Why I LOVE my Kit Lens!
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
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Would love to know how you guys feel about your kit lenses. Good or bad experiences?
They're good and cheap, so it doesn't matter too much if you break one. I used some variation of the 18-55 for about 4 years, and I really felt like I outgrew it. I wanted something more rugged, weather sealed, and versatile (I also shoot more than landscapes). I replaced it with the Nikon 16-80 2.8-4, and I absolutely love it. The only downside is that it's absurdly overpriced. It's got a ton of distortion, but that gives it a really unique look to it, so I rarely do corrections in Lightroom for it.
Very good point about the weather sealing
I recently rediscovered my kitlens. It's the same as yours, the Nikon 18-55 mm. I took a picture of a rose and I was stunned of the sharpness and the nice bokeh. After that I used it as my only lens for my holiday, so it was a very light travel 😁
I don't know, call me a snob but I was never too happy with my kit lens. I had the AF-P 18-55 non-VR and even though it has nice reviews online I never quite liked the way the photos looked. Now I mainly shoot with a Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4 Contemporary, got it new with a 5 year warranty for 250€. The reviews I read on it said it's a souped up kit lens but I'm thoroughly satisfied with it. At the end of the day nothing is better than what you have and as long as it gets you out the door to take some pictures it should be good enough.
Well, I had 18-55 for quite a some time and I liked it. However, as time went on, I switched to 18-70 3.5-4.5 and now I am using 18-140 3.5-5.6. Note: they all were/are being sold as kit lenses as well. So yeah, Nikon indeed has many kit lenses to pick from and none of them suffer from poor IQ. I love 18-140 for its versatility - I don't need to bother with dedicated tele lens anymore. Ideal for traveling, hiking, mountains etc. Apart from that I have a "serious" couple covering 17-55 and 80-200 in 2.8 so I can decide if I prefer ultimate performance or compactness and weight.
Awesome, thanks. I still use a Canon 18-55 kit lens. It's normally other photographers that complain about my gear. I laugh how many times I've been told I can't possibly be a professional. I just know customers don't hire me because of my camera. They hire me because I have a camera.
Just buy the STM ver. Of the kit lens, best kit lens ever (as a recommendation to u)
A lot of photographers these days get too hung up over having the most expensive or latest gear and expecting extremely sharp, perfect photos when they should be out there really creating artwork with their cameras. That kind of mindset is coming from listening to money sucking big camera companies, pixel peepers, corporate media platforms, and social media like UA-cam with snobby gear junkies who love making fun of other photographers for using kit lenses and non-"high end" cameras. However, I have seen passionate, amazing photographers such as Mike Browne, Henry Turner himself, and some others who use kit lenses but still can produce beautiful artwork! Why is that? Because these people know their basics in photography, they practice a lot, and they have very good eye in what they see that is so beautiful! Mike Browne tells his viewer so many times that it is not the camera that takes good pictures; it is you! There's one UA-camr who calls the Nikon 3000 series cameras "dinky cameras." Well, there is one woman who took some photos with a Nikon 3400 with a KIT LENS, and she submitted to the National Geographic Your Shot. And you know what? Her work got published! Why is that? Because not only her work look amazing but they tell a story! She is a very good photographer! Why always having an expensive camera and lens just to take amazing photos that tell a story when you can do the same thing with an affordable equipment!?
Not everyone can afford $1000 + lenses or $2000 + cameras. Even not everyone can afford Lee Filters. I have seen some people buying a new released cameras after they bought their current camera not too long ago. Consumerism in the photography world really sucks. At the end of the day, a viewer does not care what kind of equipment you have; he or she only cares about the beautiful work you produced.
So true dude 😱you have nail it
It's the same with megapixel count. When I tell people I usually shoot with my D300 12 mpxls, they always go on about how many more their cameras have and that I need to get a better camera. Better camera? The thing is, when someone is buying my photography it's because they like the picture, they don't care about how many megapixels there are. They like the picture and that's that. I don't print really large so it's not an issue for me.
@@robertafettuccine I hear you!
@@robertafettuccine Exactly, and if you wanted to print big, Adobe camera raw now has a new feature that has just been released called super resolution, and it now means you can double image size (quadruple pixel count) without negative resizing effects, it's incredible. Effectively a 10 Mega pixel image can be resized to 40 Mega pixels!
A good pragmatic look at the "KIT LENS". I did use them for some years but when I got my Canon 5DSR with it's 50 million MP, I needed to get some lenses to keep up with that kind of resolution. A very respected and well know landscape photographer - Ken Duncan said "the best camera to use is the one you have". Cheers.
