authorizeduser Loc: Monroe, Michigan

I bought a D300 body about 4 months back. I traded up from a D200 with a Nikon 100mm series e lens. The stupidest thing I could have done is trade in the camera with the lens. So for the last 4 months I have been using, or attempting to use and get good results, from a Tamron 18-250 F3.5 ~ 6.3 lens. Being the inexperience dunce I am I could never get the same results I use to get from the Nikon 100mm series E lens and I was blaming it on the camera. Today I picked up a 36 year old Nikkor 200mm F4 AI lens in almost new condition and mounted it to my D300. Well let me tell you ..... NIGHT and DAY! The color, brightness and clarity of this 200mm lens is just stunning. I never imagined that the difference would be so pronounced. i now believe it when I am told better glass equals better photos. Now i know this lens is not a top of the line pro lens but it is way ahead of the Tamron 18-250, not even in the same league as far as quality of the photos. It is all metal, Japanese made and FX to boot. Needless to say I am more than satisfied. Here is a sample shot of my dog.

Male Labrador Retriever - 20 Months old

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Err, if FX it means you selected the right lens but do you know why??? (DX lenses are normally used with this camera)

authorizeduser Loc: Monroe, Michigan

I bought the lens because of the quality. Being FX is just a plus. If and when I do move up to an FX camera I can keep the lens. I want to eventually pickup a nice D700 when funds allow .....
:D

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Save for the D800 instead... f you saw the night and day in lens/camera wait until you see what the D800 does, even better with the e version but that is for pixel peepers like me.

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

almost wanna reach out an pet it...

CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

^^^^THIS is the reason why the old saw of "it's the photographer; not the equipment" is just too simplistic and inaccurate to use all the time.

And yes; there are people in this forum who will beat you over the head with that tired old line as often as they can when you mention great gear.

And while it is true that a good photographer can make good pictures with almost any gear, that same photographer can make GREAT pictures with really good gear. (Please... no nitpicking obvious responses like "a good photographer can make poor pictures with good gear; that's NOT what we are talking about here. :roll: IF you feel the need to state the obvious keep it to yourselves. ;) )

Congrats on your new lens... enjoy it!

authorizeduser Loc: Monroe, Michigan

Nikon D800 ......

For $3K I had better see and BIG difference. LOL :thumbup: :shock:

authorizeduser Loc: Monroe, Michigan

Thanks CHOLLY .... I am already enjoying this lens. Makes me no longer regret buying the D300. Now this is just my opinion and I know auto focus has its place, would be hell trying to manually focus a sports event, but for general use photography I much prefer to manual focus and set aperture myself. It is also a great way to learn how to use a camera. Eventually I got to the point where I usually picked the right aperture for the situation.

Erik_H Loc: Denham Springs, Louisiana

The dog or the lens? :)

CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

Once you get past a certain age things don't work as well as they used to. If not for autofocus I would be in REAL trouble with these old eyes! :lol:

Hope you have lots of fun discovering your camera/lens combo! Keep posting those pictures...

amehta Loc: Boston

Looking at the DxOMark ratings of lenses with the D300, the best lens is the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G with a score of 21. Of 94 tested lenses, #92 is the Tamron 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 with a score of 7. Ten of the worst 13 lenses are super-zooms, with zoom ratios greater than 5 times. Glad you've gotten some better glass for your very good camera.

amehta Loc: Boston

On the DxOMarks, the D300 + 85mm f/1.4G combo scores a 21, while the D800 + 85mm f/1.4G combo scores a 40. Yes, that's a big difference. :-)

oldtigger Loc: Roanoke Virginia-USA

That 85mm f1.4 ain't all that good a lens, mounted one on the kitchen sink faucet and only got a score of 5.

MW

I think if you want to use DXO Mark to compare lenses, you should select the same body with each even if the body isn't the one you personally have available. In general the score for a prime will be significantly higher than a zoom covering that range -- there are exceptions but that man.

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

what you have is a sort of "apples to oranges" issue. the only 2 zoom lenses made which were comparable to prime lenses at defined focal lengths were the Vivitar 90-180mm f4.5 Flat Field Macro Zoom and the Zeiss 70-300mm AF zoom; this one being for the Contax AF SLRs. other than that, no zoom lens will be as good at, let's say 100mm as a 100mm prime lens.

this is why i never have used zoom lenses. the use of newer glass and coatings do not change the laws of optics. prime lenses for precise subjects is how i was taught. i do remember in my youth (before electricity) folks would buy zoom lenses only because they could not afford the lenses in the prime focal lengths.

what i seem to hear today is weight, size, features and convenience are most important. i don't know, just too old i guess. but i do remember one Connecticut summer spent photographing in a blackberry bog in Marlboro with a Mamiya RB67 and lenses. it was positively miserable but the photos came out great.

so there you go. as the late, great David Vestal succinctly stated "you get out of it what you put into it". the right camera, format, film, lens and tripod are what factor into my photography.

i've gotta be honest with all you folks, "just good enough" isn't for me, so i admit to being a snob. but i have and am still willing to eat peanut butter for 6 months to get that right piece of equipment: so feel free to have at me! :)