lseguy's reviews

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

    6 out of 10 points and recommended
    Light, good sharpness wide open until 200mm, high value for money
    Needs to be closed down to f8-f11 over 200mm, slow AF (on D50)

    I bought this lens as a first telezoom, together with a D50. My objective was to get a good first trial in the telezoom field, keeping in mind that I would shoot mainly outdoor (windsurf, hichking) and was on a budget. In this category this lens is just great, very light therefore you might not wonder putting it or not in the bag.

    I am now seriously consdiering upgrade into sigma 100-300 F4 to get more sharpness above 200mm, which is unfortuantely the weak point of this lens.

    All in all, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a not-too expensive & light lens, shooting outdoor in lightfull environment.

    reviewed November 29th, 2006 (purchased for $200)
  • Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED DX AF-S Nikkor

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    Light, compact, image quality for the price, no vignetting
    None for the price !!!

    Mine came with the D50 kit, I had some great time using it ! Light weight, AF is quick & silent (but not as the nikon 18-70, see below). Great pictures for the money, it could have become my only 'trans-standard' lens for walk-around shoots.

    Build quality does not seem to be "state of the art", but mine had no loose part or excessive play.

    I actually sold mine to get a more versatile nikon 18-70, geting a wider range & more light. Compared to the 18-55, AF becomes ultra-fast and I now have the full time focusing function !

    reviewed November 29th, 2006
  • Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    ultra light & compact, great value for money
    None !!!

    This lens should be in any nikon' bag ! Very light and compact, mine delivers great sharpness from f2.8. AF might be on the noisy side (on a D50) but remains very fast. This might be the greatest value for the money (I paid my used one around 130$...). Great for close portrait and shoot indoors with poor light. On the other side the DOF can become quite 'thin' and specific attention should be paid when shooting wide open !

    reviewed November 29th, 2006 (purchased for $130)
  • Nikon 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF DX AF-S Nikkor

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    Fast AF, manual focus override in M/A, image quality
    vignetting & distorsion wide open, zoom scale & stiffness from 18 to 35mm

    I bought mine used, for a D50. This one is likely to become my walk-around lens !! Great image quality (sharpness & contrast) over the zoom range, fast & accurate AF. Possibility to over-ride the AF in M/A mode can help under specific conditions. Difficult to find con's...

    If you shoot quite often using the wide range (let say from 18 to 35mm), the zoom ring is quite stiff on mine, and you jump from 18 to 35 (*2 factor !) with very little move.

    reviewed November 29th, 2006 (purchased for $230)