Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Hi all

I have not been on this site in so long. I'm amazed at how this group has grown in numbers. Great to see!!! My last event with the group was in Balls Falls / Niagara on the Lake with the hunted ghost tour lol.

Anyhow, I current use 18-135 and 35mm lenses. Though these have been great, I find that they are not sharp enough. Can someone recommend lenses similar to these but would give sharper results?

what's your budget? and what are you trying to photograph? you mention you have a 35mm.. is that the afs 1.8? if so that is a superbly sharp lens from what i've seen (esp for it's price). You'll have to invest if you are looking for something with a better bang for it's buck.

The next question... what are you shooting with? Film, Full Frame Digital or DX Body?

I use a D90.
I do realize I would be spending a bit more to get better lenses. I'm looking to have one zoom lens for general use and one for portrait use.

i.e is the 50mm 1.8 better than 35mm 1.8? what is a better alternative for 18-135?

the 50 is a completely different focal length. you can't really compare the two. on a dx body, you may find the 50 to be too tight for all round use. but your portrait results could turn out more flattering. (more separation between subject and background for instance).

there's really nothing that's leaps and bounds better than the 18-135 than the new 24-120 f4. that is a serious investment and i would consider if it's really needed (rather than wanted). let's see some of your photos, i can almost guarantee you'll find improvement in your photos with critiques over buying new gear.

Depending on what you shoot, investing in and using a good tripod and head will increase sharpness considerably.

As for lenses - the current line of Nikkor pro zooms are about as sharp as anything ever made. The 16-85 DX is great for the price, the 17-35/2.8 is amazing and the DX version is also quite good. 17-55/2.8 DX is also good value.

It really depends on what your budget is and whether or not you plan to continue to us DX bodies for the foreseeable future or if you plan to graduate to FX bodies in which case it might make sense to invest in FX glass.

If the price scares you then definitely get and use a tripod with your current lens options to see if that might improve sharpness with out the need for new glass.