First pic from my D80 w18-135mm: Kitty! Also, the D80 rocks my world :D

[dug777]

No doubt it's an awful pic, but after P&S pics of the kitty it's a mindblowing improvement, and that's just me using the auto setting in crappy post dusk twilight

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/d...7/VegemiteD80Sharp.JPG

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/dug777/VegemiteD80.JPG

Got myself a Lowepro Nova AW 1 today (awesome!), and the Transcend 2GB 150x card i got seems plenty fast enough...

Now i'm just hanging out for a nice day to get out and about! This weekend looks crap

 

[troytime]

cheers to a d80, i love mine!

i'm getting ready to take the 120 dollar plunge on a macro lens

 

[ultimatebob]

Why does everyone take a picture of their pet as soon as they get a new camera?

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Why does everyone take a picture of their pet as soon as they get a new camera?

Because cats rule.

 

[AmpedSilence]

Originally posted by: virtuamike

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Why does everyone take a picture of their pet as soon as they get a new camera?

Because cats rule.

:thumbsup:

 

[ProfJohn]

Originally posted by: troytime
cheers to a d80, i love mine!

i'm getting ready to take the 120 dollar plunge on a macro lens

$120? That is way cheap for a decent macro.
What lens are you looking at?

 

[pennylane]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Why does everyone take a picture of their pet as soon as they get a new camera?

My "maiden photograph" was a picture of my dog. It wasn't a great pic though so I won't share it. I took a pic of my dog because I wanted to test out the camera conveniently, and I didn't want to take a snapshot of something random like my room. So I went outside, found the dog, and that was that.

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: ProfJohn

Originally posted by: troytime
cheers to a d80, i love mine!

i'm getting ready to take the 120 dollar plunge on a macro lens

$120? That is way cheap for a decent macro.
What lens are you looking at?

I paid $65 for my 55/3.5 AI. It's a pretty damn good macro lens

 

[troytime]

Originally posted by: ProfJohn

Originally posted by: troytime
cheers to a d80, i love mine!

i'm getting ready to take the 120 dollar plunge on a macro lens

$120? That is way cheap for a decent macro.
What lens are you looking at?

a phoenix macro
i can get the manual focus one for 100, but i haven't tried manually focusing yet...so i don't feel completely comfortable

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: AmpedSilence

Originally posted by: virtuamike

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Why does everyone take a picture of their pet as soon as they get a new camera?

Because cats rule.

:thumbsup:

I have to concur :beer:

 

[tdawg]

Originally posted by: troytime

Originally posted by: ProfJohn

Originally posted by: troytime
cheers to a d80, i love mine!

i'm getting ready to take the 120 dollar plunge on a macro lens

$120? That is way cheap for a decent macro.
What lens are you looking at?

a phoenix macro
i can get the manual focus one for 100, but i haven't tried manually focusing yet...so i don't feel completely comfortable

Phoenix makes lenses of, how should we say, questionable quality--on par or worse than Quantaray--but for $120, you'll get to see how you like it and then you can step up to better glass in the future (either when you get fed up with the overall quality of the lens, or it breaks).

When it comes to digital SLRs, it pays to invest in good glass. Bodies come and go, but good glass lasts forever. KEH.com is a great place to find used lenses; actually, it's a great place to score any used item for your photography habit.

 

[troytime]

Originally posted by: tdawg

Originally posted by: troytime

Originally posted by: ProfJohn

Originally posted by: troytime
cheers to a d80, i love mine!

i'm getting ready to take the 120 dollar plunge on a macro lens

$120? That is way cheap for a decent macro.
What lens are you looking at?

a phoenix macro
i can get the manual focus one for 100, but i haven't tried manually focusing yet...so i don't feel completely comfortable

Phoenix makes lenses of, how should we say, questionable quality--on par or worse than Quantaray--but for $120, you'll get to see how you like it and then you can step up to better glass in the future (either when you get fed up with the overall quality of the lens, or it breaks).

When it comes to digital SLRs, it pays to invest in good glass. Bodies come and go, but good glass lasts forever. KEH.com is a great place to find used lenses; actually, it's a great place to score any used item for your photography habit.

i realize the construction is crap and the lens isn't made to drop
but from all the respectable reviews i've read, the optics are great
thanks for the KEH.com reference, i wasn't familiar with that site!

btw, i just bought a 50mm f/1.8 and a set of 67mm close-up filters, i couldn't find the phoenix AF and the money burned a hole in my pocket.

 

[yhelothar]

Originally posted by: troytime

Originally posted by: tdawg

Originally posted by: troytime

Originally posted by: ProfJohn

Originally posted by: troytime
cheers to a d80, i love mine!

i'm getting ready to take the 120 dollar plunge on a macro lens

$120? That is way cheap for a decent macro.
What lens are you looking at?

a phoenix macro
i can get the manual focus one for 100, but i haven't tried manually focusing yet...so i don't feel completely comfortable

Phoenix makes lenses of, how should we say, questionable quality--on par or worse than Quantaray--but for $120, you'll get to see how you like it and then you can step up to better glass in the future (either when you get fed up with the overall quality of the lens, or it breaks).

When it comes to digital SLRs, it pays to invest in good glass. Bodies come and go, but good glass lasts forever. KEH.com is a great place to find used lenses; actually, it's a great place to score any used item for your photography habit.

i realize the construction is crap and the lens isn't made to drop
but from all the respectable reviews i've read, the optics are great
thanks for the KEH.com reference, i wasn't familiar with that site!

btw, i just bought a 50mm f/1.8 and a set of 67mm close-up filters, i couldn't find the phoenix AF and the money burned a hole in my pocket.