I also use the Nikon 18-55 kit lens; totally agree it’s a versatile lens that can produce cracking results given its low cost. Liking this different video genre for a change 👍🏻
Thanks, Henry! The manager of my local camera shop, Brian C., encouraged me to not be so quick to upgrade from my Nikon D3300. He encouraged me to use the camera for a long enough length of time to really learn the camera. I asked about astrophotography and if I should immediately upgrade to better glass than the 18-55 VR II kit lens. He encouraged me to use the kit lens for astrophotography and that results in the field blew me away. Again, he stressed to learn those skills with the equipment that I had. For landscape photography, I've used the 18-55 VR II and have seen my improvement over time. Your inspiration in landscape photography has been wonderful and your positive, helpful personality has been a breath of fresh air. I also use the 55-200 VR II for simple wildlife and bird photography and that lens performs well for me. It is cool that this old dog is learning new tricks by learning photography basics with an entry-level kit and some sound wisdom by a few good experienced photogs. Thanks for all you do, Henry
Really kind words, thanks Gordon.
Camera shop manager who abstains from selling you on new gear? You live in a nice place. :)
I’ve recently bought D7200, partly from watching your channel and also from preferring Nikon DSLR’s over other brands. The way I see it is that I’ll never have to upgrade it as it’ll always be able to cope with what I throw at it,
The kit lens I have is the 18 - 140mm DX VR and it’s excellent. Just like the camera, it covers all the bases for my needs.
Keep up the great work Henry, your channel is a joy to watch!
Thanks very much
Think about -- the purpose of a kits lens is to make the buyer of a new camera happy with the purchase, so these kit lenses have to be pretty good, and they certainly can't be garbage. The 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM that came with my Canon 7D is pretty good, and I still use it rather a lot. It's an EF lens, so I can use it on my 5D as well, and it's even better with that lower megapixel sensor. Granted, it was an upgrade kit lens.
It's all about being in the right place, right time and having a good eye - not the gear - cheers Henry - loved it as ever! T 🙂
Absolutely right mate! Cheers Tony
Great to see someone at last promoting this great lens Henry. All My digital gear is 2nd hand. My D7000 was purchased off eBay and came with a Nikkor 18-70mm ED lens which technically should be much better than the 18-55mm. However, I got increasingly frustrated about not getting pin sharp images. I put it down to being not the best example of second hand lens so purchased a 2nd hand 18-55 VR. What a difference this lens has made. The VR is incredible and the weight of the lens is only half of the 18-70mm meaning I can carry it anywhere.
That’s great mate. A few people have mentioned eBay - for some reason I’ve always written it off as a place to purchase gear. May have to take a look.
@@HenryTurnerphoto mpb is another popular website Henry with good equipment, although I haven't used them yet myself.
The Nikon 18-55 and 70-300 that came with my camera are both great for landscapes. A tripod is vital though. I might consider the 35mm 1.8 prime at some point in the future for handheld portraits in lower light.
Great review Henry , you have shown that its not all about top gear
Had that 18-55 mm lens. I didn't like it, but with an +10 achromatic lens it turned into a good and cheap macro-lens. My latest lenses on a D800 were a 24-70 mm f2.8 and a 20 mm f1.4. Of course they both are top notch but for me being mostly outdoor it felt like carrying a bag of stones. Meanwhile I switched back to DX and I use a D7200 with the 18-140 mm, which is surprisingly good. With it's versatile focal range I use it in almost every situation.
You are a very wise guy, much wiser than me in my 38 years old. I bought a 17-50 2.8, I almost never use it, I almost always go for my kit lens because I hate how heavy is this 2.8 one. Except, off course, if I was in a low light situation. But I also am more of a landscape photographer, or architecture, so I don't really do low light stuff and if I did I could use a tripod. I had a full frame camera, I almost never used it and ended up selling it because it was so expensive and had such an expensive lens that I was always afraid of using it in nature. So not only weight, but if you also buy a camera or lens that is too expensive, you don't really feel joy using it because you are always afraid that you might let it fall, that fungi might ruin it, that dust or moist might ruin it... And they are heavy, which is not only uncomfortable, but you know that if they fall they will break, while my kit lens fell to the ground a few times and is intact. A small used camera with it's kit lens is an anxiety free adventure.
