Recommend me a prime

N

nick16

Suspended / Banned
Messages
401
Edit My Images
No
Hi all,

please excuse my beginner knowledge...

Im after a prime for my Nikon D5500 in order to take some angling trophy shots abroad. I know the Nikon 35 and 50mm get decent praise on here, but not sure which would be more suitable for my needs? I can attach a typical photo i would be taking in order to help peoples suggestions?
The photographer would usually be only a couple of meters from the subject so i need to ensure everything can fit in the frame.
I assume that a prime will blur the background slightly too?

EDIT: a shot similar to this...
20160705_1009350.jpg

Thanks,
Nick
 
Last edited:
Dunno, but I like the photo...... ☺
 
nick16 said:
I assume that a prime will blur the background slightly too?
Click to expand...
No. But using a fast aperture will. Primes tend to have faster apertures than zooms, but being a prime lens isn't enough in and of itself to blur the background.

If you're only going to be a couple of metres away, I suspect 35mm may not be wide enough.
 
RIR said:
Dunno, but I like the photo...... ☺
Click to expand...
Thanks, Plenty more photos like that!

This was my thought, i suspected 50mm would be pushing it a little. What is the next prime down from 35mm? 28mm?

I think 35mm will be suitable. I will grab my zoom lens and go to 35mm and see what field of view i can obtain.
 
There are plenty of fast aperture zoom lenses at modest cost that would work well on your D5500, and they offer the flexibility of dealing with tight spaces or exceptional fish ;) Tamron and Sigma both do decent zooms in the 18-50 range and at a constant f2.8 ...
 
nick16 said:
Thanks, Plenty more photos like that!

This was my thought, i suspected 50mm would be pushing it a little. What is the next prime down from 35mm? 28mm?

I think 35mm will be suitable. I will grab my zoom lens and go to 35mm and see what field of view i can obtain.
Click to expand...

28, then 24 and 20 but all 3 are FX and expensive. The 35mm DX is cheap and excellent!
 
nick16 said:
This was my thought, i suspected 50mm would be pushing it a little. What is the next prime down from 35mm? 28mm?
Click to expand...
On a crop sensor I'd be looking at something around 24mm.

Although the equivalent of 4.2mm on your S7 is even wider, closer to 18mm on your D5500. Which has the added advantage that the perspective will make the fish look even bigger.
 
PaulButler said:
There are plenty of fast aperture zoom lenses at modest cost that would work well on your D5500, and they offer the flexibility of dealing with tight spaces or exceptional fish ;) Tamron and Sigma both do decent zooms in the 18-50 range and at a constant f2.8 ...
Click to expand...

Apart from the standard 18-55 kit lens, the only other suitable lens i have would be the 16-85 Nikon. Shall i just stick to this as it covers most angles very well?

JJ! said:
28, then 24 and 20 but all 3 are FX and expensive. The 35mm DX is cheap and excellent!
Click to expand...

I know everyone raves about the 35, think im just going to have to get one. I need a decent lens that works in lower light too. The standard 18-55 doesnt cut it!

Alastair said:
On a crop sensor I'd be looking at something around 24mm.

Although the equivalent of 4.2mm on your S7 is even wider, closer to 18mm on your D5500. Which has the added advantage that the perspective will make the fish look even bigger.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your thoughts, so your saying 18mm will make the fish look bigger than using the mobile? Or about the same?
So the wider the lens, the bigger it makes the fish look? Am i correct there?

Im not too worried about perspective, its hard to frame 2.5 meter fish ;)

Thanks chaps!
 
nick16 said:
Apart from the standard 18-55 kit lens, the only other suitable lens i have would be the 16-85 Nikon. Shall i just stick to this as it covers most angles very well?
Click to expand...
It is a fine lens, but if you need faster (i.e. for low light work) then a fixed f2.8 may be a better option (fixed just means it will be f2.8 at 17/18mm and f2.8 at 50mm, you can, of course, use smaller apertures - sorry if teaching egg sucking ;)). As for the 35mm f1.8G DX it is a very good lens by any means, when you factor in the price it is exceptional.
 
nick16 said:
So the wider the lens, the bigger it makes the fish look? Am i correct there?
Click to expand...
No, where you stand will cause the fish to appear bigger if you're standing so close you need a wide-angle lens and are holding the fish out in front of the angler.
 
nick16 said:
I know everyone raves about the 35, think im just going to have to get one. I need a decent lens that works in lower light too. The standard 18-55 doesnt cut it!
Click to expand...

Have a look at Sigma, I had a 17-70 f2.8 which didnt break the bank but took brilliant images, I used mine on a D7100 and before that a D5100, if you want to go wider the 10-20mm sigma f2.8. They can be had second hand from £140.00. Unfortunately Ijust sold mine. The 17-70 has a macro facility as well. New about £320.00 each.
If you want a prime, the Nikon 35mm f1.8 is so sharp.
 
I love using my 50 on FX and the 35 would definitely be my lens of choice on DX.
 
