aalto's reviews

  • Tokina 12-24mm f/4 AT-X 124 AF PRO DX SD

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    Build Quality, optics
    CA, Clutch AF/MF (personal opinion)

    I have been using this lens on a D70 for a good while now, and lets just say it right away, this lens is incredibly good considering the price. Ive used similar lenses from tamron, sigma and nikon and only the nikon lens is better than the Tokina, but considering costs, Tokina is the winner, since the Nikon is only slightly better and costs the double.

    My lens has survived a near crash in a bus, where it bounced from all the way from the back all the way to the bus driver along the floor, and it still works like a beauty. The build quality is very good and the use of the lens is very comfy because of this. The only thing i would put a finger on is the Clutch mechanism, since you have to use some force to switch the fokus mode, and using some force on an object that you are holding against your eye is not always that preferable. But this is a minor issue at best.

    Considering optical quality, I havent taken a photo yet where i could honestly say that this lens wasn't up to the job, lousy photos? Yeah, lots of them, but they're my fault and no matter how much I would love to blame the gear, I still cant blame this lens for any of them.

    There has been som issues with CA on extremely difficult conditions, but well within my acceptability limits. The CA is there, but unless you zoom in and look for it, youll never know. The CA is not an issue for prints unless you emphasize it with lousy post-processing.

    Of all the lenses I own, this one is always with me, simply because it gets the job done.

    reviewed December 21st, 2006 (purchased for $660)

  • Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM APO

    7 out of 10 points and recommended
    50-150 range, fast, weight, Lens hood
    Vignette

    I havent used this lens extensively yet, so consider this review a first impressions one.

    The 50-150 range on a APS-C size camera is a incredibly suitable range for those of us who are not dependant on the 150 to 200 range of the photojournalist workhorse zooms. I have been using equivalent zooms that go up to 200mm and as for my personal needs, I noticed that I wasnt actually using the latter 50-60 mm that often, so when sigma announced this lens with fast focusing and half a kilo (or more) less weight than the competition, I ordered right away. And so far I have virtually nothing to complain about.

    The weight allows me to use the lens hand held for a couple of hours before my wrists are tired, event though the weight distribution on a D70 is a bit awkward, you get used to it after a while. The lens hood protects the lens really well, and that enables me to just leave the front cap off. Even with the lens hood on, the lens is roughly the sam diameter along the lenght, whivh means that it goes in and out of a camera bag fast without clinging to all the other stuff in the bag.

    As to the optical quality, the lens does deliver. There is little CA to my opinion, but I havent done any formal tests yet. This is (shockingly...) not a lens for architecture, but distortion is generally not a problem.

    There is however some vignetting, though very smooth and easy to remove, when using the lens wide open at 50mm.

    A good lens if you dont need the 150-200mm range but still want something thats fast, light and got focus speed.

    reviewed December 21st, 2006 (purchased for $750)

  • Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    Everything
    The what?

    This lens is a must have. Simple as that.

    For the ridiculously low cost of this lens, the optical quality is outstanding. Its fast, compact, light, and does the job, what more could you possibly ask for?

    Most of my portraits have been taken with this lens on a D70, which gives me a good personal half-body portrait.

    Lovely.

    reviewed December 21st, 2006 (purchased for $80)

  • Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di AF

    3 out of 10 points and not recommended
    Lightweight, range.
    barrel creep, optics, build, CA,

    Great Range, Affordable and lightweight! The lure to buy this lens is great. I bought it to have one single lens on my camera for travels. Ive used it extensively for a year. And Im glad I got rid of it.

    My first impressions were positive, as the zoom range looks great when youre looking through the viewfinder, and you do have the ability to take pictures of stuff thats far-far-away, but unfortunately, these pictures are close to useless when you actually decide to print them. The optics are generally soft, the contrast is lousy, CA is a serious issue in backlit conditions and dont even think about getting a little light to hit the front element.

    After a while in use, the barrel creep sets in, even though it has a separate lock to prevent this (which of course everybody you ever borrow youre camera to completely ignores and instead tries to force the zoom) you pretty much have to hold the lenz at its place while pointing it somwhere else tha horizontal. And if you do forget the lock, theres a chance the whole thing creeps out in your bag and breaks in a jolt, for the build quality is seriously plastic. After a while, the whole lens develops a slack in every moving bit and mine could be moved quite a bit at the end. I reckon it would have been the equivalent of a Lensbaby by now, but luckily some guy absolutely wanted to buy it, no matter how much i told him that the lens was no better than paperweight.

    Go ahead, buy it, but youre going to sell it again in 6 months.

    reviewed December 21st, 2006 (purchased for $400)

  • Nikon 28-100mm f/3.5-5.6G AF Nikkor

    3 out of 10 points and not recommended
    Expendable
    Everything else

    First of all, this is a kit lens, being delivered with the old analog SLRs, so some of you propably have one lying around and are checking if someone has found anything useful to do with this lens.

    If youre thinkin about buying this lens, the answer is: No, dont do it. Save your buck.

    This is a lens you put on your camera when your kids are going to play with it, or you want to take pictures at a place where you have to use full body protection suits.

    When you think youre lens might not live through the assignment, then this is the lens to use.

    reviewed December 21st, 2006 (purchased for $50)

  • Nikon 35mm f/2D AF Nikkor

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    quality, weight, fast
    Mine broke and I need a new one....

    This lens is a definite keeper.

    Lets get the negative stuff out of the way, so we can all talk about how good this lens is.

    First, at f2, the cornes are a bit soft, but center sharpness is still good.

    Second, mine broke because of my own stupidity, and now i need to buy a new one. But the fact is that im going to buy a new one, since this lens is still frequently on my camera even though i have other "more professional" lenses that cover the zoom range.

    But you just cant beat putting this lens on your camera and taking photos, not scaring anyone dead with your behemoth zoom lens before taking a photo. For unexperienced models, this and the 50mm f1.8 are good choices just because they are incognito and modest in size, but still deliver excellent quality.

    Buy one today and buy another one if you break it.

    reviewed December 21st, 2006 (purchased for $30)