This was a breath of fresh air Henry so many Photographers slate the Kit lens which is great if you can afford £1000+ for "Decent Glass" I use this lens and find it superb for my needs I spend a lot time thinking do I need to buy a better lens and you my friend have helped answer that very question and I will now look at the 18-55 in a much more positive way Thank You Henry
Thanks a lot Alex
I own the 18-55mm because it came with my first camera and loved it, shortly after that I bought it's companion lens the 55-200mm, really enjoyed them but I now own the 18-200 which at the time I couldn't afford, its just more convenient and I don't have to keep changing lens all the time.
My 18-55 STM Canon? Build quality is, eh... plastic, but image quality is more than good. My brother has version "III" (no stabilizer, basic AF motor) and he does amazing black and white photography with it.
My kit lens-in-spirit because my actual kit lens, an EF 24-105 f/4L IS II USM is an absolute anvil is the EF 28-105 f/3.5-4.5 USM that I picked up for $60 off eBay used. Versus the cheapie kit lens that came with my first Canon film camera in 2003, it would have been a super affordable upgrade in build quality and it has a far better focusing system that has a better motor and full time manual focus, but it maintains relatively small size.
I got my Canon 80D as body only second hand from a woman who had done only 2,500 images with it. So I had to buy lenses. A friend said he always bought his used on eBay, so I bought a Canon 18-135 and the 55-250 used on eBay. Although they are ok and due to the weather at the time, I didn't start using them for a couple months. It was only then that I found out the 18-135, the manual focus didn't work, even though the seller didn't mention this. Maybe it's a simple fix but it's a big disappointment not having it. Otherwise those two lenses I do use a lot. The thing I struggle with is getting a big depth of field. I did a test on a long railing and even on f13 hand held I still wasn't getting all the posts in focus. So I don't know if that's normal or I'm doing something wrong. Anyway I put the camera away and didn't then use it for 6 months and went back to my bridge camera which is a lot easier to use I must say. I then did a scene of our cliffs on the Canon 80D, using a tripod and it was ok. I'm saving for a Tokina 11-16 or 20, as I prefer the extra wide look that I see from that lens. It's probably just me that's not getting things right. I've done moon shots with the 55-250 and that's so focussed and detailed when I zoom in on a computer, even though the moon only fills a nineth of the frame.
I started out photography with a Zenith TTL SLR and a couple of prime lenses from the second hand shop. No sharpness charts or reviews or blogs telling me what was a good lens and what was not, in fact it was not until I joined the internet world that I even found out that some lenses are good and some are bad!
Although I do not have the photos I took 40 odd years ago with that kit, some of them were absolutely outstanding, it is not how much you spend that matters, it is being able to see a piece of art in the real world and capture it with the gear you have..
For the record,, I have the 18-55, the 55-200 and the 18 to 300.. the kit lenses are sharper than the 18-300 in many cases..
my 18-55 is always going hiking with me. i'm fine with the IQ and it's small, light, cheap and versatile. i think this is one of nikon's strengths - cheap, light zooms. i really love the AF-P 70-300 and i'm very interested to try to AF-P 10-20. if you don't need a wide aperture, it's a huge focal range to play with.
APPRECIATE THIS VIDEO! I'm current;ly shooting with a 12-mm-24mm wide angle zoom lens and a 55mm-200mm telephoto zoom lens and loving BOTH of them!
It is good to see a photographer speak well of his photographic gear. Here on UA-cam we see many channels where the only important thing is to change cameras or change lenses, and as I saw in a video by Matt Granger, the best camera is the one you have right now. Feeling comfortable with your gear and taking pictures is the most important thing
Thanks a lot
My first dslr was the d70 in 2008, that came with a 17-70mm kit lens and although that camera is gone it works fine on my d7100 today. It's a very versatile range on a cropped sensor camera and while it's not fast it works great with a good dslr that can take advantage of higher iso performance. If used with care you can get great images at a bargain price.
Only just watched this video and totally agree with your comments.. I have just purchased s/h 18-55 AF P lens for my D7100 & it is amazing how cheap it was & works very well... Cheers...
I have this exact lens paired with a D3200 and have always found it really beautiful. Never had any idea it was a 'kit' lens (had the camera given to me) just figured it was a standard nice nikon lens.
The 18-140 mm kit lens on my Nikon 7100 crop sensor DSLR seems a bit soft, but it produces good prints up to 11x14 inches. The keys to good sharpness, as with any lens, are due care in focusing, low ISO and use of a tripod for shutter speeds longer than 1/250.
Well put George.
It seems a wee bit soft for me as well - only sometimes and with AF. With tripod and MF (LV with top magnification) I got always razor sharpness.
