Monday, May 12, 2008

Adventures in Low Light Photography



I want a new lens. I enjoy taking low light shots, so of course I want to get a "fast" lens. A fast lens is one that is able to let in a lot more light than a normal one. There are a few choices, but it looks like I can get a Nikkor 50mm 1.8 for pretty cheap. A lens like the Sigma 30mm 1.4 might be more useful, since it can auto focus, but I'd actually have to save for it. The first lens just means that I have to avoid drinking one night next time the opportunity arises.



To the photography people who read my blog: Suggestions? I want a fast prime lens that I can use for low light and daytime stuff when I want a lot of depth of field. I don't mind manual focus, cause then I can go around acting like a camera snob. "Oh, you are still using your 18-55 kit lens? I've got this retro manual lens. I'd totally get a Holga too, but it's so mainstream now."

3 comments:

Aaron said...

I just got my internet at my place, it's good not to be on a proxy anymore and to read your blogs again!

I still got my kit lens and I am looking to upgrade to a 70mm-300 soon, pretty cheap, but I need something with zoom on it. There are some insane lenses out there that cost more than my camera kit itself, stuff that does crazy DoF stuff that I can't believe, but you are going to pay big for equipment like that. I wish I had some suggestions, but I'm still in noob land now and don't know much about the various lenses.

I'm curious what you buy! Let's go shooting soon!

Anonymous said...

I've been itching to get a prime lens for awhile now. I think a fixed focal length would force me to take my time and learn to compose photos better.

I don't think I have the patience for manual focus so I would skip the Nikkor until I upgraded my camera to something with an internal focus motor. If you go with the Sigma, you should be able to save a little money buying it second hand. It's a pretty hot lens, I've scoured the online classifieds for them here and they are always grabbed pretty quickly.

Ramen Adventures said...

I got the Sigma. Word on the net is that Nikon is releasing some AF-s Nikkor primes in the next couple months. Regardless, I'm happy with my new 15kg lens.