Cheap lens - bargain or not?

sponner

sponner

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I am using primes on by D800 due to budgetary constraints (being skint) and I bought it for "Photography" rather than as a general walkabout camera, I still use my Olympus gear for that.

I couldn't resist this though
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221247669751?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Hmmm - £25 yet I think it is perfectly useable for now. I would appreciate any views on the image quality, am I viewing through rose tinted specs?

I know it is a bit silly to splurge on a camera and penny pinch on lenses, this is a bit of a stop gap, although it will be a while before I can afford a "pro" level zoom.

Please excuse the subject matter these were taken before the postie had got back in his van.

1 minute tweak of raws in LR4
 
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28mm f 5.6

lens1.jpg


lens1-crop.jpg
 
80 mm f 7.1

lens2.jpg


lens2-crop.jpg
 
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sponner said:
I am using primes on by D800 due to budgetary constraints (being skint) and I bought it for "Photography" rather than as a general walkabout camera, I still use my Olympus gear for that.

I couldn't resist this though
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221247669751?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Hmmm - £25 yet I think it is perfectly useable for now. I would appreciate any views on the image quality, am I viewing through rose tinted specs?

I know it is a bit silly to splurge on a camera and penny pinch on lenses, this is a bit of a stop gap, although it will be a while before I can afford a "pro" level zoom.
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Buy the best glass you can afford is my advice Oh and the lens you bought is NOT a prime lens its a zoom (Nikon 28-80mm F3.5 - F5.6 AFD zoom lens)

Prime lenses are of fixed focal length like 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm & 105mm etc etc


Les :thumbs:
 
The primes I am using atm are a Nikon 50mm f 1.4 and 85mm f 1.8.

I am very happy with them, this cheapo zoom I bought for a play, I was just interested to hear opinions on the image quality, I think it is perfectly useable but I may be biased.
 
2 grand camera and a 25 quid lens? Lol.
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:) I know it's a nonesense, its only just arrived so I haven't used it at all apart from the above grabs
 
The results look good here although the crops are from the centre and I suppose edge performance may or may not be as good? Plus of course it's a slow zoom but on the positive side it's got a usable zoom range.

Generally I think that there's a tendency to nit pick and pixel peep too much and give less importance to truly good images so if you can get some good images from this lens and avoid looking for any shortcomings at 100% on your pc I think you'll have a bargain.

Plus of course you have your nice primes when you fancy some pixel peeping :D Enjoy your cheap lens bargain and be smug knowing that few if any people would be able to look at your shots and tell you've used a bargain lens :D
 
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pix look ok, for £25 you've not lost anything :) 4 packets of fags lol
 
Like people say, for £25 I don't think you can complain much at all!

Stick it on, take some photos and who cares if it gets scratched or anything as at £25 its hardly a problem. :)

Good find. :)
 
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I have one of these lenses, came as a kit lens on my D70 about 8 years ago. Not a bad lens, I prefer the results it gives on film for some inexplicable reason. Never used it on my D700, not sure how well it'll do on a D800 given that cameras supposed preference for top end glass.
 
viewfromthenorth said:
...not sure how well it'll do on a D800 given that cameras supposed preference for top end glass.
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I'd imagine that like most issues us geeks complain about any lens related image quality issues will only be visible when printing larger than most people ever print in their lives or when pixel peeping at 100% on screen. In other words... in real world use it'll be perfectly fine.
 
I've got this lens and got some ok results on my D7000, but on my D700 I thought it was crap and wouldn't use it again.

U can get much better zoom lenses if you go for say tamron for about £200 which would give you fantastic results. I wouldnt bother using that £25 lens on your D800, just use the primes
 
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What's the beef, it looks fine for now, and if you sell or part exchange it you'll probably get what you paid for it. Just have fun with it.
 
here's always... skint because of £2k camera
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That's closer to the truth. To be more exact if I rush out and get a Nikon 24-70 and a 70-200 vrII I will be staking the future of my marriage, not to mention my gonads, on not being found out. (I'll find a way eventually ;) )

I have other lenses I want to get before the zooms anyway, a fisheye (vr photography), a 20mm prime, and either a macro prime or the specialist 135mm portrait lens.

I love my Olympus e5 and 12-60/50-200 combo for walkaround zooms.

Thanks for the replies it is interesting to see the responses. I was impressed with the image quality given the D800 rep for requiring GOOD lenses, I am a newcomer to Nikon.

For now I will enjoy it for what it is and gives me a two body zoom set up that covers 28-560mm (with 1.4 tc on the Olympus) in 35mm terms.

If the keeper rate is too low I have lost very little.
 
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the thing is at the end of the day, it doesn't matter with regards to pixel peep quality for £25, I mean yes, if you were totally honest and viewed things at 100% then yes it isnt taking full advantage of the camera and you can see that... but it was £25 so who cares!!

We all know its the subject that matters most so for walking around its a great purchase.
 
by no means good images but I would recommend this cheapo for anyone after a fun lens pending something more substantial

cheapo-1.jpg


cheapo-2.jpg
 
salsa-king said:
pix look ok, for £25 you've not lost anything :) 4 packets of fags lol
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fags :gag: why would you do it to yourself let alone the expense?

yeah, £25 is too cheap to think about justifying the expense. If it works - great, but yeah it looks 'bad' on £2000 camera :D. I would think more about whether it will make your photos look bad in any way - resulting in some lost opportunities, etc.
The centre is bound to be "OK", but what about the corners? Focus speed? Slow aperture? It *might* be a perfectly good landscape lens at f/11 or whatever, you need to test it out properly.
 
Not bad for a £25 lens :D I think personally I'd have spent a little less on the camera to be able to afford nicer glass, but that's just me! I think I actually had one of those lenses from my nan around somewhere, shall have to give it a try at some point.
 
I was in a similar situation a couple of years back, spent my money on a D700 and then made do with cheap lenses from ebay until I could afford better. The G version of this was one of my first, and it's been a keeper even after I'd saved up.
 
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