I have the 18-55 mark II on my D90 and I love it. It does what I need it to do and even compositions that dont turn out all that good are still pin sharp thanks to the great performance of my 18-55. We all yearn for the so called "Trinity" lenses, but the Kit Lens is perfectly capable of producing the goods as we train our eyes to find the sweet spots in composition. :)
Thanks for the comment Jim
Speaking about "professional trinity" lenses, there are also "kit trinity" lenses - for example Canon's three kit zooms (10-18, 18-55, 55-250)
I own a D3300 with 18-55 kit lens. I've heard so much about its value and it being called a gem. Well I would say it is a diamond in the good hands. No I am not a Nikon fanboy or a top gear enthusiast, I am frugal and minimalist in a way just like you walking in to the wilderness, a summit trails where require a lot of walking. I care for composition, lighting and the rest of principles of photography which the more 'professional' gears do not instantly offer me. I heard people criticize the kit lens being beginner grade by its materials as plasticky especially on its ring connector. In my experience, for not banging my optical instruments around, its light weight satisfies me and this encourages me to go further photography. You are right that the pricier lenses are sure perform better, but for this kit lens, with it's being kit, with that anti glare coated, light weight materials, add a hood and a polarizer filter; often made me tried not to smirk on the persons with top gear but shoot purposelessly. It's their money to spend, I have no agenda on that. But for me, I always weight my spending with my satisfaction and in that satisfaction to come to me, I will have to put skills and efforts to it.
Thank you for your excellent topic. It makes me and many other enthusiasts out there with not much to spend feel good.
I mostly work with my zoom 55 200mm and my 50mm prime.. I am a documentary photographer and I just started to include my 18 55mm lens.. So I took it out with me and the images were surprisely good.. Great depth and very clear..
I'm using this lens on my Canon M200 and it's really good and I get sharp images
Very true..the eye knows best.
Brilliant take on kit lenses!; I have the same set up (D72000; 18-55 however 11 version) I have lugged around lenses like the 18-140 VR ( highly regarded) however its very heavy and when comparing the image quality between the 2?; you would be hard pressed to spot the difference; perhaps the Kit lens needs to be stopped down a fraction with exposure and bingo! ; same if not just a bit sharper!
Fully agree with everything you have said. The Nikon 18-55mm VR1/2 kit lenses are amazing bits of glass (for the price). Only real down side is the plastic lens mount.
I completely agree with you i mostly use my 18-105 kit lens for most landscapes even like you i also have the tokina 11-16
The 18-70mm f3.5-4.5 was the kit lens for the D70. It has a metal mount, a rubber "ass gasket" and is pretty darn sharp. they sell super cheap used. the caveat is no stabilization.
Kit lenses are so under rated. Nikon and Pentax have always had great kit lenses. Seems the manufacturers and retailers just try to sell you more expensive glass by going after your ego. I love the old Nikon 35-80mm and Pentax 35-80mm kit lenses because they are sharp as all hell. The best thing I like is that you can get these lenses super cheap. I prowl the used camera dealers like a vulture looking for great deals. I have no less than 4 Pentax 18-55mm and 35-80mm lenses. One for each Pentax bag. These lenses are sharp and will close focus. I buy all my gear used and will pick up a kit lens any time I run into one in great condition. A good photographer will be able to use the tools he /she has in hand.
I use this lens on my Nikon D90, Nikon D40, Fujifilm FinePix s5 Pro! It is a fantastic lens as a kit. I also have Nikon D7200 with a latest version 18-55 AF-P, which does not work on old cameras. I compared this two lens to each other, and found the same sharpness in center, but the new 18-55 AF-P is a little bit sharper in a corners.
Very well put and it might be a good lens but it’s not racing with better glass. There is a reason that pro glass is more expensive and that is due to the glass used in the construction. If you think the depth of field is good with that lens you will be blown away by 1.8 or 2.8. You are more or less a pro so eventually you will upgrade and will notice the difference
Thanks Barry
Its an interesting question about kit lenses. Most from what I have found are pretty good and as always it is the photographer with some imagination who captures the image, the lens is just the tool as so many have said before. That being said, I has a Canon 80D (Crop Sensor) with kit lenses and they were good, but when I bought a couple of of L series lenses (24-105mm 70-200mm both F4) the difference was apparent. My compositions didn't improve but the sharpness did, just overall the images looked more refined. An even more noticeable difference though was when I bought a Panasonic G9 (micro 4/3) and splurged on a 12-35mm F2.8 and a 35-100mm 2.8. They are great lenses but it was the fact that I now had two full frame focal length equivalents that are outstanding (24-70 and 70-200) and I couldn't be happier. They were expensive but I am glad I bought them. The reality is though, getting out there with any lens, kit or otherwise is the most important part of the adventure. Thanks for your time Henry, always great videos.
