feadin's reviews

  • Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    Low price, very bright, great image quality
    A bit noisy and a little too short (it's too easy to grab the focus ring accidentally when holding the camera)

    Construction quality is OK, feels nice but it's still plastic. Only mount is metal.

    Image quality is very good overall, a little soft at less than f/2.8, but still perfectly usable. And anyway soft is OK most of the time when taking portraits...

    AF feels fast enough for me, it's not a blast, but it's still faster than my 70-300 :)

    Overall it's a good lens. Bright, sharp and cheap.

    reviewed March 9th, 2006

  • Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6G AF Nikkor

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    Cheap, light, good zoom range, can be very sharp.
    It can be too light sometimes, images a bit soft at maximum apertures at long telephoto and too noisy.

    Image quality is very good at all ranges when using the correct apertures. i.e. f/8 at 70mm and f/11 at 300mm works best for me.

    AF is on the slow side, and hunts a bit sometimes at very low lighting (as the lens is not very bright at maximum telephoto), but it's perfectly usable most of the time.

    It pretty light, so it's easy to carry, but sometimes I miss a little more weight to help stabilize the shot.

    The motor can be noisy if you use it in a very quiet place, but most of the time it just feels OK.

    One thing I didn't like was the included hood, I find the locking mecanism too loose for my taste, anyway you can use a standard 62" rubber hood if you wish.

    But overall it's a very nice lens, it's plastic but feels very solid, and when used properly image quality is very good.

    reviewed March 9th, 2006

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

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    Cheap, light, nice image quality overall, silent and fast AF.
    Too light sometimes, feels not so solid, distorsion at wide angle.

    This is the lens that comes with the D50 Kit. The build quality is OK, only feels a bit weak... and is very light.

    Image quality is good, only a little vignetting at widest angle, maximum aperture. And sides a bit soft at the same settings, but that's easily fixed stepping down the arpture a bit. Also it has some distorsion at wide angle.

    AF is pretty fast, and silent.

    Anyway, it's a nice lens overall, and pretty sharp if you learn how to use it properly.

    reviewed March 9th, 2006