Older manual lens on D70 (should I, shouldn't I?)

Jperry

Hi all, I'm new here but i've been a lurker for quite a while. I was hoping to get a little perspective on this. :wink

I have a D70, and want to try a new lens, something nice for portraits, but won't break the bank. I already have a Tamron 28-75, which is pretty good, so I was thinking of an 85 1.8. That was before I started reading about the 105 2.8 AI lens that's pretty inexpensive, and takes great photos.

Of course, i've never used an all manual lens before, I went to a local shop & tried it, and it's pretty sharp in low light, but I'm still wondering if it's a good move. :scratch

Anyone have this lens? Does it take great photos? Or, should I just save up a couple hundred more & get the 85 1.8?

I would be using it mainly for outdoors portraits. Any thoughts?

ziggy53

Jperry wrote:

Hi all, I'm new here but i've been a lurker for quite a while. I was hoping to get a little perspective on this.

I have a D70, and want to try a new lens, something nice for portraits, but won't break the bank. I already have a Tamron 28-75, which is pretty good, so I was thinking of an 85 1.8. That was before I started reading about the 105 2.8 AI lens that's pretty inexpensive, and takes great photos.

Of course, i've never used an all manual lens before, I went to a local shop & tried it, and it's pretty sharp in low light, but I'm still wondering if it's a good move.

Anyone have this lens? Does it take great photos? Or, should I just save up a couple hundred more & get the 85 1.8?

I would be using it mainly for outdoors portraits. Any thoughts?

Welcome to the Digital Grin.

There is no easy answer to your question. Since the lens is reasonable in cost, I would just get it and decide for yourself if it's working to your satisfaction.

I will tell you that manual focus on the Nikon D70 is a bit hit-and-miss unless you use a focusing aid like a view finder magnifier. If you plan on doing portraits with a moving subject it could be tough.

If you should get it and later determine it's not right for you, I'll bet you can get most if not all your investment back since the lens is mostly depreciated.

I use a few older manual focus lenses with my Canon cameras and sometimes they are sweet to shoot with:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=38398
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=27214

These are with the Vivitar 500mm, f6.3 with focus confirmation:

http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=329591&postcount=21

Jperry

So, I bit the bullet and got the lens today, I'll work with it for a while & see what turns up. For the price, it's not such a risky gamble.