Photography tips on lenses?

You live you learn

looking into getting back to my photography probably this year if all goes as planned.
So I thought i'd come her to get a few tips on the lenses. I have a sigma 50 - 200mm dc os for Nikon d3100 the lens is an F4-5.6 my question regarding this lens is would this be good in low light situations ?

the other lens I have is a Nikon AF - s DX 35mm f/1.8G lens any advice on this lens to help me with my photography?

any helpful guides tips to help me always appreciated!

magicbastarder

the first lens you mention would not be as good for low light photography compared to the second one.
say you've light conditions such that with the 35mm f1.8, you get a shutter speed of 1/30th sec wide open (i.e. af f1.8); 1/30th with this lens would be as slow as you'd generally go so as not to worry too much about camera shake.

on the other lens, wide open, you can manage f4 at the 50mm end. with this lens in the same light, you'd be looking at a shutter speed of approx. 1/6th or 1/8th of a second; and this lens the reasonable minimum for handholding would be approx. 1/50th of a second.

the 35mm f1.8 is my go to lens usually. it's a nice little performer.

magicbastarder

just to explain the calculations; the f number is how 'wide' the lens can open to let light in, and the smaller number means it can open wider - but the actual light gathering capability is calculated based on the *square* of the f number. so in this case, the f1.8's light gathering capability is over four times that of the zoom lens.

Heebie

Whether the lens would be good in low-light or not really depends on what you want in relation to a particular photo.

As a general rule, the f1.8 lens will be "better" in low-light, because it's capable of allowing more light through at once. You can use faster shutter-speeds if you need to get a shot.
The difference between f1.8 and f4 is pretty big. (A bit over 2 stops?) But.. in low-light, if you're NOT needing a faster shutter speed, you're not likely to use f1.8. You'll probably be at least 2.8, maybe 4-5.6, or even higher, depending on what you're shooting. (likely shooting this stuff with a tripod.)

The 35mm lens will definitely show less camera shake if you're hand-holding with long or long-ish exposures. (with a 35mm, you can generally "expect" to be OK with speeds including and above 1/70th, 1/100h on a 50mm, and 1/400th on a 200mm, 1/400th, lower if you have shake reduction or image stabilisation.)

On a tripod, with mainly stationary subjects, either one will be able to give you decent images. If you want light trails through the image, again, both will be fine & dandy, with the 50-200 being a bit more versatile for composition.

The f1.8 definitely better for stopping action, and giving you serious bokeh to separate the subject from the background.

The prime lens should have less chromatic aberration and distortion than the zoom.

You should try them both & see which you like using better.. how comfortable YOU are using them makes all the difference in the world.

Because the 35mm is very similar to a "nifty fifty" in it's effective focal length, it's probably great for "general" photography. It is wider angle than the 50=200mm (which is effectively ~75-300mm equivalent on a FF camera) so if you're shooting landscapes etc.., the 35mm is the lens to use more likely than not.

The 50-200 is likely better for portraits and anything where you need to zoom. (obviously)

You don't have anything that's wide-angle, so once you're comfortable with how the lenses you have work and how to get what you want from them... some type of wide-angle would be the next thing to get IF you like wide-angle.

Shoot until your fingers are numb, and check the results out carefully. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to shoot the same scene on one, then move the tripod and recompose the same scene on the other lens, then look at the visual differences between them with approximately the same settings.

Have fun!

You live you learn wrote: »

looking into getting back to my photography probably this year if all goes as planned.
So I thought i'd come her to get a few tips on the lenses. I have a sigma 50 - 200mm dc os for Nikon d3100 the lens is an F4-5.6 my question regarding this lens is would this be good in low light situations ?

the other lens I have is a Nikon AF - s DX 35mm f/1.8G lens any advice on this lens to help me with my photography?

any helpful guides tips to help me always appreciated!

You live you learn

Forgot to mention would my 50 - 200mm sigma lens be much different to a sigma 18 - 250mm f3 5-6 dc macro could someone please explain if the 18 - 250mm would be a better lens thanks

You live you learn

magicbastarder Forgot to mention would my 50 - 200mm sigma lens be much different to a sigma 18 - 250mm f3 5-6 dc macro could someone please explain if the 18 - 250mm would be a better lens thanks