[flar]

Updated equipment list, with comments about each item.

Cameras:

Nikon D90: Wish I had the D7000, but this is adequate for what I do.

Nikon D50: Love this little camera, feels chunkier than the D90 in my hands, wish it had a more up to date sensor. I keep it as backup.

Lenses:

Nikkor AF-S 16-85mm f/3-5-5.6G ED VR DX: Very nice, solid build. Excellent resolution and very sharp. Gives very nice contrasty photos with bright colours. Only a bit of distortion at the wide end, easy to fix. Has manual focus override and distance scale, but no depth of field markings. Extremely useful range, though it's too slow at 85mm. VR doesn't make up for it, but it's nice to have.

Tokina AT-X Pro SD 12-24mm F4 (IF) DX: Big, solid lens. You can pull the focus ring down to focus manually. It has a distance scale but no depth of field markings. This one uses the screw drive AF on Nikons. Focus is quick. Distortion is low for a wide angle and easy to fix at 12mm and there is no distortion by 24 mm. I bought this over the slightly better and faster Tokina 11-16 because I wanted to zoom to 24mm, which allows me to keep this lens on most of the time on residential photo tours.

Nikkor AF-S 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF DX VR: This lens feels like a cheap plastic piece of crap beside my other lenses, so I don't use it that much, even though it gives quite good image quality. The VR on this lens is not that great, the VR is better on more expensive lenses. Focus is slow. The biggest complaint is that the focus ring is really hard to adjust and doesn't stop at infinity.

Nikkor AF-S 35mm f/1.8 G DX: I don't like the look and it feels a bit light, but it's really sharp and a useful focal length (equivalent to a normal lens on cropped sensor cameras). Has manual focus override, good bokeh and fast. Very low price, great value. Despite being overall a cheap feeling lens, it has the rubber gasket around the metal lens mount, a nice touch.

Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 Ai-S: This is the later flatter version, it's extremely tiny but doesn't focus as close as the more common versions. I don't find the 50mm focal length very useful on cropped sensor and it's full manual on my camera, so I don't use it much. But it is nice and sharp. I do use it with a reversing ring for macro photography.

Nikkor AF 85mm f/1.8 D: Another great lens: fast, nice bokeh and sharp even wide open. Only problem is I wish it had a more solid build, the barrel feels a bit hollow and plasticky, but overall acceptable and has a good weight. Focuses quickly enough, but would be better with modern focus system (it uses the screw drive). It is sort of in between when it comes to contrast and colour; not as contrasty and saturated as the 35mm and 16-85, but moreso than the older MF lenses. I haven't had this one very long, but it gives very pleasing images so far.

Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 Ai: This is a great lens despite being fully manual (focus and exposure) on my camera. The bokeh is exceptional. Stops under f4 have a different character, more subdued colour and softer image. F4 and above are very sharp and have a bit more contrast but not as much as modern lenses. Suffers from severe CA with light shining directly into the lens. Build quality is exceptional, all metal, it has a nice weight to it and the focus ring is a smooth as silk.