Lenses matter more than camera bodies, everything else being equal..

[weltweit]

I am just going to posit an argument and see what people think ..

Lenses matter more than camera bodies, for IQ, everything else being equal..

Does anyone agree with this suggestion?

I did upgrade my body and liked the improved high ISO particularly and the massive battery life is wonderful.

But I recently upgraded a lens from one that was deemed merely adequate to one that was deemed excellent.

from a Nikon 85mm f1.8 to a Nikon 85mm f1.4 - the IQ is just way better wide open, portraits, there is no comparison.

So my argument might be - buy a reasonable body but invest in good lenses.

What do you think?

 

[Mr.Bishie]

Yes!

 

[weltweit]

Yes!

What, don't you want to argue even a little bit?

 

[Mr.Bishie]

No, not one bit. It’s all about the glass

 

[pug]

You can't be optimistic with a misty optic

 

[platinumsage]

Any old body will do

 

[Storm Fox]

Yep, can't argue. I like wildlife shots, ages ago I bought a Tamron 300mm lens, utter shite, at 300mm chromic aberration was awful. I saved up and bought a canon L-series equivalent. far superior lens far better photos with the same body.

 

[Pickman's model]

Who was that urb who went on and on in the lens thing wrong way round thread and ended up being banned? Bet he's reading this thread and it's doing his blood pressure no good

 

[Mr.Bishie]

Bungle

 

[Storm Fox]

I am just going to posit an argument and see what people think ..

Lenses matter more than camera bodies, for IQ, everything else being equal..

Does anyone agree with this suggestion?

I did upgrade my body and liked the improved high ISO particularly and the massive battery life is wonderful.

But I recently upgraded a lens from one that was deemed merely adequate to one that was deemed excellent.

from a Nikon 85mm f1.8 to a Nikon 85mm f1.4 - the IQ is just way better wide open, portraits, there is no comparison.

So my argument might be - buy a reasonable body but invest in good lenses.

What do you think?

Of course if you want to start a real argument just state that Nikon is far superior to Canon or Canon is superior than Nikon

 

[Doodler]

It's maybe a good argument if you're on a tight budget and can't afford both an expensive camera body and an expensive lens. I have an entry level DSLR body (D3300) and saved up for a half-decent zoom lens (Nikkor 16-80mm). It's a big improvement on both the kit lens and a cheapish 18-140mm lens I'd used previously. I still have so much to learn about photography so it's good to have one less equipment issue to waste time fretting over. There is a similar rule of thumb for sound recording: prioritise spending on the mic over the recorder.

 

[weltweit]

Well I am now on the hunt for quality old glass for my Nikon. I have 5 lenses one is excellent, one is not too bad, two are weak and one is average

If I am honest the Nikon 85 f1.4 hadn't really come down in price since I first looked at it 10 years ago and decided it was too expensive for my tastes. It was £500 then used and that is about what I paid for it recently. So taking inflation into account it had come down but not in pounds.

Still Nikon has moved on, I have a used FF D800 which is ages old but still works well, since that they produced the FF D810, and then the FF D850, then the FF D760 (or is it the D780 I don't recall) then they produced the FF Z6 & Z7 and most recently the Z6II and Z7II and I think the Z9 also.

My figuring is that the Nikon F mount screw drive and AFS lenses that fit my camera are also so out of date they should be coming down in price now.

 

[weltweit]

When I bought my first dslr I jumped in and bought a used 28-70 f2.8 zoom and a new Nikon zoom thinking that this would give me from 28 to 400mm.

However, I was rash and acted in haste. The 28-70 proved to be decentered at least and blurry at f2.8 so it had to be replaced, while the Nikon zoom proved not to be the greatest lens known to man.

Since then I have been much more considered, I bought 3 primes used and low cost. I really like small primes.

Anyhow, I feel the need to improve my collection, one piece at a time.