Just for fun.. rank your lenses

[WDWFigment]

Code - while I would originally say "good idea" for this thread, the more I read the responses of others, the more I get depressed about my own lens catalog.

 

[scoot241]

Code - while I would originally say "good idea" for this thread, the more I read the responses of others, the more I get depressed about my own lens catalog.

I'm even more depressed.

#1 Sigma 30mm f/1.4 I found this one barely used on eBay for about $300. There were lots of people at first complaining about focus issues for this lens, but this one is usually right on the money. My dad's SLR's primary lens is a 50mm f/1.4, so on my XSi this gets me practically the same thing. Bokeh is great, I can use it indoors without a flash (important for the baby coming soon), and it's awesome on dark rides. It's also sharp as a ceramic knife (FYI: really sharp).

#2 Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS It's a kit lens, so it's not the greatest. It does take some nice shots, however, and it has some zoom. Plus it has IS so that helps bring shutter speeds down. Just make sure you have plenty of light for this one. One of my favorite pictures from last Disney trip was taken with this lens (B'rer Rabbit statue with the castle in the background). Can get some interesting shots at 18mm.

Want:
70-200mm - I can't decide which one though. I think I have narrowed it down to the Sigma f/2.8 or the Canon f/2.8. The Canon f/4.0 is just a little less expensive than the Sigma, so I'd probably just move up to the Sigma. Both aren't cheap, but the Sigma is quite a bit less expensive than the Canon.

Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 - Another expensive one, but not as pricey as the 70-200. Want to see what I can do with the UWA. This is definitely not my next lens purchase; I'd rather the 70-200 first.

 

[Gdad]

On our past two trips, at least 50% of my top shots have been taken with this lens. I don't really care about real world photography, so it doesn't bother me that I can't find real world uses for the lens.

Tom- this statement kind of shocked me unless I misunderstand you. You have a lot of talent- I am surprised your photography interests do not extend far beyond just Disney stuff. I know I see some people who's photostream is pretty much all Disney- I guess I just figure they choose not to share other subjects or do so elsewhere.

 

[Gdad]

1. I am finding that I am starting to really like shooting more wide than tele. Ever since I have seen some of your shots and have read up this lens its been a dream to own one though I doubt it will ever happen for me because of the cost. I love what you do with this lens.

Thanks Karyl- I did sell 2/3 of the Nikon 'Trinity' to get it. (24-70 and 70-200vr) but I have not regretted the decision a bit.

8. I just acquired this lens in September and havent tried it on the D40 ... Thank you for this input .. I am going to Atlantic City NJ tomorrow for a real quick trip to celebrate birthdays with two friends by doing a little casino time. I may have a few hours early in the day to get out and shoot a few shots and am now considering travelling really light with only the D40 and 35mm.

An awesome combo!

 

[Code]

Great responses! It's fun to see which lenses are most important to everyone, and read the commentary.

I find it interesting that everyone with an APS-C sized sensor seems to really like their 30mm lens, which is very similar in focal length to the "standard" 50mm lens for film and full frame cameras. Oddly, I've never cared much for that focal length. I always seem happier further to the extremes. I just don't seem to compose well at that focal length. Maybe I should take a few outings with just a 50mm and see if I can get past that.

I find the opposite.. the angle of view is close to my eyes, so I can easily imagine composition. Also for me, it's just a good "life" lens, and most often on my camera when I'm hanging out with my family.

Code - while I would originally say "good idea" for this thread, the more I read the responses of others, the more I get depressed about my own lens catalog.

You just have to ignore Mark and Jeff

Tom- this statement kind of shocked me unless I misunderstand you. You have a lot of talent- I am surprised your photography interests do not extend far beyond just Disney stuff. I know I see some people who's photostream is pretty much all Disney- I guess I just figure they choose not to share other subjects or do so elsewhere.

I was going to say the same thing, I just assumed you kept your personal shooting to yourself (that's what I mostly do for now as I am not confident in my skills and keeping up with Disney-only stuff takes enough of my time). Admittedly, I have a hard time finding things that are as interesting/fun to shoot as Disney, but that extends to life in general.