Thanks for the comment John
Thanks for posting this. There are so many gear snobs who badmouthing Kit lenses and other non-pro standard zooms, when they often perform very well, especially for landscapes, when you’ll be spending your time at f/8 or f/11 where the lens is it’s sharpest.
Great words Veronika - and thanks again for your support.
Oh! You said 55 ! I thought you were saying 66 ! And I had the volume up on the vid and my hearing aid !
Great video! I’ve used my Nikon 18-55 kit lens for years now and it hasn’t let me down yet.
I feel the same about my own kit lens. Mine is the Canon EF-S 18-55 and I agree on all your reasons. I don't know if it's as good as the Nikon but it really is a very sharp and versatile lens.
I agree completely, I still use my D5600 and even though I now have some much nicer glass I still carry and use my kit lens and get some cracking images. thank you
Thanks a lot for the comment, Richard
Loved it. Thanks for sharing. I got exactly the same lens and was feeling down as I can't afford any other lens. Feeling much better. Xthanks again x
Hi Henry, I got an 18-105 kit lens on my Nikon D7200. I like the image quality. Just got an old Nikon d700 full frame with 2 fx lens. I use that now for landscape. Did shoot my Daughters wedding with D7200 and kit lens. I got great images.
So glad you made this video people get so caught up I think so we need more people like youself taking the time.e to tell everyone e that it is a great lense and you do t need a mad expensive lense rite away! Dont be that guy who has all the gear but no idea
I switched mine for the 18-140mm due to a good deal coming up on ebay. Also, a great lens!!
I'm a bit of a prime lense freak, mainly use 50mm and 35mm but I was impressed with the sharpness of the 18-55 and still have times where I use it as a walk around, I found it did suffer slightly from vignetting at the lower end and suffered a bit in low light but for the money it's a great lense and would still recommend it.
Thanks a lot Daniel
Thank you for sharing your honest opinions about the kit lenses. I agree with you completely. It's a marketing strategy to sell you more gears than you actually need. Happy shooting!
Thanks a lot for watching
I find like everything there is alway this one upmanship going on ! I got the best most exspensive !
I say the equipment is much better than I am a photographer !
Like my archery ,shooting , fishing and photography equipment are much better than I can use them and I didn't spend a lot of money !
With you all the way Henry, I love mine. I sold my old non VR version on eBay for £30 buy it now in less than 5 minutes of listing it. I then bought an absolutely mint latest version with a bid of just £16. I suspect it hasn’t been used and sold straight away as people seem to do with kit lenses. I can’t think of a bigger photography bargain than that!
Hell of a bargain!
I love photo snobs and those that suffer from GearAS, it make life so much easier for the rest of us to pick up a bargin. Get in Andrew.
Totally agree Jeff. I have so much to learn still about light and composition that all I need lens wise right now is something that is good enough. Any more than that and I would be kidding myself. Henry’s images are a great reminder of this to me and inspire me to work with what I have for now and not spend all my time dreaming or worrying about gear too much 👍
This is awesome bro , I have canon 18-55ml , now I am very proud of mine 😍 even I have other lenses too 🙏
Kit lenses are underrated! My advice would be: Many cameras come in kits with actually *two* lenses, an 18-55 and a 50-200 lens. Spend that bit extra money and these two guys will serve you a *long* time *very* well! I don't use them any more, though. Because there is an 18-135 kit lens, which I use now. Yes, a bit more heavy, a bit more bulky, but not so much that it hurts. On the other hand, I gain quite a bit more focal length in one lens. My second lens in action is a 70-300, not a top-notch one, but one that you can get here for about 100-150 Euros - and it captures quite decent pictures for that price! Okay, it is quite a bit more bulky and heavy than my 50-200 (you wouldn't expect *that* much of a difference), but then again, +100 extra mm focal length - *and* the 70-300 has the same diameter for filters as my 18-135, another nice convenience!
.
