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  #401  
Old Posted Jun 22, 2013, 12:13 AM
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Originally Posted by glowrock View Post
I tend to agree. A true professional portrait photographer, sure. No question about it. But in terms of lenses for the semi-pro or enthusiast photographer, I still recommend sticking to the "basics", with perhaps a couple of more exotic lenses for fun/interesting shots...

That being said, those portraits taken with the lens in question were simply sublime!

Aaron (Glowrock)
Its truly one of the best lens that Nikon makes. The bokeh is so smooth and buttery is ridiculous. But the price of it makes it out of most peoples range, including a lot of professionals. I know a few people lucky enough to have found one used and even then they drops a couple grand.
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  #402  
Old Posted Jun 30, 2013, 9:18 AM
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Bought the Nikkor 135mm f/2 DC today, so stupid sharp!
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  #403  
Old Posted Jul 2, 2013, 6:11 PM
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Bought the Nikkor 135mm f/2 DC today, so stupid sharp!
Did you have to order it from a store? I know Montreal shops don't have it in stock. It's suppose to be the best portrait lens around, post some photos showing it's magical voodoo powers
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  #404  
Old Posted Jul 2, 2013, 10:27 PM
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I dream of the day when I can give a 135mm a good home. My friend let me play with his CZ Sonnar 135mm f1.8. The bokeh was like butter.

and definitely show us some test shots.
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  #405  
Old Posted Jul 2, 2013, 11:18 PM
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Just got the bill from Nikon or the estimate I guess to fix my dropped and destroyed 14-24 2.8 at 660 bucks. Thought it was going to be much worse than that, but still thats 660 bucks that could have been saved and spent on the 24-70 2.8. Now that Im broke and poor the holy trinity seems further away than it ever has.
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  #406  
Old Posted Jul 3, 2013, 1:59 AM
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Just got the bill from Nikon or the estimate I guess to fix my dropped and destroyed 14-24 2.8 at 660 bucks. Thought it was going to be much worse than that, but still thats 660 bucks that could have been saved and spent on the 24-70 2.8. Now that Im broke and poor the holy trinity seems further away than it ever has.
Go sell your body
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  #407  
Old Posted Sep 2, 2013, 11:46 PM
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My old camera (a Nikon D40) died a few weeks ago. Since I already have a few Nikon lenses I've been thinking I should probably buy another Nikon. I don't have a lot of money right now but the D5100 looks do-able. Does anyone here use one, or have any other thoughts on the subject? I can spend about $500ish.
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  #408  
Old Posted Sep 3, 2013, 10:46 PM
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My old camera (a Nikon D40) died a few weeks ago. Since I already have a few Nikon lenses I've been thinking I should probably buy another Nikon. I don't have a lot of money right now but the D5100 looks do-able. Does anyone here use one, or have any other thoughts on the subject? I can spend about $500ish.
I would tell you to save up about a grand and go get a d7100. Way better tech and they got a lot of the kinks out that were in the 5100 and 7000 series. Glowrock has the 7100 now. Really nice ISO handling.
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  #409  
Old Posted Sep 4, 2013, 6:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Chef View Post
My old camera (a Nikon D40) died a few weeks ago. Since I already have a few Nikon lenses I've been thinking I should probably buy another Nikon. I don't have a lot of money right now but the D5100 looks do-able. Does anyone here use one, or have any other thoughts on the subject? I can spend about $500ish.
Well it really depends on what all you need or plan on using your camera on for now and in the future. I use a Nikon D5100 and it serves me well for the purposes I use it for. The image quality is great and the the iso can easily be used up to 3200 before the noise gets too noticeable and some noise reduction has to be applied (I usually won't go any higher than 1600-2000 if my subject is people because the skin and tiny details can be distorted too much from the noise reduction). Plus the swivel-tilt screen really comes in handy for me when I need to get pics from above my head, at awkward angles, or of subjects that I don't really want noticing that I'm taking a picture of them. Since you're coming from a D40 then you'll already be used to not having the little screen up top and the extra wheel on the front to change your aperture.

