What Nikkor Lense would you recommend for the best low light shots.?

Question

Zoom doesnt really matter. 18-55mm is okay. But im assuming i need a low f stop. I need to take pictures of our church service but i cant really use a flash. So i need a good low light lense. Looking to spend 500-750 dollars if i have too.

Thanks in advance

What do you think of this Lense for this type of application.

http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=5&productNr=1963#

Here is a sample picture of the sanctuary with the 18-55mm lense, that im trying to improve. hopefully a new lense will help with blurriness with low light action shots:

http://www.aboutccc.com/images/photos/image1.jpg

Answer 1

For your budget, this is probably a very good choice. The biggest plus is that it has a maximum aperture of f/2.8 throughout the zoom range. Your 18-55 maximum aperture is f/3.5 at 18 mm, but f/5.6 at 55 mm, which I suspect you would like to use a lot. This is two full stops "slower" than the lens you are looking at and that WILL make a difference in low-light performance.

It is not the newest design, but - again - for your budget, it's a good choice.

Ace, I thought about the 70-200VR, but it's about 2-to-3 times his budget and I'm afraid it might wind up too long to use inside a church for capturing the whole stage. I'm betting the sample he showed is about 55 mm already.

Answer 2

You are not going to be that much better off with an expensive, large aperture lens. What you need to do is set your ISO to the highest value you can (1000+ ??) and use a tripod to reduce camera movement.

Remember, a lens with maximum f 1.4 or will only give you one shutter speed stop advantage over f 2.0.

Answer 3

Here's a link to dpreview.com -their links page. there's a plethora of top notch info there.
http://www.dpreview.com/misc/links.asp

all i'd feel qualified to advise you is that primes will generally give you much wider apertures than zoom lenses can, and they're cheaper to produce. you could get 2 or even 3 high end primes covering all the range you like rather than one zoom lens that has an inferior low light capability..

Answer 4

Here are some to consider:

Nikon 85mm f1.4D IF AF $1,025.00

Nikon 85mm f1.8D AF $400.00

Nikon 18-200mm f3.5/f5.6 G ED-IF $900.00

Nikon 17-55mm f2.8G ED-IF AF-S DX $1,400.00

The 85mm f1.4 would be an awesome lens, as would the 17-55mm f2.8 - if your budget allows.

Answer 5

Nikkor 50mm f1.2 was made for your application. It is selective focus. You have to focus on your subject. Short focal length. Without flash you will get soft focus with any lense. The 5omm is within your budget. They also have a 1.4.

Answer 6

50mm F1.8 is my choise, use your feet to do the "zooming" and make use of 1.8, F2 etc, iso 1000? i wouldnt what if they want enlargements? if you want get the 85mm also, should have a mono/tripod also - and a good off camera flash set up

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Answer 7

Nikon makes a 50mm f/1.8 = ~$100 and an 85mm f/1.8 for around $300-$400(I think).