i'm not sure if they really like them or they are being nice because those people are my friends, family, and co-workers. when i posted them on here most people said they sucked, but then again, this is ATOT...

 

[ucdbiendog]

spend the money to get good glass. my dad made the mistake of not doing that and now has some real ****** lenses for his digital rebel. slow focus, slow lens, bad image quality. it really is worth it

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: pontifex
thats what my dad does. he has his own business. thats why he had the extra lenses sitting around. he took classes at a community college (got them for free because he got hurt at his last job and he wouldn't be able to work for them anymore. i guess they paid for his education). he started out with film and moved to digital. he still does some film but mostly digital.

i'm just doing it as a hobby and i don't think i'm good enough even though most people who see my pictures really like them. i'm not sure if they really like them or they are being nice because those people are my friends, family, and co-workers. when i posted them on here most people said they sucked, but then again, this is ATOT...

PM me some, I'd be happy to give you some critique. I won't say they are awesome if they are not, but I won't say they suck just to be a jerk. If there are problems I can try to tell you what they are so you can do better 🙂

 

[torpid]

It seems to me the best lenses are made by the manufacturer of the camera. The other manufacturers seem to have appeal for the value or adaptability of the lens. There are some seemingly really nice 3rd party lenses in the ridiculously high price range, though.