Did I really see that?

[jml79]

So I went to a presentation at work today and one of our full time professional staff photographers showed up to take some pictures. Our imaging shop is fairly well equiped with a collection of D90's, D300s's and some D3's and D3s's. They also have a collection of great lenses.

I saw that the photog had brought on of the D3's and an SB-800. I looked a little closer and noticed that she had decided to use a Nikon 18-200 f/3.5-f/5.6 DX lens. I don't understand why she would choose this lens given the available equipment.

Originally Posted by jml79

So I went to a presentation at work today and one of our full time 'professional' staff photographers showed up to take some pictures. Our imaging shop is fairly well equiped with a collection of D90's, D300s's and some D3's and D3s's. They also have a collection of great lenses.

I saw that the photog had brought on of the D3's and an SB-800. I looked a little closer and noticed that she had decided to use a Nikon 18-200 f/3.5-f/5.6 DX lens. I was curious about this so I casually asked her "why did you choose a DX lens for an FX camera?". Her answer was "It's got a huge zoom range and VR so my pictures don't turn out blurry".

Luckily she doesn't work in my department and I have a small measure of professionalism. I just accepted her answer and excused myself to get a coffee but inside I was speechless. She went on to snap about 50 5mp pictures with flash in a very well lit room and left half way through the event to go back to her office.

I am still speechless. I might have seen using that lens on one of the many crop bodies they have but to cripple your camera for no reason like that shows gross lack of knowledge and/or professionalism to me.

Well before you get your panties in a bunch, she might be on to something.

Most rooms are NOT well lit, even if they seem that way to you and me. Our eyes are much better at compensating for low light than cameras. So a flash would be necessary... also with the aperture range of that lens, you would need a decent flash.

Secondly, if she only has one camera but needs to get a wide variety of shots (ie. wide angle, zoom, medium zoom ...etc...) that might be the best lens for the job, however hampering the D3s it is.

That being said, was it the best lens for that camera? Not even close... I'm not a huge fan of that lens regardless of what body it's on. It's a waste of a nice body to have it on a DX format... still, the D3s is MILES above the ISO range of any of the bodies you mentioned earlier... so that may also be a reason she chose that.

So, there...

Panties =/= bunched.

~Eric

[Jim Poor]

Nothing wrong with a DX lens on an FX body if you know what you're doing.

First off, she may, or may NOT have been taking 5MP images. You can turn off the auto switching between FX/DX on the body and get use of the full sensor.

Most zoom DX lenses have a range within that zoom that covers the entire full frame. I did a series on that way back when I first got an FX body. So, you can get FX pictures from a DX lens over parts of it's zoom range.

I am still speechless. I might have seen using that lens on one of the many crop bodies they have but to cripple your camera for no reason like that shows gross lack of knowledge and/or professionalism to me.

I'm pretty speechless too. To automatically assume that another photographer doesn't know what s/he's doing without seeing the end results and determining whether or not the end product meets the needs of the project shows gross lack of knowledge, and professionalism as well as a huge dose of ego that is probably not justified.

[jml79]

Ego, ok. Thanks for the check. I need one once in a while and deserve it here.

I guess I get a little tweaked when someone exibits a lack of job & technical knowledge because in my department something as simple as a momentay laps in knowledge or simple laziness can and has ended very badly.

I still think out of the range of equipment available that it was a very bad mix of equipment but not as big as I make it. I hope the enlargement that of the picture that is hung on the wall turns out.

[Jim Poor]

It happens

The photos could very turn out horrible, or great. No way to know until they do.
Remember, folks were making billboards and large prints with 1MP cameras not long ago.

[OsmosisStudios]

I use my flash indoors, even when things are well lit, almost every single time. A simple, even on-camera, flash used properly can be extremely effective.

[kirbinster]

Maybe she was just trying to make a point that you don't have to be a equipment snob to get good pictures.

[nickbedford]

Maybe she can't afford an FX lens yet or something. To me though, if you're buying a several thousand dollar full frame body, using a cheap DX / APS-C lens on it is a little bit o_O