Kitobjektive sind unterschätzt! Mein Rat wäre: Viele Kameras gibt es in Kits mit tatsächlich *zwei* Objektiven, einem 18-55 und einem 50-200. Gib das bisschen mehr Geld aus und diese beiden werden dir eine *lange* Zeit *sehr* gut dienen! Jedoch nutze ich die beiden nicht mehr. Weil es ein 18-135-Kitobjektiv gibt, welches ich jetzt nutze. Ja, es ist ein bisschen schwerer und größer, aber nicht so viel, dass es weh tut. Auf der anderen Seite bekomme ich ein gutes Stück mehr Brennweite in einem Objektiv. Mein zweites Objektiv im Einsatz ist ein 70-300, kein Spitzenteil, aber eins, dass du hier für 100-150 Euro bekommen kannst - und es macht ziemlich gute Bilder für den Preis! Okay, es ist ziemlich größer und schwerer als mein 50-200 (du würdest nicht *so* einen großen Unterschied erwarten), aber auch hier wieder, +100 mm mehr Brennweite - *und* das 70-300 hat den selben Filterdurchmesser wie mein 18-135, eine andere nette Annehmlichkeit!
Great advice Julien. Thanks for watching!
I use two cameras a Sony and a Nikon D200, yes the Nikon is an older camera but the 18-55 mm is an awesome lens and i have taken so many great images with it that i would not want to replace it. The Sony lenses are all vintage and primes, the quality is fantastic. I do not suffer from GAS you do not have to spend to get beautiful image quality. Nice upload.
Thanks Jillian
I have the VR II version of the 18-55mm. Both the I and II versions have only 7 glass elements, which is pretty crazy for a zoom lens. Mine came with my D3200, and I still have it today. Yes it's built like a McDonald's happy meal toy (plastic mount - really, come on Nikon!!), but optically it's fantastic. Absolutely brilliant. I did a vertical panorama with mine only last week, and some of my best images in general have come from it.
An interesting comparison would be with the 17-55 Nikkor. Yes this lens is a fixed 2.8 but it's also £500 USED, and us actually a DX lens (only minor vignetting on FF).
Ihave used my 18-55 kit lens for 4 years now.
I also love my 18-135mm Kit lens for the same reasons. But I have to say that the 18-55mm from canon that the sold 10 Years ago was bad compared to the new ones. Kit lenses are defenitly good enough today.
Yes, they are still plastic, but the glass elements quality (and quantity) improved.
Had that lense it alright.Got the 16-85 after much better lense. very sharp and veratile focal length . contrsty and good colour rendition. Second hand ones arnt that expensive either.
Yes, I agree. My 16-85 is almost a permanent fixture on my camera. Much better resolution than my AF-P 18-55, so I rarely use the kit lens. If/when the 16-85 ever dies on me, I would probably replace it with the more modern 16-80, which gets good reviews.
Love & know your camera gear and it will reward you! Boy Henry you know it's capabilities and have taken some stunning images. Too true, if you have to chose, invest in life, your photography will catch up!
Great words Jeff. Thanks for the comment
I find the VR feature on my 18-55 kit lens as good as any of the flasher lenses that I have used.
Wish you could address little bit how to capture motion in the pictures if we only got kit lens. Xx but thanks x
I love my 18-55mm Fujinon lens. I drift away from it and always come back.
I liked the kit lenses on my Olympus E-500 but when I got the 12-60 f 2.8 lens both of them were instantly redundant. It was like the sensor resolution doubled due to the increased sharpness. I guess Nikon kit lenses are better.
Hi Henry , sorry this one's lost on me a bit . I confess to being a keen amateur / beginner . I've been a ' snapper ' for years and never even owned a DSLR . I think my strength lies in composition and imagination and have always tried to be different. My technical knowledge is basic to say the least but your enthusiasm and patience in describing all aspects of your craft is gradually getting me to strive to improve in all areas of my ' hobby ' . Thanks again for your video .
james wood In my opinion, you’re heading in the right direction. The quality obtainable with smartphone cameras and point-and-shoot cameras is generally more than sufficient for most purposes. (On a recent trip to the UK this year, I left my DSLR at home and used a $350 Panasonic point-and-shoot with good results.) Concentrate on sharpening your eye for the three C’s - composition, color and content - before getting into costly, complicated gear. And print your best shots.
Thanks for the comment James
Great advice George - I couldn’t have said it better myself.
@@georgefrench1907 Thanks for your comment George , much appreciated .
Use mine ALL the time... 18-55 on my frame most of the time...
Second comment: This past weekend I bought a much-needed Nikon back up DX camera, and found a classic D3400, and guess what lens came with it? LOL I'm LOVING this 18-55mm, and I've been told it's best to shoot in Aperture mode with it, as opposed to my usual Manual mode....is that True or false? :)
I used to shoot the Nikon D7100 & I had the Tokina 11-16 F2.8 & it is a wonderful lens, but there are very few landscapes that can take in that much in the scene.
