Nikon D50 Where?

[Syd]

supposed to be announcing a new D70S replacement (at least that's the assumption) in 2 weeks.

Nikon are releasing info on their new 10.2 Megapixel (same resolution as D200) SLR in 4 days time, I would imagine it will drop the price of the current D70s (currentley around 599 inc a Very nice kit lens)

I doubt it will drop the price of the D50 by much though.

http://www.nikon.co.uk will have the info.

The kit lens on the D50 is meant to be quite capable, however it is most peoples first upgrade. But it only costs a small amount over a 'body only' kit so I would suggest it's worth having to get you up and running.

[TomViolence]

Trying to stop myself sticking one on the Visa
One thing I do love about my compact digital camera is the 10x optical zoom. Do DSLR lenses zoom that much and whats a ballpark figure for a decent zoom lens ?

[Syd]

Depends on whicl lens you put on the camera, that is the beauty of a SLR you can change the lens to suit the occasion, seems like quite a lot of the guys use a Sigma 300mm Zoom lens which is around 100 pounds.

[TomViolence]

Thats reasonable, I was expecting much more ££ than that.

[GDVS]

Trying to stop myself sticking one on the Visa
One thing I do love about my compact digital camera is the 10x optical zoom. Do DSLR lenses zoom that much and whats a ballpark figure for a decent zoom lens ?

Zoom and magnification are not the same thing, an 18-200 lens is roughly 11x zoom but has a magnification of around 4x.

To work out zoom divide the maximum focal length by the minimum focal length, in my example 18-200 lens that gives us about 11x zoom.

To work out the magnification you need to know a number of things. For 35mm photography a 50mm lens is considered the same as the human eye so to convert that to a dSLR you divide it by the 35mm conversion figure (in the case of my D50 that's 1.5) and divide the longest focal length by that.

Taking my example 18-200 lens again and the D50 we first divide 50 by 1.5 giving us 33ish, then divide 200 by 33 giving us roughly 6x magnification.

With the ever popular Sigma 70-300 that gives us a zoom of 4.2x and a magnification of 9x.

The 18-200 has a higher zoom but a lower magnification, the 70-300 has a lower zoom but a higher magnification.

If I have any of my maths wrong I'm sure someone will correct me.

Do DSLR lenses zoom that much and whats a ballpark figure for a decent zoom lens ?

They have more zoom and more magnification available than your wallet can handle.

How about this non-zoom lens giving roughly 24x magnification?

[GDVS]

Thats reasonable, I was expecting much more ££ than that.

Depends on the version of the lens and where you get it, the Sigma 70-300 DG APO is £180 and the non APO version is £115. You should never pay more than that and should be able to get it for less from several places (especially if you order from Hong Kong (I don't)).

[Nick F]

Depends on the version of the lens and where you get it, the Sigma 70-300 DG APO is £180 and the non APO version is £115. You should never pay more than that and should be able to get it for less from several places (especially if you order from Hong Kong (I don't)).

I just got the Sigma 70-300 APO version for £92 on ebay in full working order. Loads of bargins to be had there