Alastair said:
No, where you stand will cause the fish to appear bigger if you're standing so close you need a wide-angle lens and are holding the fish out in front of the angler.
Click to expand...

I will have the photographer anywhere from 3-6 meters away roughly. Dependant on location, fish etc. I try not to hold the fish out too much because i think its cheating! Its easier with the Red Tails because they dont beat you up once they have been netted. Carp are another matter though. Once a fish gets over 60lb its hard to hold out front anyway!

The 16-85 will be coming with me as my standard travel lens, but i would like a prime. The f1.8 35mm covers all my needs really, good for the photos i need angle wise, great sharpness, cheap and works in lower lights too.

10-20mm is a shout though! I thought it was an f3.5?
 
Last edited:
I would say best value is the 35mm f/1.8.. but on a DX body it's giving you 52.5mm equivalent. I personally use 35mm f/2 on my D750 nearly all the time.. I find it a great length, so maybe 24 or 28mm might suit, although as said, they are dearer lenses..
 
Use your zoom to figure out your focal length. We all like a different prime! As technics above - loves 35mm on FX, where as I always use my 50mm.

The 28mm is a fine lens (see classifieds lol) but is expensive - but if you ever go FX it would still be a great lens to keep.
 
If you use Lightroom or something similar, look see if you can add a column in your browser / library section which shows focal length. That way you can see how many photos you take at varying focal lengths.

Choose what prime lens to buy based on that.
 
Unfortunately they seem to be a substantial amount more than a simple 35mm prime.
It would be handy to have a UWA lens though.
 
To repeat my (and others) advise from above though ... you need to look what focal lengths you are taking your photos at - if you have Lightroom it's pretty easy (sure other catalogue type applications have similar function)
 
nick16 said:
Unfortunately they seem to be a substantial amount more than a simple 35mm prime.
It would be handy to have a UWA lens though.
Click to expand...
It'd be cheaper for you to buy an X-E1 and XF-18 as a fishing camera, and it'd be a pocketable solution with an image quality to at least match your D5500.
 
Eloise said:
To repeat my (and others) advise from above though ... you need to look what focal lengths you are taking your photos at - if you have Lightroom it's pretty easy (sure other catalogue type applications have similar function)
Click to expand...

Most of my shots have been taken with my phone so far. I do get decent results, good enough for social media, advertising, forums, blogs and small sponsors. However they lack the quality when you enlarge the image or want to print them off to be framed. I dont really use any post photo processing, i need to download something and begin to use and understand it. I am only getting into photography recently.

I am in two minds whether to just take my Nikon 16-85 as its an amazing travel lens, and see what lengths i use most. (i suspect the wider end of the range)
Or buy something like a 10-20mm which gives me that UWA when distances from subject to photographer are small.
Struggle to find either Sigma or Tokina (would prefer sigma) around the £140 price bracket quoted above!

Alastair said:
It'd be cheaper for you to buy an X-E1 and XF-18 as a fishing camera, and it'd be a pocketable solution with an image quality to at least match your D5500.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion, ideally i would like to keep the nikon compatibility as we have more than 1 nikon DX body in the household, so lenses can be shared / borrowed!


cheers all :)
 
The 35mm is the obvious choice as they are very good value.

What phone have you got? Upgrading that is another option and easiest option than lugging a camera and worrying about that near the water all day. The images you are taking are not very demanding on a sensor. Get one with OIS and keep the ISO down HDR off and I'm sure a phone will be fine.
 
Last edited:
rjbell said:
The 35mm is the obvious choice as they are very good value.

What phone have you got? Upgrading that is another option and easiest option than lugging a camera and worrying about that near the water all day. The images you are taking are not very demanding on a sensor. Get one with OIS and keep the ISO down HDR off and I'm sure a phone will be fine.
Click to expand...

what is OIS?
I have a Samsung S7
 
nick16 said:
Most of my shots have been taken with my phone so far. I do get decent results, good enough for social media, advertising, forums, blogs and small sponsors. However they lack the quality when you enlarge the image or want to print them off to be framed. I dont really use any post photo processing, i need to download something and begin to use and understand it. I am only getting into photography recently.
Click to expand...
Have you considered something in between ... perhaps looking at waterproof compact cameras might be a better option. Off the top of my Google, something like Olympus TG-860 offers a 21-105mm equivalent (the 10-20mm offers 15-30mm equivalent; the 16-85 a 24-127mm equivalent) lens with a 1/2.3" sensor. So much better sensor than a phone though lacking compared with a DX camera. Or the TG-4 offers more control (Aperture Priority mode and RAW shooting for example) at the loss of slight range in the zoom only 25-100mm equivalent. Cost is around £250 / £300 (TG-860 / TG-4) and you won't have to be concerned about risk of it getting wet and much less loss if it was to get lost.

I know its not answering the question you asked; and I don't know if you are doing this as a professional or if you are just photographing friends with their catches. Just another option to consider.
 