If you know for a fact that having a swivel screen means nothing to you but being able to quickly switch both your aperture and shutter means a lot then I would say get the D7000 instead. You should be able to get a body for no more than $600 on eBay now that its successor has been out for a while. The only difference between the D5100 and D7000 is the controls and the D7000 doesn't have the swivel screen. The image quality and iso noise are pretty much the same. I have both bodies and use them both for completely different reasons. Do you plan on doing any studio/flash photography where you'll need to be able to have features such as high speed sync or being able to use your pop-up flash as a master flash to trigger your slaves? Get the D7000. If not, then the D5100 would be just fine for you. Also, like the D40, the D5100 doesn't have an AF motor inside the body so you're stuck with using AF-S lenses and their third party equivalents unless you like to or don't mind manually focusing.

If you're in no rush in getting a new body and you're willing to start from scratch and can scrap together $1500 bucks before the end of the year then I'd suggest going full frame and getting a Canon 5D Mark II since they've come down significantly in price now. Going full frame is always better than cropped sensors....

All in all, I love my D5100 for the things that I use it for and would easily recommend it if it suits your needs .

Oh, and one more thing; if the size of the D40 was ever really an issue for you then you won't be any happier with the D5100 because it's just as small and maybe a little heavier. The D7000 might suit you better in this regard...
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  #410  
Old Posted Sep 25, 2013, 11:44 PM
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Originally Posted by ChiTownCity View Post
Well it really depends on what all you need or plan on using your camera on for now and in the future. I use a Nikon D5100 and it serves me well for the purposes I use it for. The image quality is great and the the iso can easily be used up to 3200 before the noise gets too noticeable and some noise reduction has to be applied (I usually won't go any higher than 1600-2000 if my subject is people because the skin and tiny details can be distorted too much from the noise reduction). Plus the swivel-tilt screen really comes in handy for me when I need to get pics from above my head, at awkward angles, or of subjects that I don't really want noticing that I'm taking a picture of them. Since you're coming from a D40 then you'll already be used to not having the little screen up top and the extra wheel on the front to change your aperture.

If you know for a fact that having a swivel screen means nothing to you but being able to quickly switch both your aperture and shutter means a lot then I would say get the D7000 instead. You should be able to get a body for no more than $600 on eBay now that its successor has been out for a while. The only difference between the D5100 and D7000 is the controls and the D7000 doesn't have the swivel screen. The image quality and iso noise are pretty much the same. I have both bodies and use them both for completely different reasons. Do you plan on doing any studio/flash photography where you'll need to be able to have features such as high speed sync or being able to use your pop-up flash as a master flash to trigger your slaves? Get the D7000. If not, then the D5100 would be just fine for you. Also, like the D40, the D5100 doesn't have an AF motor inside the body so you're stuck with using AF-S lenses and their third party equivalents unless you like to or don't mind manually focusing.

If you're in no rush in getting a new body and you're willing to start from scratch and can scrap together $1500 bucks before the end of the year then I'd suggest going full frame and getting a Canon 5D Mark II since they've come down significantly in price now. Going full frame is always better than cropped sensors....

All in all, I love my D5100 for the things that I use it for and would easily recommend it if it suits your needs .

