Google "Camera Manuals"

Please let me know your results with using an extension ring, and which one. I have several Nikkor lens manufactured pre-1969.

The one with the colon ( 1: ) means that the 3 (or 3.0) is the maximum f/stop. As the lens zooms out, the widest f stop decreases to 5.9.

When your camera is at its shortest mm, its widest f stop is 3.0.
When your camera is at its longest mm (zoomed all the way out) its widest f stop is 5.9.

Whether the lens is at its shortest mm or longest mm or some mm in between, depending on the available amount of light and the shutter speed, the lens can be at a smaller opening (smaller f stop) such as your f/8.2 or f/10.5.

For a more detailed explanation, in UHH do a Search for "Lens 101 for DSLR cameras."

Recommend you purchase Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure."

Interesting. Now only if Nikon would make an FX with an articulating LCD :lol:

How about the Nikon Nikkor 18-140mm f3.5-5.6 ED VR?
See DP lens review with this lens mounted on a D7100.

I too carry a lot of gear. I prefer the ThinkTank rolling backpack. On level ground it rolls. It has back straps for carrying on un-level terrain. It also has a rain cover.

Same bag makes nice storage for almost all gear when home. Gear is ready to go at a moments noticed, just have to re-charge batteries a day in advance and add them to that 'pack.

The only concern I have with all 'packs is the location of the LCD screen against the outside wall of the 'pack.

Something heavy landed on one of my 'packs and cracked my LCD; over a $200.00 repair.

Now I rearrange the inserts so that the body of my three cameras are in the middle of the 'pack and the LCD screens get extra padding.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
Your wanting to have it all with you is a personal thing. Go for it.

The one detail which places the 52 over the 32 is that the 52 has an articulating LCD. That allows you to more easily get lower down to the animals' level.

Plus the 52 has dropped down about $100.00 in price.

The warranty may not be transferable.

If you "do not want to stick out too much as a tourist" ditch the camera. I'm joking.
Seriously rather at home or traveling anywhere, from a security point of view;
1. replace your camera strap with the name on it for a no name strap
2. take some black electric tape and cover up the name on your camera.

Also some where I read, because camera straps hanging around one's neck and a thief may run by snatching the camera and risking not only loosing the camera but also getting one's neck seriously hurt, it was stated;
1. wear camera strap over the head and place on the shoulder opposite the side where the camera hangs, so the camera hangs across your body
2. someone installed a thin plastic coated steel cable attached along the camera strap, attached to the camera.

There are times like dinner out when you may not want to carry your camera. Ask the hotel about securing your camera. Leaving it loose in your hotel room is not advisable.

US Customs: before leaving send a copy of your camera model and ID number with a copy of your sales receipt to US Customs so that when you re-enter the U.S., some dumb over zealous security officer doesn't try to charge you duty on your camera or tries to confiscate it. Take a copy with you.

Passport: Make a copy of your passport and keep it in your suitcase. Upon arrival let the local US Consulate know you're there and your planned itinerary.

Ask your hotel for information where to go and where not to go.
Listen, in any outside activity, anywhere, be aware of your surroundings.

You can still have a good time, just be security conscious.

Please do not be an ugly American. Be a gracious visitor. Try not to mention to the locals how thing are done better at home. Enjoy and appreciate the differences.

GOD gave us two ears and one mouth which means one should hear twice as much as one speaks. You're visiting there to enjoy what is there, not to promote the USA.

The following was compiled from my own experiences and from excerpts off the INTERNET. Feel free to adjust it, comment on it, freely use it and share it.

Lenses can be categorized in two ways; whether its focal length is fixed or changeable, and its focal length measurement.

A fixed lens is also known as a prime lens. A changeable lens is also known as a zoom lens

Fixed vs. Changeable Focal Length
Let’s say you are taking a picture of a group. How you take their picture is mainly dependent on which type of lens your camera has. Prime lenses have a fixed focal length which means that you cannot change your field of view. If you want to fill the frame with the entire group then you have to physically move closer to them or move further away from them. On the other hand zoom lenses’ focal length can be changed. You can just stay put and zoom into or out from your subject to change your field of view.

Focal Length Measurements
Lenses can also be categorized as either wide angle, standard or telephoto with regards to their focal length measurement in millimeters (mm).

Wide Angle Lens
Any lens less than 28 mm is considered a wide angle lens, fixed or zoom. These types of lenses are popular with landscape photographers since it allows them to take pictures that show more of the scene. A Fish Eye lens is very wide, like 15 mm or wider.

Standard Lens
Lenses whose focal length is between 28 mm to 80 mm are considered standard lenses, fixed or zoom.

Telephoto Lens
Telephoto lens have focal lengths more than 80 mm, fixed or zoom. These lenses are usually used by wild life and sports photographers, whose works does not allow them to get physically close to their subject. These lens are bigger, longer and heavier than standard lenses.

All the three categories above can either be a prime (fixed focused) or a zoom lens. For example, a lens that is fixed at 50 mm is called a standard (normal) prime lens. A lens like 35-70 mm is a standard zoom lens. A lens marked 80-200 mm is called a telephoto zoom lens, because the focal length can be changed between 80 and 200 mm. A fixed focused lens like a 105 mm lens is a fixed telephoto lens. A lens marked 18-24 mm is called a wide zoom lens, because the focal length can be changed between 18 and 24 mm. A fixed focused lens like a 20 mm lens is a fixed wide angle lens. Normal lens means what the human eye usually sees as regards to a full frame (FX) DSLR camera. Standard (normal) lens for a DX DSLR camera is about 35 mm. See Crop Factor.