 

[WDWFigment]

Tom- this statement kind of shocked me unless I misunderstand you. You have a lot of talent- I am surprised your photography interests do not extend far beyond just Disney stuff. I know I see some people who's photostream is pretty much all Disney- I guess I just figure they choose not to share other subjects or do so elsewhere.

I was going to say the same thing, I just assumed you kept your personal shooting to yourself (that's what I mostly do for now as I am not confident in my skills and keeping up with Disney-only stuff takes enough of my time). Admittedly, I have a hard time finding things that are as interesting/fun to shoot as Disney, but that extends to life in general.

Besides doing some practice the other night with Christmas lights (I really like Christmas, so I will do a lot of shooting then), I haven't touched a camera since October 4th, the day we got back from Disney. Before that trip, I hadn't used the camera (besides two days when I was trying to get my fiancee enthused about photography for the trip) since our August trip. I've had the D90 since March (I think), and 80.8% of the images I've taken with it are from 12 days at WDW.

The excuse I give to myself is that there isn't much that interests me around here to photograph--but I think a good photographer can find interesting subjects anywhere. I am really disappointed with myself that I haven't done any "fall colors" shooting yet, but I hope to change that this weekend as Sarah will be working two twelve hour shifts in Indianapolis, and I won't have anything to do besides research (and I look for any excuse to ignore that). I guess it's not so much that I don't have any photography ambition besides WDW, it's that as a practical matter, I haven't done much of substance photography-wise outside of WDW. I really do need to do more. I realize improving at my photography in general would improve my WDW photography.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

...I am really disappointed with myself that I haven't done any "fall colors" shooting yet...

Don't you have to wait for fall colors for that? Oh that's right, they come on a different schedule in different places.

 

[Gdad]

What is this 'fall colors' thing of which you men speak? I don't think they have that 'round these parts.

 

[WDWFigment]

Don't you have to wait for fall colors for that? Oh that's right, they come on a different schedule in different places.

What is this 'fall colors' thing of which you men speak? I don't think they have that 'round these parts.

Our fall colors are quickly changing to fall bare trees. Looks like I won't be getting out today for any morning shooting, as I'm already at the office.

 

[Miller1412]

My favorite is definitely my Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8
I love that lens and I am prone to taking a tight shot, so it's great for my "style" ...if you can call it that

Next would be the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 You can really do a lot with it and it's great for indoor/natural lighting situations.

Followed by my Nikkor 18-200 VR. Like a PP said, it's a "swiss army knife" and good to grab if you don't want to lug it all.

I use my Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 a lot less since I got the Dirty thirty, but it's fun to pull out now and again.

Once I get my 24-70 f/2.8...(Yeah right...gotta lotta saving to do!) My NAS will be complete

 

[Groucho]

Interesting idea for a thread... it's interesting to see some of the variety.

I can't imagine putting all my lenses in a list, but I can list some favorites...

Top of the list is certainly the "princess", the Pentax 31mm F1.8. I won't go on too much suffice to say that I agree with the assessment that you just won't find a finer autofocus SLR lens, period. Everything about it is superlative.

After that one though, it gets tricky... certainly I love my 10-17mm fisheye, but it is a little bit of a compromise, being a little slower than the usual F2.8 prime fisheye. I wouldn't mind if it could focus just a little closer, too.

My Lester Dine 105mm 1:1 macro would probably make the top 5 list. Except for a slight loss of sharpness wide open, I have nothing bad to say about it. OK, and it is a little slow to focus - which actually is a positive when using it as a macro lens, but can slow you down a hair when using it as a regular lens.

My Zeiss 135mm M42 is really, really nice; and is common enough that it's an affordable way to get into the Zeiss family.

The 16-50 and 50-135 F2.8 lenses are technically terrific and the weathersealing is tremendously useful, but they're zooms so they usually don't make my creative juices really flow. That being said, they are terrific workhorses and it's great to have pretty comparable focal length to the "big lenses" on a FF in half the weight and sometimes less than half the price. I'm really amazed that the Tokina variants haven't gained more popularity in the APS-sensor non-Pentax world. 16/17-50 lenses are common but you don't see many going for the 50-135/50-150 lenses.

