adrian snow's reviews

  • Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8G ED AF DX Fisheye Nikkor

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    f/2.8 maximum aperature, sharp..even wide open, ultra-wide
    Build quality left wanting, don't lose your lens cap.

    What a great lens. Don't listen to people that tag this lens as a lens that is exclusive to skateboarder/snowboarder photography.

    This is a great lens that allows you to take some pretty unbelievable shots.

    Just keep in mind when you are shooting the actual distortion properties of the lens and you can get some pretty amazing and unique shots.

    I use mine as an ultra-wide angle lens when I need something more than the 17mm end of my Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8.

    If you wanna get rid of the fisheye effect there are many programs and patches for editing software that you can use. The ability to do this makes this a versatile 'prime' wide-angle lens, which allows you a lot of room for creativity.

    PROS
    This lens is SHARP and has excellent overall image quality.
    It is able to focus extremely close with your subject almost touching the front element.

    CONS
    If you want to use a filter it is going to be mounted on the back of the lens.
    Don't lose the front lens cap...cause I doubt your local camera store has a replacement on site.
    Build quality leaves a little to be desired. It has a lot of plastic.

    CONCLUSION
    If you are looking for the extra-wide fisheye effect...buy it. You won't regret it. Find a used one at a good price and you won't lose money as this lenses resale value holds pretty well.

    reviewed March 27th, 2010 (purchased for $500)

  • Nikon 85mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    Corner to Corner sharpness f/4 and above
    Soft until f/2.8

    I'm rating this lens a solid 9 all-around.

    The build quality is excellent, but not pro-calibre.

    The image quality is excellent, but not until f/2.8 and doesn't see it's best until f/4. The good news is that at f/4 all the way through f/16 it is evenly sharp all over. This is great for those shots where you need the detail and sharpness all over the frame.

    The lens handles direct light very well. I've never experienced any ghosting problems. Chromatic aberation is there wide open. By f/4 it is gone.

    Overall I'm rating the lens a 9 for it's limited use wide-open.
    You wanna buy a fast lens like this to take advantage of the maximum aperature.
    This lens is nothing special from f/1.8 to f/2.8.
    It is very, very good at f/2.8.
    It is a dream lens at f/4 and above.

    I'm selling mine because I get very similar performance out of my 80-200mm f/2.8 AF-S.

    reviewed March 28th, 2010 (purchased for $350)

  • Nikon 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF DX AF-S Nikkor

    8 out of 10 points and not recommended
    Quality/Price ratio, very practical zoom range, AF-S
    No VR or fast maximum aperature, Shallow 'sweet spot' ,

    Let me come out and say that I have owned two copies of this lens and wasn't really impressed by either.

    I rate this lens a solid 8 overall because it is not a bad lens by any means, but not really impressive either. For me, it is a great 'Jack-of-all-trades' lens. I've yet to find anything that it masters.

    For the price, I think it is a very good lens. With that said though, I would have a hard time recommending it over any of the Nikkor 18-55mm lenses. It looks nicer than any of the Nikkor 18-55mm lenses if that matters to you. It has nice fat glass and has 67mm front threads. It still doesn't really perform better.

    I have replaced this lens with a much better Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 DI lens. The Tamron sells for about $100-150 more used, but is worth every penny and more in my opinion.

    This Nikkor 18-70mm can be a little hard to focus at times, which is the only real negative thing I have to say about it.

    THE SHAKE-DOWN
    This lens is versatile, but if you are thinking about replacing your Nikkor 18-55mm with this lens, you are better off saving your money and buying a faster aperature lens like the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 or something with VR like the excellent Nikon 16-85mm VR.

    reviewed March 28th, 2010 (purchased for $190)

  • Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8D ED AF Nikkor

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    Fast, Constant aperature; Build Quality;
    a little soft on tele end at F/2.8

    I purchased a used copy of the older push-pull version of this lens. It was excellent.

    This lens is an awesome lens.
    The ONLY thing negative I can say about this lens is that it was a little soft on the tele end(200mm) at maximum aperature(f/2.8).
    At f/4 and beyond this lens is a dream lens.

    You can't say that the weight is a negative on this lens, because it is a pro-calibre lens that is built like a tank and you are paying for that kind of quality.

    The older push-pull style now sells used for about $500-$600. If you are in the market for one of these lenses....that price makes it a no-brainer.

    reviewed March 28th, 2010 (purchased for $650)

  • Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    Great IQ , fast aperature, price!
    soft wide open, build quality,

    This lens is one of those lenses that everyone should own, BUT, I did find a way to replace mine.

    The build quality isn't the best and it is softer from f/1.8 -2.8, but that is the only real negative aspects of this lens.

    From f/4 onwards...this lens simply can't be beat in terms of value.

    I personally found myself not using this lens in the f/1.8-2.8 range, which led me to replace it with a fast standard zoom. The Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 has allowed me to part ways with this lens without missing it. The Tamron allowed me to replace this lens and my Nikon 18-70mm.

    reviewed March 28th, 2010

  • Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical IF SP AF

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    SHARP, constant f/2.8 maximum aperature,
    AF speed not the fastest, sample to sample quality control?

    This lens replaced my Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G and my Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D.

    This lens is a fantastic standard zoom lens.

    My sample is just a little softer than i'd like on the far left side of my images.

    It is still very sharp wide open in the center, and cuts like a razor at f/4 and above.

    It is a fantastic lens that behaves very well. Build quality is good, but certainly no Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8.

    For it's price, I really believe the best standard-zoom lens available. I never thought a Tamron would allow me to part ways with not just one, but two of my Nikkor lenses, but this lens did.

    Truly a great design. It became an instant favourite for me.

    If you buy used, you should probably do so locally and test the lens before purchase as there is apparent discrepency between different samples of this lens.

    reviewed March 28th, 2010 (purchased for $350)