Digital Camera Lenses

Joined: 29 Apr 2004 Posts: 1

Hi,

Just wondering if someone could help me in explaning about camera Lenses, I'm thinking of buying a Nikon D70 which comes with a 18-70mm lens also you can get a 70-300mm lens its all very confusing could some explain what these measurements mean and what each lens is used for, I think its to do with Zoom etc, but not sure.

Also what kind of lens would I need for macro photography ??

A answer would be nice or a pointer to some resource. Thank you in advance.

Kind Regards. :? :? :?

Joined: 01 Nov 2003 Posts: 2751 Location: Luxembourg

Hello toomf,
First of all I would highly recommend the D70, it is an excellent camera for all types of photography and the quality/price ratio is very reasonable...
I am sure this camera will keep you busy for many many years, and it will grow with you.
There is a member here (arwa) who bought it, you can see a drastic transformation in her pics quality. I suggest you talk to her (she got the 18-70mm lens and the 60mm macro lens).

Now regarding the numbers, they are the focal lengths of the zoom lens at both ends. In other words, you will have a range of focal lengths from 18mm to 70mm (or 70mm to 300mm for the other zoom you mentioned)
The 18-70mm lens can do macros, but it is not very good for that. If you want a real macro lens, you can get the 105mm macro nikkor.

The 18mm-70mm is quite universal on the D70 you can get wide angles and good colseups for portrait. The 70-300 is on the high telephoto side, you can use it to shoot far objects, compress the image and get a shallower depth of field...