Aperture or f-stop or lens opening
Another factor to consider when looking at lenses is the aperture. The aperture is basically just the opening that allows light to hit your camera’s sensor which, in turn, creates the image. You can compare the aperture to the iris in your eyes. The more open the aperture is, the more light gets in. Now you may not see any aperture value on some lens or camera but instead you may see something called an f-stop number (f/#). The lower the f-stop, the bigger the aperture opening. The higher the f-stop, the smaller the aperture opening.

If you set your aperture at f/2, your camera will be able to capture the image faster than it would if it was set at f/8 because more light hits the sensor at f/2.

The maximum aperture opening or lowest f-stop is clearly marked on camera lenses. It is the number found after the mark “1:”. The reason for this is that not all lenses have the same maximum aperture but most can go down to (smallest opening) at least f/22. Some lenses can only go up to f/3.5 (widest opening) while some can go up to f/1.2. There’s even a lens that will open up to f/1.1. Typical f-stops (aperture openings) from widest to narrowest:
f/1.2, f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22, f/32.

Each aperture opening lets is half as much or twice as much as the previous f-stop.
Example: F/1.4 lets in twice as much light as f/1.8 and f/1.8 lets in half as much light as f/1.4

The lower the maximum aperture, the faster the lens; again because it can open wider to let in more light. F/1.4 is faster (lets in more light) than f/2 and f/2 is slower (lets in less light) than f/1.4

It’s an ongoing joke that the maximum aperture is stated on the lens because, the lower the f-stop, the more expensive the lens. However, as the available aperture widens it requires much more engineering design and higher glass quality. That f/1.1 aperture lens cost about $5,000.00.

Primarily, aperture’s larger number means smaller opening and its smaller number means larger opening.

The aperture number is actually a fraction represented by 1 over the denominator. Remember the larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction. So f/22 really means f = 1/22 and f/4 really means f = 1/4. Although the whole number 22 is larger than the whole number 4, the fraction 1/4 is larger than the fraction 1/22. Thus as the aperture number gets larger, the actual lens opening gets smaller.

Aperture is a calculation of the lens opening with respect to the lens’ focal length, with each full f-stop increment representing an opening in the iris that has twice or half as much area as the preceding f-stop.

Example: F/1.4 has twice as much area as f/1.8 and f/1.8 has half as much area as f/1.4

On some zoom lenses, you can see two maximum aperture numbers. Let’s take the Nikkor 18-105 mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens. This means that the maximum aperture depends on what you set your focal length. The first number, in this case f/3.5, is the maximum aperture setting at the wide-angle side of the lens i.e. 18 mm. The second number, f/5.6, is the maximum aperture opening at it’s telephoto side i.e. 105 mm. The difference is due to the movement of the lenses while you’re actually zooming in or out. Zoom lens are usually the ones that are bundled with new cameras and are called kit lenses.

The 18-105 mm (range) means that the lens shoots at 18 mm, its shortest length, at its widest opening of f/3.5 and when set at 105 mm, its longest range, is its narrowest maximum opening of f/5.6. This range is what defines it as a “zoom” lens. The f/3.5-5.6 means that the largest available aperture is f/3.5 when shooting at its widest point (18mm), and the largest available aperture is f/5.6 when shooting at its longest point (105mm).

Notes:
1. There are very expensive zoom lens with one f-stop which means that, that f-stop is available throughout the entire range of that zoom lens.
2. When mentioning the widest lens aperture that is the widest available aperture throughout the lens’ zoom range, the zoom lens may still be capable of also accessing smaller apertures.
3. In all cases, fixed or zoom lens, the aperture indicator on the lens only refers to the largest that the iris of the lens is able to open.

Depth of Field (DOF)
What’s useful about understanding even just a little bit about f-stops is that it controls how much of your picture is in focus or the depth of field.

The lower the f-stop, the more shallow your depth of field is and vice a verse.

So if you want to take a landscape picture with everything in focus, you will need to select a high f-stop (smaller open aperture) like f/16. If you want to focus on one specific object and throw everything else, foreground and/or background, out of focus then select a low f-stop (wider open aperture) like f/1.8.

Crop Factor: A FX lens on a DX camera has less of a field of view when that same lens is used on a FX camera. This is known as Crop Factor. The Nikon Crop Factor is 1.5.
Example: A 50 mm FX lens times 1.5 equals a 75 mm field of view on a DX camera. A 75 mm lens has a narrower field of view than a 50 mm lens.

Shutter Speed is another factor for creating photos. It is the speed in-which the shutter opens and closes. The faster the shutter the less light enters the camera. The slower the shutter the more light hits the sensor. Shutter speed is usually controlled in the body of the camera. Since shutter speed is not usually controlled in the lens, it is a subject for another time.

D5100 vs D5200 vs D5300 vs D7100

Almost everyone agreed that
1. going from 51 to 52 (or 53 ?) is not much of an improvement
2. going from 51 to 71 are great improvements

However, Best Buy just lowered the price of the 52 by about $100.

Now if Nikon would add a swivel LCD like on the 5000 series to the next generation 7000 series, that would be wonderful.

To All Replies: After just reviewing the replies only on the first page, please thoroughly read the OP before replying.

He stated
1. he already has the 70 - 200 mm zoom AND IT IS TOO HEAVY
2. he finds that both the 85 mm and 135 mm doesn't allow him room to frame.

Only one person's response made sense which was recommending the 50 mm.

Don't be so quick to respond.

READ THE REQUEST, SO YOU DON'T COME OFF AS BEING IGNORANT (STUPID).....

.....and waste a lot of time.

In your reply, to whom are you referring too?