Neogene's reviews

  • Nikon 50mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor

    7 out of 10 points and recommended
    f1.4, size, sharpeness
    Flare.

    I preferred this lens to the 1.8 because it usable also at max aperture. I always use it at 2.8 because at that value it has the max sharpeness from tests i've seen and from my personal tests.

    Flare is really hard to accept in this lens, it's a really mess.

    I love it and use when walking around, the 50mm (circa 75mm on film cameras) is nice and i change to my 18-55 only to have a wide angle for landscapes or to the 70-300 if i'm not able to come closer to the subject.

    Many pros, and some cons.

    reviewed November 30th, 2006 (purchased for $280)

  • Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 LD Macro 1:2 AF

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    Focal length, macro 1:2
    Chromatic Aberrations, no internal focus, plastic, noisy.

    I got this lens in bundle with my Nikon D50. I used this lens for about 4 months before deciding to switch to the Sigma 70-300 apo.

    UPDATED: i came back to it from Sigma because i found it a bit much constant in term of sharpeness instead of the Sigma which is more blurred on the corners.

    It's really noisy and shows chromatic aberrations , but for that price it's really worth.

    It's a nice lens. Suggested.

    reviewed November 30th, 2006 (purchased for $180)

  • Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED DX AF-S Nikkor

    6 out of 10 points and recommended
    Cheap wide angle, silent
    Plastic.

    I only use this lens for landscapes, i stop at f8 or f11 and it does what i need.

    I use instead of this or the tele 70-300 or the 50mm f1.4 that are for "fast" shots, instead of this that i suggest to use for natural or urban landscapes.

    When light start to fade you have to increase iso or shutter time to avoid many unusable photos.

    reviewed November 30th, 2006 (purchased for $150)

  • Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro APO

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    Apo, Cheap, Macro 1:2
    Grip not good as tamron 70-300.

    I've switched to it from my tamron 70-300. It suffered of too much chromatic aberrations for my taste.

    The APO is really useful.

    The Colors are faithfull than the Tamron which instead tend to create a bit cooler images.

    I noticed that the Tamron when in macro mode at 300 go to F6 while Sigma keep F5.6 as declared.


    The drawback is the not so handy grip that sometime i feel blocking.

    For sharpeness "simply" use F6 or more and i'm happy. If there is less light it's better an "evergreen" solid tripod.

    reviewed December 11th, 2006 (purchased for $150)

  • Nikon 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5D ED-IF AF Nikkor

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    Perfect wide on film camera, solid, sharp
    Noisy, need to be stopped down to have max sharpeness.

    I tested this and the 18-55 DX on an unfair trial on my d50.

    The nikkor 18-35 stopped to f8 at 18mm is really impressive, it's sharper than nikon 18-55 except on the left side.

    At 35mm the nikkor 18-55 wins obviously but at its max value (@55mm) it looses with the 18-35@35mm (i know different max value but i tested to check quality at max lenght).

    I'm using this lens on my N80 film camera to capture nice landscape shoots (so it's always stoppet to about f8 or more).

    Colors for the 18-55 are a bit greenish, while 18-35 is much faithful.

    reviewed December 26th, 2006 (purchased for $300)