Nice buy on the 50mm F/1.8
Don't waste your money on the phoenix though.
If you want a good macro for cheap, get extension tubes for your 50mm.

 

[dug777]

Any comment on the pic?

I prefer the unsharpened version myself.

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: astroidea

Originally posted by: troytime

Originally posted by: tdawg

Originally posted by: troytime

Originally posted by: ProfJohn

Originally posted by: troytime
cheers to a d80, i love mine!

i'm getting ready to take the 120 dollar plunge on a macro lens

$120? That is way cheap for a decent macro.
What lens are you looking at?

a phoenix macro
i can get the manual focus one for 100, but i haven't tried manually focusing yet...so i don't feel completely comfortable

Phoenix makes lenses of, how should we say, questionable quality--on par or worse than Quantaray--but for $120, you'll get to see how you like it and then you can step up to better glass in the future (either when you get fed up with the overall quality of the lens, or it breaks).

When it comes to digital SLRs, it pays to invest in good glass. Bodies come and go, but good glass lasts forever. KEH.com is a great place to find used lenses; actually, it's a great place to score any used item for your photography habit.

i realize the construction is crap and the lens isn't made to drop
but from all the respectable reviews i've read, the optics are great
thanks for the KEH.com reference, i wasn't familiar with that site!

btw, i just bought a 50mm f/1.8 and a set of 67mm close-up filters, i couldn't find the phoenix AF and the money burned a hole in my pocket.

Nice buy on the 50mm F/1.8
Don't waste your money on the phoenix though.
If you want a good macro for cheap, get extension tubes for your 50mm.

Or a Nikon 55/3.5 AI. Or a Vivitar 90/2.5 Series 1. Or a Tokina 90/2.5 . . .

But yah, extension tubes will work on the 50. I use a PK-13 (27.5mm extension) on my 50/1.4.

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: dug777
Any comment on the pic?

I prefer the unsharpened version myself.

Looks like you used your built-in flash. Lighting will have a much bigger impact on your images than processing, so play with it. Grab a water bottle or a small piece of tupperware as a diffuser. If you have something above you to bounce off of, try using a credit card or notecard to bounce with.

Or if you want to take things more seriously, get a hotshoe flash that you can use off-camera (SB-600/800 in CLS would work and you wouldn't lose TTL, or any flash in manual with a generic sync cord/remote). Having the ability to position your light independent of your camera position is a huge progression beyond your simple built-in flash.

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: virtuamike

Originally posted by: dug777
Any comment on the pic?

I prefer the unsharpened version myself.

Looks like you used your built-in flash. Lighting will have a much bigger impact on your images than processing, so play with it. Grab a water bottle or a small piece of tupperware as a diffuser. If you have something above you to bounce off of, try using a credit card or notecard to bounce with.

Or if you want to take things more seriously, get a hotshoe flash that you can use off-camera (SB-600/800 in CLS would work and you wouldn't lose TTL, or any flash in manual with a generic sync cord/remote). Having the ability to position your light independent of your camera position is a huge progression beyond your simple built-in flash.

Will pick up a flash at some stage :thumbsup:

Can't wait to get out with it in daylight however, i've only been able to use it at night and in twilight so far

 

[Spineshank]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Why does everyone take a picture of their pet as soon as they get a new camera?

I have a pig i took mine of.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: dug777
Any comment on the pic?

Hush, we are talking about macro lenses.

Originally posted by: astroidea
[Nice buy on the 50mm F/1.8
Don't waste your money on the phoenix though.
If you want a good macro for cheap, get extension tubes for your 50mm.

Agreed, get some Kenko extension tubes. It will allow you to focus closer, and will be a MUCH better image quality picture.

Originally posted by: dug777
Any comment on the pic?

Oh, ok. I guess it is your thread.

I'm not quite sure how to comment. It looks like your standard test picture, so as typical with such, there are plenty of things that could be better. Composition, angle, lighting, etc.

 

[tdawg]

Originally posted by: troytime

Originally posted by: tdawg

Originally posted by: troytime

Originally posted by: ProfJohn

Originally posted by: troytime
cheers to a d80, i love mine!

i'm getting ready to take the 120 dollar plunge on a macro lens

$120? That is way cheap for a decent macro.
What lens are you looking at?

a phoenix macro
i can get the manual focus one for 100, but i haven't tried manually focusing yet...so i don't feel completely comfortable

Phoenix makes lenses of, how should we say, questionable quality--on par or worse than Quantaray--but for $120, you'll get to see how you like it and then you can step up to better glass in the future (either when you get fed up with the overall quality of the lens, or it breaks).

When it comes to digital SLRs, it pays to invest in good glass. Bodies come and go, but good glass lasts forever. KEH.com is a great place to find used lenses; actually, it's a great place to score any used item for your photography habit.

i realize the construction is crap and the lens isn't made to drop
but from all the respectable reviews i've read, the optics are great
thanks for the KEH.com reference, i wasn't familiar with that site!

btw, i just bought a 50mm f/1.8 and a set of 67mm close-up filters, i couldn't find the phoenix AF and the money burned a hole in my pocket.

The good thing is you're probably better off doing what you did. That little Nikon 50 is probably the best $100 you can spend in this game (I know it was for me.) Now you have a great little portrait lens that's very versatile and the close-up filters offer you the ability to do macro shots, to a point (I think true macro has to be 1:1 or better). Plus that 50 will teach you so much about focal length, f-stop and framing.

 

[dug777]

That's my next lens

Superb optics for nada.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Yay!