Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1999 13:50:17 -0800 From: "Del Toyd" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Lens selection for hiking [v04.n184/8] Message: 8 I recently came back from spending a month doing some volunteer work in Bhutan. On weekends we would make some local treks into the surrounding hills and shoot pictures. The equipment I took were Nikkor 2.8D zooms (20-35, 35-70, & 80-200) and an N90s body with SB-26 flash. My associate took an Elan II and 2 of Canon's "consumer grade" lenses (28-80 3.5-5.6 and 75-300 4-5.6). We both used Fuji Velvia and shot mostly the same material under similar light. When we returned and started to assemble our slides for a showing to colleagues, I was amazed to see that in most instances when we shot the same subject at the same time, I couldn't detect any discernible difference with respect to sharpness or contrast when the slide was projected. Furthermore, I couldn't detect much difference when the slides were compared under loupe magnification. The bottom line is that we got similar results but I inherited an additional sore shoulder and back lugging around all my heavy zooms which significantly compromised the enjoyment factor for me. My question is to anyone who has done extensive trekking/backpacking where weight is a premium but quality is important as well. What combination of Nikon's AF primes and/or "consumer grade" zoom lenses would you recommend that would cover the range from around 24 to 200-300mm in focal length? Del, When used at medium apatures, essentially all modern lenses produce good results. Where your lenses shine is when used wide open, in low-light situations or when limiting depth of field. Nikon makes several excellent low-weight zoom lenses. The following are are generally well regarded lenses: 24-50mm f/3.3-4.5D AF* Zoom-Nikkor *** 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6D AF* Zoom-Nikkor 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5 AF* Zoom-Nikkor 35-200mm f/3.5-4.5 Zoom-Nikkor AIS (manual focus) *** 70-300mm F/4-5.6D ED AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/4.5-5.6D AF* Zoom-Nikkor On the other hand, personally I would avoid the following: 35-80mm f/4-5.6D AF* Zoom-Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6D AF* Zoom-Nikkor The lenses with the *** after them are generally regarded as excellent lenses. A good two lens light-weight traveling system might be the 24-50mm and the 70-300. This covers quite a range with only two real limitations: 1. Low light work 2. True close-up capability (both go 'reasonably' close) Total weight: 31.2 ounces, or less than 2 pounds! Be sure to check out the Nikon section at: www.photo.net/photo/nikon/nikon-reviews.html Hope this helps. Colin