I now shoot the Fuji XT-2 & the kit lens is 18-55 F2.8-4 Vr. This kit lens is up there with the best. There are people who have sold it & gone out & bought another. Mike Brown a professional photographer & UA-camr shoots mainly with this kit lens on his Fuji XT-2.
Learn to use the gear you have as you do not need a bag full of lenses to do landscape photography.
Yes that Fuji kit lens is top drawer. Hanns for the comment
Good video mate. I have the af-p version and I love it. Like you I have the af-s 55-200 which I got cheap which I love as well but the difference between the af-p and s is massive. The 18 is silent on zoom and having the lens lock button is better. I went over to back button focus (which I’m still trying to get used to) and to me it’s like manual focus I can focus on what I like and not worry about it changing till I want it to
Cheers Adam
Viele Grüße aus Pullach!
Despite it's plasticy budget feel the 18-55mm is deceptively sharp and is as light as feather. I dont have the VR model but I don't think I've ever needed it TBH. The only bad kit lens I ever owned was Nikkor 55-300mm VR which, I don't know if I had a bad copy but, the images were never really sharp. So, yeah gave that one the flick.
cheers👍👍
The less the focal length range, the sharper the lens. For example, 18-55 will be sharper than 18-200.
@@timelord2222 Can you say why and are primes better in that respect?
cheers 🙂
@@mrdev9843 Yes, primes are usually sharper. Why? Because they have less moving glass elements, and less glass in general. The more glass you add, and more complicated its configuration, you lose some sharpness. This is why the very simple, 50mm f/1.8 lens is quite sharp - it has only 6 elements, if I'm correct.
I have the same lens, I have a good quality compact camera D7700 for all my travel pictures and I left all my heavy full frame cameras at home and many times I did miss them so I bought a D3300 + 18-55mm just for over seas travel and I have used it now for 5 years or more, I used to hate taking my heavy gear through customs, now if I wear the right jacket with big pockets my D3300 and 18-55 lens will go in the pocket as one item with lens attatched and can easily be extracted if I see a picture. I have a 24-120 f4 which I use on my FX camera when at home and to be honest there is not much difference in quality only in weight,, so I agree with every word you say, at the mo these 18-55mm lenses are a steal on the second hand market.....thanks for your time on here...
Cheers Des
I have a kit lens on my sony a58 and will take your advice on manual focusing. I'll give it a try, perhaps I have become too lazy and just use auto!!!
Have you ever use A-PSC camera?
What do you think about that especially with the crop factor?
Does it really make a big difference?
And would you do the comparison with the exact location using the tripod?
Btw I really love your videos man. Keep it real.
Evening Henry I totally agree I have the same kit lens it's awesome. Also I have the Nikon 10-20 which is also amazing.
Thanks for the comment Dave
What can you say about this nikon 10-20, im asking because i want to buy it, but im not decided yet. I've got Nikon d7500
@@vlenddd hi Person I do a lot off landscape photography and find the 10-20 mm Nikon an amazing lense at the price I have to say I have never taken it of the camera since I've had it great for close up photography as well not too good at night tho but a very sharp lense too have hope this helps take a look at some pics on my photo page facebook.com/davecap42/ most landscape pics are with the 10-20 mm hope this helps feel free to ask if you need to no more I would give it 9/10
@@mboman42 Ok thank you,do you have some raw sample photos from this lens? And also i saw that you have K&F tripod, which model and what can you say about it ? :) sorry for bothering you
@@vlenddd hi there I don't have any raw Samples no I don't do any editing only minor changes my tripod is the 2324 for the money it's great I brought 2 and have han no problems at all you can also get extra camera mounting plates for about £12 I fix them very solid and sturdy as mine spend a lot of time in water ect.
Very frank and useful review. 👍👍👍👍
Thanks a lot
The look of "FEAR" @ 3.52 mate.. LOL
It was not a nice feeling!
I noticed.. LOL
My 18-55 is so old school that it doesn’t have vr. I love it, but it’s pretty slow in a lot of situations.
Kit lenses are chosen to suite mine is great.....
Camera companies want us to buy the latest and greatest gear all the time and when you’ve got most of it they bring out a new “system”. From their profit indulged perspective they want you to buy everything again. This is just consumer insanity!! I love one camera does it all solutions like the Nikon P900 or just recently I bought a Nikon D5600 with 18-55 plus 70-300 kit lenses for about $650 USD. That is an insane amount of camera and focal length for that price. I remember when the D5600 came out about three years ago, it alone was $800 USD. But because you’re all supposed to be moving to “mirrorless” cameras these fantastic cameras are being sold out cheap. Great time to buy some maybe over produced but still really good cameras and lenses on “special”.