Last edited:
nick16 said:
what is OIS?
I have a Samsung S7
Click to expand...
optical image stabilization which yours has. You've got just about the best camera on a phone i'm sure you could get usable images from the phone. The image you've posted seems like its had some work done was it hdr? Its also shot at f1.7 if you bumped up your f-stop you would get much better results. The image you posted has focus issues thats why it looks bad blown up and you've also not set at full resolution did you decrease it when you uploaded it?
 
Last edited:
Eloise said:
Have you considered something in between ... perhaps looking at waterproof compact cameras might be a better option. Off the top of my Google, something like Olympus TG-860 offers a 21-105mm equivalent (the 10-20mm offers 15-30mm equivalent; the 16-85 a 24-127mm equivalent) lens with a 1/2.3" sensor. So much better sensor than a phone though lacking compared with a DX camera. Or the TG-4 offers more control (Aperture Priority mode and RAW shooting for example) at the loss of slight range in the zoom only 25-100mm equivalent. Cost is around £250 / £300 (TG-860 / TG-4) and you won't have to be concerned about risk of it getting wet and much less loss if it was to get lost.

I know its not answering the question you asked; and I don't know if you are doing this as a professional or if you are just photographing friends with their catches. Just another option to consider.
Click to expand...


Thats is a good idea, but im fairly set on taking the Nikon as i will be visiting some national parks between fishing days and venues so will need the better quality a DX offers.
However, i am very much aware of the risk of water and this is what worries me the most. I do not trust the Nikon strap at all. I would be worried it will undo, and the fact it has two points where it can slacken off is a further worry too.
Are there any straps that are more secure? perhaps a complete strap that is bonded to a secure clip?

I am very careful when shooting and have the strap around my neck but also the camera in my hands while over water. However i will not be the only person using the camera as per the above photo, so i need the most secure option.

Im not a professional, but i do send catch photos to a company occasionally. They were happy with the S7 pictures, but its personal choice to get better quality ones.
i must say, the S7 doesnt take a bad photo. Phones are getting remarkably good now.
 
Eloise said:
Have you considered something in between ... perhaps looking at waterproof compact cameras might be a better option. Off the top of my Google, something like Olympus TG-860 offers a 21-105mm equivalent (the 10-20mm offers 15-30mm equivalent; the 16-85 a 24-127mm equivalent) lens with a 1/2.3" sensor. So much better sensor than a phone though lacking compared with a DX camera. Or the TG-4 offers more control (Aperture Priority mode and RAW shooting for example) at the loss of slight range in the zoom only 25-100mm equivalent. Cost is around £250 / £300 (TG-860 / TG-4) and you won't have to be concerned about risk of it getting wet and much less loss if it was to get lost.

I know its not answering the question you asked; and I don't know if you are doing this as a professional or if you are just photographing friends with their catches. Just another option to consider.
Click to expand...
I doubt there is anything in it sensor wise with the backside illumination on the s7. Then it has a faster aperture and i would imagine it has aperture priority and raw shooting also. Not to mention the facility to upload the images as soon as you shot them to the magazine.

Update: Ignore the first bit the TG-860 sensor is BSI too :)
 
Last edited:
rjbell said:
I doubt there is anything in it sensor wise with the backside illumination on the s7. Then it has a faster aperture and i would imagine it has aperture priority and raw shooting also. Not to mention the facility to upload the images as soon as you shot them to the magazine.
Click to expand...
You're probably right actually ... I guess you'd need to step up to the Nikon 1 AW1 to improve much while keeping fully waterproof camera.
 
The AW1 is a nice piece of kit, but its more than buying a couple of lenses for the D5500. Its not something that will be used often either. Nice suggestions though guys :)

The other option is shooting from a travel tripod when i can, so the camera isnt over water, however alot of photos the accessibility from land is poor and the photographer needs to be at the same height. (as per photo above)

I think ultimately i need to find a god second hand price on UWA sigma or Tokina, and perhaps find a more suitable strap.
Im not sure if having a neck and wrist strap is possible, at least if one breaks, the other should hold out. Thoughts?
 
nick16 said:
The AW1 is a nice piece of kit, but its more than buying a couple of lenses for the D5500. Its not something that will be used often either. Nice suggestions though guys :)

The other option is shooting from a travel tripod when i can, so the camera isnt over water, however alot of photos the accessibility from land is poor and the photographer needs to be at the same height. (as per photo above)

I think ultimately i need to find a god second hand price on UWA sigma or Tokina, and perhaps find a more suitable strap.
Im not sure if having a neck and wrist strap is possible, at least if one breaks, the other should hold out. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Please try setting the phone at its highest quality, hdr off and any other enhancements off, iso 100 and aperture of f5.6 and go outside and do some tests shots. I think you'll be surprised just how good they can be setup properly and save yourself the money and hassle of taking the d5500 with you and enjoy the fishing.

Or ignore me and buy a 35mm f1.8 :)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top