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Jul. 20th, 2008 08:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solitary_summerSpent a lot of time browsing through reviews of Nikon lenses today, with indifferent results. I do most of my photographing walking through Vienna, so I need a zoom lens. Or believe I do? I guess a fixed focal length could be an artistic challenge, but it seems so impractical, and I kind of suspect I'd end up getting run over by a car taking a photo standing in the middle of a street. Also, my walks tend to be long and I don't want to be weighed down by a camera bag and different lenses.
My main issue with the 18-135 that I'm currently using is that it goes from barrel distortion straight into pincushion distortion, sometimes doing a kind of wave-thing for variety, making it near-impossible to photograph something with straight lines running across the picture (facades, etc.), unless the lines go more or less through the middle. However, the 18-200 that a lot of people (though not all) are very enthusiastic about seems to have distortion problems as well (although apparently not as bad ones, since they're not singled out in almost every amazon review...), the 55-200 that someone from the Viennese flickr group recommended seems to have little distortion, but other disadvantages. Is the 18-200's alleged sharpness problem that people mention something I'd even notice? Or, OTOH, apart from VR which I'd probably like, but can't say I've missed so far, does it offer enough advantages over the 18-135 for a hobby-photographer like me to justify the cost?
Check out alternatives that aren't Nikon?
Or maybe invest in some decent software to correct the distortion problem, and wait and see? But lazy person that I am I'm not particularly fond of endlessly fiddling with my photos afterwards...
Also, after much writing, deleting and rewriting more or less composed a letter to my aunt (letter, since she's decreed that because she abhorrs e-mails they are henceforth only to be used for communicating brief news, and everything longer than ten lines will be deleted), essentially telling her that while I appreciate her offer, if we're going to meet again, it'll be because we like each other enough to do so, not with all the resentment that radiated from everything she wrote, and not with her elaborate rules and conditions, and 'jokers' grudgingly granted, and to let me know if she should ever want that. I'm a bit concerned that I'm turning this into a power-game myself where I take pride in remaining calm and not rising to her provocation (although admittedly I am a tiny bit proud of myself, because I'm usually not very good in conflict situations), but as far as I can see this is the best I can do, not burning the bridges completely, being honest, but at the same time not sacrificing my self-respect.
ETA: Go him! Also, Tintin? *gg*
My main issue with the 18-135 that I'm currently using is that it goes from barrel distortion straight into pincushion distortion, sometimes doing a kind of wave-thing for variety, making it near-impossible to photograph something with straight lines running across the picture (facades, etc.), unless the lines go more or less through the middle. However, the 18-200 that a lot of people (though not all) are very enthusiastic about seems to have distortion problems as well (although apparently not as bad ones, since they're not singled out in almost every amazon review...), the 55-200 that someone from the Viennese flickr group recommended seems to have little distortion, but other disadvantages. Is the 18-200's alleged sharpness problem that people mention something I'd even notice? Or, OTOH, apart from VR which I'd probably like, but can't say I've missed so far, does it offer enough advantages over the 18-135 for a hobby-photographer like me to justify the cost?
Check out alternatives that aren't Nikon?
Or maybe invest in some decent software to correct the distortion problem, and wait and see? But lazy person that I am I'm not particularly fond of endlessly fiddling with my photos afterwards...
Also, after much writing, deleting and rewriting more or less composed a letter to my aunt (letter, since she's decreed that because she abhorrs e-mails they are henceforth only to be used for communicating brief news, and everything longer than ten lines will be deleted), essentially telling her that while I appreciate her offer, if we're going to meet again, it'll be because we like each other enough to do so, not with all the resentment that radiated from everything she wrote, and not with her elaborate rules and conditions, and 'jokers' grudgingly granted, and to let me know if she should ever want that. I'm a bit concerned that I'm turning this into a power-game myself where I take pride in remaining calm and not rising to her provocation (although admittedly I am a tiny bit proud of myself, because I'm usually not very good in conflict situations), but as far as I can see this is the best I can do, not burning the bridges completely, being honest, but at the same time not sacrificing my self-respect.
ETA: Go him! Also, Tintin? *gg*