Don't forget there are many UA-cam "photographers" (note the quotes) with videos like "Why you ABSOLUTELY NEEEEED [enter gear name]". It's annoying as hell
Had one and did what most people do - I sold it ....then regretted doing so! Managed to get a good vr2 version and will NOT be selling it! Great video as always.
Thanks Scott
There’s little doubt of the image quality that kit lenses can produce (I’ve had many Nikon ones) but what put me off almost immediately was the build quality, just terrible
Henry, you are one of the few photographers I follow on UA-cam and you've been a great source of inspiration for me but on this occasion I have to disagree! I too use a Nikon D7200 and as soon as I stepped up from my D5600, I knew that if my photography was going to progress, I had to invest in prime lenses. As such, I purchased a nikkor 35mm, nikkor 50mm and a nikkor 10-20mm. The kit lens now resides in the bottom of my wardrobe, it just can't cut it against the prime lenses! Again a great video but I'm not convinced a kit lens will ever be comparable to a prime lens. Hope all is going well in Germany, keep up the good work.
Thanks a lot for the comment Lloyd, and of course cheers for the continued support! Really good points mate, 100% agree that there are better lenses out there - no denying that. I hope you understand that I wasn’t trying to claim that my kit lens was better than any other lenses - I just meant, essentially, that I love it for what it is! I also disagree in the idea that progression in photography has anything to do with the upgrade of lenses. Thanks so much for your words mate, it’s so great to have this sort of discussion - and I’ve been looking a lot at prime lenses recently, so it’s great to hear that you’ve had results you’re happy with from them. Thanks again Lloyd.
Nice vid. I've had the Old 18-55 that didn't have VR. Now I have the same as you. I noticed Amazon have a 3rd version. It has an L next to the aperture numbers. I think it locks the lens inside for protection.
Cheers Chris
Many have gone mirrorless for the size and weight... ending up putting +1kg lenses on their dinky body's for taking pictures in a similar way as on their phone. Who can explain the logic in this market of overconsumption?
Problem is with full-frame sensor size. Physics don't allow for compact lenses if you want long focal lengths or wide apertures on such a large sensor, and there you have it: almost DSLR-sized mirrorless. There's also marketing propaganda, of course.
Just to mention: the 24-70 gives (on D7200) an equivalent of 36-105 - unattractive for landscape photography ...
Yes that’s absolutely true. I forgot to mention that my ‘desire’ to upgrade to a full-frame lens would also coincide with an upgrade of my camera body to full-frame too. Thanks so much for watching as always.
Hi Henry, have you ever tried the Nikon 16-85mm DX lens? It outperforms the 18-55 in every field - and even the very expensive 16-80 (which has very strong distortion and even worse vignetting). You can compare all side by side at www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=662&Camera=614&Sample=0&FLI=4&API=1&LensComp=660&CameraComp=614&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=5&APIComp=1
I use the 16-85 since 5 years with a D7200 and each time I wonder about the sharpness (edge to edge).
Thanks so much for the recommendation - that’s definitely worth checking out.
Hi. I use D3400 with 18-55 kit lens. But without VR. And I'm not so happy with it. After i purchased 35mm nikkor prime and i love it. Quality is better.
And now i have bought Tamron 10-24mm, and I can say it is really good lens for the value.
I have one question.
Because I live in Germany and I'm hobby photographer , and want to sell my photos. But don't know how to do it legally. Not stock, Print . Do you have some advice?
Also if you want to see my photos and give me some critics. I'm 6 months in photography.
Thanks.
Ig greg77greg
Do not put a full frame mid range lens (24-70 or 120) on a crop body you will loose the advantage at the wide end!
This is a great and inspiring video for someone like me. I am just dipping my toe in as a hobbyist and picked up the D3500 with this lens. I also got the 35mm 1.8 G. So far I’ve been happy with them. I’m always browsing new ones online but I figure I should go at least a year or so getting to know the camera and what I like shooting before any kind of upgrade. Especially as it is, as I said, a hobby and not a money maker for me. Thanks!
I never had that lens for my d7200 , i bought the sigma 17 -50 to go with it because i like doing low light shots. And im finding it very hard to upgrade from that lens . Which im very happy about actually.
Sounds like a great lens David
@@HenryTurnerphoto highly recommended and cheap. Not weather sealed though, which for us landscape shooters isnt perfect, thats the only down side.