So, hmm, let's see, let me first narrow it to down the lenses that I'll be taking to Disney next trip, then I will rank those in terms of which ones will probably see the most use and/or are my favorite to use.
1. Pentax 31mm F1.8, naturally
2. Pentax 10-17mm fisheye, love it at Disney
3. Pentax 16-50mm F2.8, very practical and great in the rain/on wet rides and nice 'n' wide
4. Pentax 50-135mm F2.8, to complete the rain-proof range
5. Lester A Dine 105mm F2.8 macro, a little heavy but great for getting my thinking outside the toybox
6. Pentax 50mm F1.4, nothing wrong at all but the 31mm will be doing most of the heavy low-light lifting; the 50mm will probably primarily see work on dark rides when I want more range or more light

I will also take along a set of M42 lenses to use on certain days.
1. Pentax Super Takumar 105mm F2.8, a great one
2. Zeiss 135mm F3.5, for the unusual Zeiss 3D rendering
3. Pentax Auto Takumar 55mm F1.8, your basic workhorse fast normal
4. Pentax Auto Takumar 35mm F3.5, I was initially not expecting much from this lens with its mere five aperture blades, but it pretty consistently produces solid results for me, with the signature Takumar bokeh
5. Vivitar 200mm F3.5 - won't give the current Pentax 200mm F2.8 real competition, but considering that you can get it for about 1/20th of the price, that's OK. It is quite decent if not extraordinary; I did choose it over the old Nikkor 20cm F4 that I had briefly, for comparison.
6. Pentax Takumar 300mm F4 - makes the bottom of the list just because it is so darn big and heavy! Still, I really want to give it some time on the camera and see what those 18 beautiful blades can do.

One lens not on the list that will definitely be coming is a Pentax 50mm F1.2, it's on its way to me now. I got one of the "A" models with camera-controlled aperture and 9 blades. I haven't quite gotten completely comfortable with my Cosina 55mm F1.2; it occasionally delivers very well but F1.2 is a bit "ghosty" or "glowy" sometimes. I know it's hard to avoid that with such a fast lens, but the Pentax model is top-rated so it will be minimized. Plus, I'm a sucker for aperture blades and I'll be moving from 8 to 9.

Then there's other "potential" lenses to take. My Nikkor 105mm F2.5 is a consistent performer, though a little chunky thanks to the extra speed - and do I really need to bring three 105mm primes? Oh, the decisions! Then there's the Pentax Takumar 135mm F3.5, a ~50-year-old preset lens that I don't use often but occasionally, just to give it a workout. Or maybe the Vivitar 55mm F2.8 1:1 macro, a real nice M42 macro and it looks so cool on the K-7.

I also have the lenses that I like but rarely use because they are redundant... like my various 28mm F2.8 lenses (three of 'em, off the top of my head); I would rather use the 31mm F1.8 or the 16-50mm F2.8. My Zenitar 16mm fisheye is a lot of fun but again, I'd rather use the 10-17mm for the full fisheye effect. Who knows, maybe the Zenitar will see a resurgence in use if Pentax goes ahead with their rumored 14mp full-frame DSLR next year.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure that whenever I can motivate myself (ie, save up enough bucks) to pick up my next "big ticket" lens, it'll probably take the #2 or maybe even #1 spot overall... another member of the "three Princesses" (ie, the FA Limiteds), the Pentax 77mm F1.8. Mmmmm... (I admit that I have little interest in the other member of the family, the 43mm F1.9... it just doesn't call out to me the way the others do.)

 

[KCmike]

I only have three but here is my order...

#1 55-250 IS Canon lens (love the crisp shots it gives and the reach) (They call it the "nifty two fifty)

#2 50mm 1.8 (I like that the shots come out of the camera just the way you see them in the viewfinder) (nifty fifty)

#3 18-55 IS (kit lens) (General all purpose as they say but I think the shots come out weak)