I have a new lens!

Have you ever felt limited by your material?

It first happened to me when my compact camera was not enough for what I wanted to do with photography and it now happened again with my kit lens.

When I purchased my D90 it came with a 18-105mm lens and for the first months it was OK. But soon I started to experience some limitations. Let’s see if I can explain it in a simple and short way!

D90 with the 18-105mm kit lens

This lens has a variable aperture of 3.5 – 5.6, which means its widest aperture at 18mm is f3.5 and at 105mm is f5.6. That also means that its aperture is not very wide, therefore the shutter speed is not high enough in low light situations, forcing me to increase the ISO to compensate it. However this has a horrible side effect on images: noise!

18-105mm

Also, remember what I said about the DoF? With a f3.5 widest aperture I never managed to have a background as blurred and a subject as isolated as I can now.

So which is my new lens? The 35mm 1.8 prime!

35mm / f1.8

I get so much more quality and detail shooting with this lens, it’s amazing.
It also makes me move to find the right framing, since I can’t zoom with it.

I’m not keeping both lenses, I actually traded the 18-105mm for the 35mm. There’s a great little store in Lausanne (Switzerland) called Photo GM where M. Messer, the owner, gives you a very personalized treatment and advice, unlike in chain stores where you rely on luck to get someone who knows what they’re talking about. This trade would hardly be possible on those bigger stores.

If you’re starting out and getting your first camera I strongly recommend that you get just the camera body (without a kit lens) and separately buy a 35mm or 50mm 1.8. They are pretty much the same relatively inexpensive price, but of much better quality and will also force you to move! 🙂