D60 users

[Jon-Paul]

Anyone have a D60? If you do can you post some pictures of wildlife and what lens you used.

I am trying to find out what is the best lens to use for taking pictures of deer and various other wildlife.

Right now I have the 18-55mm and the 55-200mm.


Thanks

[cfortner]

JP, I've been using a D40 which has the same sensor as the 60, my best shots have come from a Sigma 18-200 f4-5.6 OS (optical stabilization similar to VR), and from my Nikon 70-300 f4-5.6 G lense. The latter doesn't have internal motors so will not autofocus on the D40 or D60, but the colors that come out of this lense are outstanding.

Some shots from the sigma: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisfo...7614936145589/

If you got the coin to drop on one, you can't go wrong with a 70 or 70-200 constant 2.8

[BRALEYOUTDOORS]

Anyone have a D60? If you do can you post some pictures of wildlife and what lens you used.

I am trying to find out what is the best lens to use for taking pictures of deer and various other wildlife.

Right now I have the 18-55mm and the 55-200mm.


Thanks

I have the exact same set up as you....I took some pics this wknd. I will try to post them tommorow afternoon.

[Jon-Paul]

Would the 70-300 lens from Nikon make an all around lens.

Trying to limit to just carring one lens.

[BRALEYOUTDOORS]

I think the 70 end of the lens would not be adequate for close shots. i have to switch from my 55 to the 18 for close shots.

[scotty]

The best all around lens that Nikon makes is the 18-200 f3.5-5.6. It costs about $770. It does a lot of things pretty well. But, and it's a big but, is that it's not a razor sharp/fast lens. You will need a lot of light to get good results. You won't be able to shoot extremely early or late in the day. All that being said, I keep an 18-200 on my old D70s. It stays in the truck all the time, so it's always with me. By knowing it's limitations, and operating within them, you can get good results from one.

[Jon-Paul]

Thanks Braley.

Scotty I would be better off staying with the 55-200 then. The 200 lens is not VR, I have a chance to get a 200 VR would this one be better.

I just got into this whole taking pctures thing and dont mind spending the money on stuff I would need. However I dont want to spend it unless I am for sure going to stick with it.

If I do then I plan on upgrading everything.

[Codie]

I have a D60 and up until christmas the only lense I had was a 50mm f1.8. I got a 55-200mm Nikon Vr 4 -5.6 for christmas. I have not had the opportunity to take any pictures of animals at over 10 yards with it yet. I have enjoyed it so far, but it is pretty picky about focusing and even taking a picture period if the subject is too close or the light is not REALLY bright

[scotty]

Thanks Braley.

Scotty I would be better off staying with the 55-200 then. The 200 lens is not VR, I have a chance to get a 200 VR would this one be better.

I just got into this whole taking pctures thing and dont mind spending the money on stuff I would need. However I dont want to spend it unless I am for sure going to stick with it.

If I do then I plan on upgrading everything.

When you go out into the field to shoot wildlife, put the 55-200 on the camera. Once the sun come up, there will be enough light to shoot. For around camp, stick the short lens on it. It's a better choice for walking around. The VR helps a lot with camera shake, but if the subject is moving, a slow shutterspeed will still result in blurred photos.

Proper exposure is a combination of three variables. ISO, Aperture, Shutterspeed. Each one affects the photo in a different way.

To get the proper exposure in low light, you can raise the ISO, use a wide aperture, or a slower shutterspeed.

If you raise the ISO, more noise(grain) will be the result.
Wide aperture lenses (f2.8) are much more expensive, and are a lot heavier.
Slow shutterspeeds will result in motion/camera blur.

Like everything else, the more specialized things get, the more expensive things get.

[Jon-Paul]

thanks, sure sounded like Greek to me.

So if I am taking pictures of deer walking around my set up with the 200 lens I have now (one without VR) will they still be blurry.

When you go out into the field to shoot wildlife, put the 55-200 on the camera. Once the sun come up, there will be enough light to shoot. For around camp, stick the short lens on it. It's a better choice for walking around. The VR helps a lot with camera shake, but if the subject is moving, a slow shutterspeed will still result in blurred photos.

Proper exposure is a combination of three variables. ISO, Aperture, Shutterspeed. Each one affects the photo in a different way.

To get the proper exposure in low light, you can raise the ISO, use a wide aperture, or a slower shutterspeed.

If you raise the ISO, more noise(grain) will be the result.
Wide aperture lenses (f2.8) are much more expensive, and are a lot heavier.
Slow shutterspeeds will result in motion/camera blur.

Like everything else, the more specialized things get, the more expensive things get.

[scotty]

thanks, sure sounded like Greek to me.

So if I am taking pictures of deer walking around my set up with the 200 lens I have now (one without VR) will they still be blurry.

If it's real early in the morning, and he's moving fast, then he'll probably be blurry, even with VR. If the sun is up, and he's feeding(not moving), you can get great shots. It will help to use a tripod or monopod. Even resting the lens on the window edge will help.

My suggestion would be to put the camera in mode A. You set the aperture wide open(smallest number), and the camera will pick the shutterspeed. Set the ISO to 1000. Take some shots and see if the quality is ok. You will have to download the photos to really get a good look. Look mostly at the amount of noise(grain). If it's ok, bump the ISO a little higher. This wiil let the camera pick a faster shutterspeed. Keep bumping the ISO until the photo is too noisy, then back off some. If, however the photo is noisy at ISO 1000 try a lower ISO. This will slow the shutterspeed though. Everything is a tradeoff. Just keep shooting.