Oh, and one more thing; if the size of the D40 was ever really an issue for you then you won't be any happier with the D5100 because it's just as small and maybe a little heavier. The D7000 might suit you better in this regard...
The d7000 has an internal focusing motor where as the d5100 does not and requires "s" lens with a focusing motor and also cost more. Glowrock has the d7100 and its a nice improvement from the 5100 he had. Alternatively you could go d700 if you have any full frame lenses, aps-c lenses wont work properly on it.
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  #411  
Old Posted Sep 27, 2013, 8:53 PM
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Originally Posted by diskojoe View Post
Alternatively you could go d700 if you have any full frame lenses, aps-c lenses wont work properly on it.
The lenses will work just fine, but won't take advantage of the whole FF sensor, and the resulting images will be "cropped".
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  #412  
Old Posted Sep 28, 2013, 5:15 AM
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I just don't have the kind of money necessary to get a D7100, it would take at least a year or two and I don't want to wait that long. As it is I will probably have to sell my guitar amp to come up with the money for a D5100. The recession was not kind to the chefing pay scale.
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  #413  
Old Posted Sep 28, 2013, 9:49 PM
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Well what exactly is your budget? Getting a D5100 secondhand shouldn't take too long to save up for.
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  #414  
Old Posted Sep 29, 2013, 6:27 AM
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Going against pretty much what every review / forum out there said about this type of lens, I decided to buy the Sigma 18-250 f/3.5-6.3 OS Macro HSM. Comparing to the kit lenses I had, so far I'm not really noticing a huge loss of image quality, if any. Here are the two best shots from the past couple of days..


Denver by Day by Ryan Dravitz, on Flickr


Denver by Night by Ryan Dravitz, on Flickr
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  #415  
Old Posted Nov 9, 2013, 12:52 AM
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Originally Posted by Chef View Post
I just don't have the kind of money necessary to get a D7100, it would take at least a year or two and I don't want to wait that long. As it is I will probably have to sell my guitar amp to come up with the money for a D5100. The recession was not kind to the chefing pay scale.
Bro you have to make the gear pay for itself. Im not saying go be a full time pro but try to pull a gig if you can to cover the cost. Thats what I do. All my gear has paid for itself with a random wedding gig or second shooter event here and there.
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  #416  
Old Posted Nov 13, 2013, 7:13 AM
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Bro you have to make the gear pay for itself. Im not saying go be a full time pro but try to pull a gig if you can to cover the cost. Thats what I do. All my gear has paid for itself with a random wedding gig or second shooter event here and there.
The thing is that I already have a career in a creative profession, I don't want another. The whole point of photography for me is to have an outlet that isn't tied to commerce. I can't do weddings because I am running a restaurant on the weekends, nights are also out of the question in general. Also photography isn't my only expensive hobby, I've been breeding aquarium fish lately which sucks up a lot of money up front but will pay for itself in the end. Anyway I got a D5100 about a month ago, it is a big step up from the D40 I was used to so I am happy with it (it was also only $400). If I ever get a big money chef job I will go full frame, but it is a matter of priorities.
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  #417  
Old Posted Nov 14, 2013, 12:36 AM
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The thing is that I already have a career in a creative profession, I don't want another. The whole point of photography for me is to have an outlet that isn't tied to commerce. I can't do weddings because I am running a restaurant on the weekends, nights are also out of the question in general. Also photography isn't my only expensive hobby, I've been breeding aquarium fish lately which sucks up a lot of money up front but will pay for itself in the end. Anyway I got a D5100 about a month ago, it is a big step up from the D40 I was used to so I am happy with it (it was also only $400). If I ever get a big money chef job I will go full frame, but it is a matter of priorities.
I feel ya. The 5100 is a good motor just minus some of the bells and whistles that the new motors have.
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  #418  
Old Posted Nov 23, 2013, 5:43 AM
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Did you have to order it from a store? I know Montreal shops don't have it in stock. It's suppose to be the best portrait lens around, post some photos showing it's magical voodoo powers
Shit, sorry mr John, I totally missed this. I went to Vistek, there were none in stock in Edmonton but Calgary had one, but this was when the floods were happening and the salesman suggested just ordering from Toronto. I picked it up in three days. I don't know about voodoo powers but it's pretty sharp. I can't figure out the DC though. Now matter how I set it the entire frame gets soft rather than just the background, so I leave it at 0.

Here's a few shots:





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  #419  
Old Posted Nov 24, 2013, 10:27 PM
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^ What was the backlight in the first pic? It's an amazing shot!
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  #420  
Old Posted Nov 25, 2013, 4:57 AM
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Thanks. It's just sunlight/ambient. The smoke is from ceremonial firing of canons on Remembrance Day.
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