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I bought this lens last Saturday at J-One at Amcorp Mall. In all honesty I dont really fancy buying it from J-One but because a friend wanted to buy a lens there I thought ok I will go with him.

Here is my review of the Nikkor AF-S - 50-200mm VR 4-5.6G after using it for a couple of days now.

Nikon D40 with Nikkor AF-S 50-200mm VR 4-5.6G 1/30 at f.5.3 Focul length 145 mm ISO1100

From using it, it is ok-sharp at 200mm - nothing spectacular but it is acceptable. VR helps a lot though and at RM780.00 it is one of the cheapest lens around. After buying my Lowepro bag, it now fits into a section of my lens compartment. I dont see why the fuss is about to change lens. Isn’t that part of photography? Using the right lens.

I have friends who are using the 18mm - 200mm Nikkor or Sigma but in comparison with the 50-200mm - quality wise, the 50-200mm VR is value for money. A Nikkor 18-200 mm VR lens could easily cost over RM2,000 and the Sigma one with OS is about RM1,600. I got my kit lens and my 50-200mm VR - so what if I have to change lens but I am quite comfortable with changing lens.  It saves a whole damn lot of money.

This is one lens that I would like to get - the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G - if you are wondering why your photos arent that sharp enough when taking potrait, this lens will make all your dream come true.

I went to J-One yesterday morning and a guy bought the equivalent version of this but Sigma - the lens is huge - 72mm (more light) and bokehness is just brilliant.

I own a D40 so in order for my camera to AF (Auto Focus) with the lens - it has to be an AF-S model. J-One sells it at around RM1,700 but heard that price will increase to RM1,900 due to the 10-15% increase in pricing - because of the strong YEN.
This new lens’ maximum aperture of f/1.4 allows it to have a brighter viewfinder and a beautiful background blur with shallow depth-of-field when shooting wide open.

Any 50mm f/1.4 prime lens is considered by advanced amateurs and professional photographers to be an essential focal length that should be part of their camera bag’s content. The angle-of-view of a 50 mm lens closely replicates the visual perspective of the human eye when used with an FX-format DSLR.

This lens is ideal for travel, event, environmental and general photography in a wide variety of conditions, but is at its best when used for low-light shooting.

It is in my wish list and should be in yours too.

Picture taken by my D40 kit lens.

I have taken a lot of interest in my DSLR camera lately. For the past 3 months I have bought every issue of the Digital Camera magazine - RM9.00 - can be found at most newstand - usually the new issue turning up at 4-5th of each month.

The magazines offers practical tips on photography, camera reviews - both DSLR and point-and-shoot type, image editing, lens review and the pictures readers take and submit to their magazine. I like the paper and print quality that is used in the magazine - being in the print industry - the magazine is of very good quality.

Though most of the reviews and q&a comes from the UK, readers are gaining momentum in Malaysia. Though I doubt that the magazine is making money as the amount of print ads are … not enough to be profitable but DSLR owners are gaining momentum so I’ll say they’ll survive.

It is the best Digital Camera magazine around but only for those serious in digital photography.

I just purchased a 52mm Hoya CPL filter on my D40. Here is the result of the effect.

Frankly the picture came out better than it actually is.

Its been about a month now with my Nikon D40 DSLR and here is my personal review.

First of all I didn’t want to spend a hell of a lot on a DSLR. As a beginner trying out if photography is really my kind of thing and after much research I decided on the Nikon D40. I bought this camera at foto shangri-la for about RM1,680.00 which includes - D40 kit with lense, battery, screen protector, tripod, bag, 2GB memory card and uv filter. I know some places you could get it for around RM1,600.

After shooting around for like a month - well most of the time its been sitting at home but when I have a chance I will shoot away - I am quite impress with what it or I could do with it. It turned me into sort of a pro photographer. It doesn’t take that long to learn either.

For a small budget I would say it is a good buy and if you would like to know why you should buy a nikon d40, go to this website. http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/digitalcamera/slr/d40x/sp/index.htm

Lets say if I had the extra cash would I choose a better camera like the d60 or the alpha models for just a little more? My choice would be the same. I would still get the D40. Anything better or slightly better models or features or better mega pixels will cost an additional RM 400+ more and I wasn’t willing to part with that amount of money just to see if photography was in me. So overall for the newbie who wishes to venture into DSLR and not sure if lugging around a huge camera is for you but would like to try out, then go for the D40. It is rather a safe bet.