Railfan Technology > A Couple New Prime Lenses

Check out the new lenses from Yongnuo for Nikon. I know, you never heard of them, right? They get very good reviews and are WAY cheaper.

Ed

I don't understand the logic of dropping $2,000 on a "full frame" DSLR, and then putting budget glass on it. Some of the older lens manufacturers like Sigma have fantastic high-end offerings now that rival Nikon and Canon in quality and beat them in price, but I just don't see how saving a few bucks here will pay off in the long run, especially when lenses are (generally) considered the long-term investment and camera bodies are upgraded every few years.

If you forgo auto focus and image stabilization and you can accept manual focus, those lens are quite good.

NormSchultze Wrote:
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> If you forgo auto focus and image stabilization
> and you can accept manual focus, those lens are
> quite good.

While there are a quite a few outstanding photographers here on TO, there are a few regulars who could certainly use all the help they can get! ;-)

As another poster said, the quality of the lens can make or break the photo. You wouldn't put 4 donut-spare-tires on a Ferrari, and expect it to perform just the same, would you?

You are correct ! I see numerous pix that exhibit camera/video shake. And many that are flat out not in focus. We all have them, myself included, but I never let them be seen.

It's not a bad thing to learn how to focus. Vaunted optics like the Zeiss Planars and Distagons require that skill. It's worth the learning curve.

Some people even prefer manual focus. Like me.

I've gotten used to autofocus and use it well (I have a Nikon D5000). But there are many times I would have preferred proper manual focus. I know I can disengage auto: but the racking on the manual focus is so micrometer tight (undoubtedly to make the auto faster) that it's hard to use on my several Nikon lenses, especially without a proper screen. I've lost count of how many times I have wished for the manual focus I had with my old film Canon F1, especially in low light and depth of field-sensitive situations. Sigh. C'est la vie.

MC
Muskegon, Michigan

I cut my teeth on manual focusing way back in the day, but
to use them properly, one needs the proper focusing screen:
a split-image screen. Those are available after-market
for our DSLR cameras. I use a manual 135 f2.0 on my Nikon
D600, and the lens is sharp and contrasty. I don't have
the split screen focusing screen, so It's a littler harder
and slower, but since I only use it for videoing tele shots,
it's no bother.

John.

Or you can focus using live view. But the reality is that most railfan pix are shot at infinity or close to it. Yep, a split image screen would be nice.

NormSchultze Wrote:
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> Or you can focus using live view. But the reality
> is that most railfan pix are shot at infinity or
> close to it. Yep, a split image screen would be
> nice.

Focus to infinity works if the lens actually stops at
infinity... And then there is a sweet spot of adjustment
as the subject gets a little closer to the camera and
begins to move out of the infinity setting... for that
one really needs the split screen finder and a lens that
is designed to be manually focused at distances other
than infinity. If a photographer is quick, all that
needs to happen is the speed and aperture needs to be
present (light meter) and then adjust the lens as
the train moves through the view of the camera.

John.