Now that I’ve figured out what camera and lense to get, there are all those other accessories. Good thing the internet is filled with folks reviewing the stuff. Here’s a quick list:
h4. Flashes
An additional thing, but I expect to be doing quite a bit of shooting indoor even though I’ll be using ISO 800 film and a f/1.4 lenses, it still means flashes are needed. Hard to find good reviews of these things. But here are some:
* “Camera Hobby”:http://www.camerahobby.com/Access-Flashes.htm. Says basically that the Nikon SB-28 and SB-27 are nice, but they have broken at alot for him.
* “Photography Review”:http://www.photographyreview.com/Flashes/Nikon,SB-50DX,AF,Speedlight/PRD_85203_3121crx.aspx. Usually photography review doesn’t have much information in it, but this is an exception. Main note is the SB-80DX is top of the line, but costs as much as the N80/F80 itself. The SB-50DX is less expensive at $160-$25 rebate and a good match, but doesn’t tilt and it isn’t very bright (low guide number), so it is hard to do bounce flashes for indoor lighting.
* “Thom Hogan”:http://www.bythom.com/nikon.htm. Has good overview that says the SB-50 is nice for the N80 camera, but SB-80 is the best overall.
h4. Filters, Bags and other items
So there are all those miscellaneous items. Fortunately, camerahobby.com has some great reviews on:
* “Filters”:http://www.camerahobby.com/Access-Filters.htm. Says get the B+W filters for quality.
* “Bags”:http://www.camerahobby.com/Access-CameraBags.htm. A good set of reviews. He’s tried pretty much the entire Lowe line of bags. Seems like the best ones are the little backpacks like the Lowepro Orion or the Orion AW. The last is expensive at $130, but it is both a fanny pack, a backpack and is water proof (AW=all weather).
h4. Additional lenses test
Nothing here that changes the POV about good 50mm lenses, but more technical data is interesting:
* “David Nicke’s Compendium”:http://www.cs.kau.se/~nicke/private/photo/lenstest/. A great compendium of lens test.
* “David Ruether”:http://www.ferrario.com/ruether/slemn.html. Subjective evaluation that is a useful guide. Likes the f/1.8 very much. Says that most of the 50mm are great by f/2.
* “Photodo”:http://www.photodo.com/nav/prodindex.html. This is a resolution test called MTF which measures how well a lenses handles resolution. As the frequency of light and dark goes up, how well can the lens reproduce it. A geek dream to stare at these charts. Basically a perfect lense is flat all the way across the line. Shows the “Nikkor AF 50/1.8”:http://www.photodo.com/prod/lens/detail/NiAF50_18-444.shtml is one of the best lenses and the “AF50/1.4”:http://www.photodo.com/prod/lens/detail/NiAF50_14D-443.shtml is still good but doesn’t work well at its lowest aperature. Also essentially says the cheap consumer telephotos are terrible. Only when you get the gigantic and expensive “Nikkor AF-S 80-200/2,8 IF-ED”:http://www.photodo.com/prod/lens/detail/NiAF-S80-200_28IF-E-473.shtml is the quality great.
* “Bjorn Rorslett”:http://www.naturfotograf.com/bestof.html. Says MTF isn’t everything so these are subjective evaluations. He love the F/1.8 and the F/1.4 very much and the very expensive professional F/2.8 zoom lenses for the pros including the AFS 70-200 mm f/2.8 G VR ED-IF as state of the art.
* “Nikon’s Decoder Ring”:http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bh1.sph/FrameWork.class?FNC=GetPage__Aindex_html___page=Product_Resources/nomenclature.html___SID=F3E88C4C150. Nikon has the strangest naming conventions for its lenses. B&H explains what is going on well. Basically in order, AF AIS were the first autofocus lenses, AF D are the current generation and AF S have silent motors in them and AF VR have vibration reduction. “Don’t”:http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bh1.sph/FrameWork.class?FNC=GetPage__Aindex_html___page=Product_Resources/bodylens.html___SID=F3E88C4C150 get MF, AI, AIS or E as these aren’t autofocusing and the N80/F80 doesn’t meter them.

3 responses to “Camera Flashes, Filters, Bags and more on Lenses”

  1. Adrian Avatar
    Adrian

    I agree with your ideal setup. It is exactly what I use except I use the SB 28 speedlight and have not had any problems. I just bought a Fuji Fine pix S2 and I think I will use the SB 80 with it. The silent wave lenses are outstanding.

  2. Rich Tong Avatar

    Thanks for the advice as usual steve!

  3. Steve Bush Avatar

    To help you decide, I thought I’d provide you with my ideal 35mm camera setup:
    Nikon F100
    SB-80DX Flash
    28-70 Zoom 2.8 Silent Wave
    80-200 Zoom 2.8 Silent Wave
    80-400mm f4.5-5.6D ED AF VR
    I wouldn’t bother buying a 50mm lens as you can save the money and by a quality zoom. When you shoot pictures with a fixed focal length lens you need to move to get the picture. This is often problematic (people in the way, no room…). Quality zooms solve this problem. If the silent wave versions are too pricey, Nikon has standard versions.

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