ib1 - lens

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BRUTALITOPS

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What's a good... mostly general purpose but also useful for taking lots of nightshots type of lens to get? I don't want to break the bank just yet.
 
Night shots without flash ?
the lower the f stop will go the more light it lets in.
but most lens perform poorly in dark conditions unless you use a tripod an long shutter duration. Or of course a flash.
 
uscitizen said:
Night shots without flash ?
the lower the f stop will go the more light it lets in.
but most lens perform poorly in dark conditions unless you use a tripod an long shutter duration. Or of course a flash.
Click to expand...

Correct. You might want to go with an f1.8 lens (are you talking film here?) which will give you a wide shutter opening. The downside of that is that you'll have narrowed your depth of field quite markedly. (There's a reciprocal relationship between shutter size and depth of field.)

You certainly will need a tripod and a cable release because your shutter duration will be quite long. I can handhold down to 1/6 second under ideal conditions, but normally the rule for sharpness for handheld is focal distance:shutter speed=1 (or 50 mm lens for 1/50 sec shutter speed at f8 or f11). It depends on what you want to photograph. If you're thinking of moon shots, for instance, remember that it's daylight on the moon and you can get away with about 1/30 sec for about a 600 mm lens at f8. I did that to film a sequence during a lunar eclipse.

Sounds like fun. :)
 
thanks thorn I had forgotten about the depth of field thing.
I saw a deal about some lenses though that have an extreme depth of field, virtually everything is in focus. uber cool. I have a pair of Zeiss binocs that are that way. I have no idea how they do it though.
 
uscitizen said:
thanks thorn I had forgotten about the depth of field thing.
I saw a deal about some lenses though that have an extreme depth of field, virtually everything is in focus. uber cool. I have a pair of Zeiss binocs that are that way. I have no idea how they do it though.
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Zeiss has awesome optics; they quit making cameras (Contax) and lenses, though, unfortunately. I'm pretty happy with my Nikon photo equipment and binocs, but sure would like to have Zeiss binocs (or a spotting scope!). :)
 
My system keeps kicking me off every time I go to the page. That's a camera body, though, not a lens. I couldn't even see what kind (35 mm, Med. Fmt., etc.) before the error report showed up. The price puts it in the pro category; that much I could see.

Canon makes good equipment too; I just prefer Nikon and all my lenses are interchangeable. I think that the original question was about a Canon lens, anyway.
 
the Zeiss binocs are super nice, but super expensive. I got these at a pawn shop for $200. I think they are maybe $1,000 retail.

You can look thru them for hours and have no eyestrain.
 
I forget for sure and apologize to Thorn if wrong but I think neither of us are spring chickens anymore. I know for sure I am not.
Older people have a lot of lifes experiences to draw on Grind.
 
uscitizen said:
I forget for sure and apologize to Thorn if wrong but I think neither of us are spring chickens anymore. I know for sure I am not.
Older people have a lot of lifes experiences to draw on Grind.
Click to expand...

hey gramps, dont' be stupid, just because one is old doesn't mean they know everything under the sun.
 
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Grind said:
hey gramps, dont' be stupid, just because one is old doesn't mean they know everything under the son.
Click to expand...

Stretcing it to the absurd to to make your point Grind ? everything under the sun ? :D

I think you just made my point for me.
 
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