"Ooo, there's the REAL photographer!"

That is not false humility. It seems with every passing “serious job” I do, I realize how far I have to go. Sure, I took some pretty shots, but there were so many shots that I looked at and thought, “Hmph, that one was almost good.”

Funny, I knew so much when I did my first wedding. Maybe the good ones were lost or something, because when I looked back, all those killer shots just were not there. Strange. I certainly knew more when I started…or as some friends quoted to me recently from Bob Dylan, “Ah, but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”

I think to sum up my thoughts about what is limiting me — yes, I am going to blame it on gear…well, and that blasted spotlight at the banquet — I would say a full frame camera would sure be nice for an extra stop of light or two. That really does make sense; I will explain. I want to go a little wider, but I lose a stop or two getting a wider lens so it ends up where I want it on my crop sensor camera.

Example: I am shooting a 35mm f/2, which is acting like a f/2 50mm. I just lost a stop of light from the 50mm f/1.4 basically because of my cropped sensor. You have to blame something. Then, if I wanted to shoot at 35mm, which I do, I would have to go for a 24mm f/2.8, and I have just lost another stop of light.

Maybe on Nikon’s (and now other companies) new high ISO, low noise cameras, this would not be an issue, but I will tell you what, on my decrepitly aged D100, you notice plenty of grain just moving from 200 to 400.

I think to really say it more clearly, I would not say it is just that I need new gear to fix all my problems. It would be more accurate to say this: I feel like my eye is seeing a full frame view, but that blasted sensor keeps cropping my vision…but a little less grain would be nice for an alternative solution. Seriously, any full frame camera with the Ai-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.4…that would be great.

As it turns out, I think I do not have flare and will not get flare. I kept trying different approaches: putting the sun in the photo, just on the edge of the photo, just out of the photo, and maybe a little further out. Nada. No flare.

It is one of those methods or little tricks that pop in my head every few days, when the sun it up and nothing else seems to be happening, and I try a few more shots out. I can never get any flare. I simply wanted to be able to control it, meaning, if I wanted it in a photo, what is the trick to making that happen. Or, conversely, if it is sunny and I want to avoid it, how do I do that.

Then, something came back to me. My walk around lens is a Nikkor AF 35mm f/2 D. I remember reading something a while back (actually, while reading info on my coveted lens, the Ai-S 35mm 1.4): that lens has almost no lens flare. Oh. Oops. So, I guess it is time to stop the experimenting and just be thankful for a lens that seems to be very well built.

And speaking of lens flare, in a slightly awkward ending, I love the tribute to lens flare in the Wall-E opening sequence. You have a computer animation which has lens flare. That is just cool. And it is proof that lens flare is cool, which I guess makes my lens a little less cool. Bummer. I bet that old, 1.4 would be cool!

[My wife] got the D40, it was an eBay buy. I wish that we had a better lens, it came with a lower end model. We are saving up and hoping to get a better one soon, they are all just so stinking expensive. It has been great, though, being able to catch those moments with [our kid] that you normally wouldn’t because of the slow shutter speed on the point and shoot digital. I know there are some ways to tweaking the camera so you can get a little better shot out of it, but I haven’t had the chance to play with it enough.

What new lens should my friend buy? Are there some not so expensive lenses out there for amateur photographers on a limited budget? I have just the answer.

Since we are speaking of a Nikon D40 (and the D60 would be the same answer), I would highly suggest a lens that Nikon just came out with a few months ago: AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 G. That is techy gibberish to many of you, so I will break that down and tell you how that applies, but first, I will give the simple explanation.

The “standard” lens for 35mm film cameras is a 50mm lens, and it is standard because it gives a perspective very close to what the human eye would. That standard is dependent on the size of the film or sensor, though. Most digital cameras out there (except for some of the pro-level ones) have a smaller sized sensor, and the stardard length of lens is no longer 50mm. On the smaller-sized-sensor digital SLRs out there today (regardless of brand), a 35mm lens is going to give that standard perspective. Basically that standard perspective is not too telephoto (long) nor is it too wide angle (short). It is in the middle and great for wide variety of everyday shots.

So, that Nikon lens mentioned above is made specifically for the smaller sized sensor cameras. You get that standard perspective, with a very wide open aperture (that is the f/1.8 part), at a very cheap price ($200). That is a steal.

Nikon and Canon also have out cheap 50mm prime (fixed focal length, non-zoom lenses) lenses with a nice, open aperture: AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 D and Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II. And when I say cheap, I am talking $100 kind of cheap. (note: See the comments below; Nikon D40, D40x, and D60 cannot auto focus with the 50mm f/1.8). It is a great addition if you just need more light than that cheapo kit lens will give you. The only downside is that 50mm on a smaller sensor is a little too long of a lens for many situations. Just set your kit lens to 50mm all day and shoot around and see what you think. Do the same at 35mm and see which you like better.

I talk a lot about aperture because it is really the most important part of the lens choosing process. The smaller that number, the bigger the aperture (hole), the more light the lens will let in. If the aperture is more open, that means either shutter speed can increase taking care of your blur problem or your ISO (film speed) can decrease thus keeping grain out of your photos. Lens prices are basically set by the aperture…just look for yourself.

The prices are great on these lenses, and you really get great quality for the money. More than likely, you will find yourself using this fixed length prime lens much more than your zoom lens. Once you get used to that wide open aperture, it is hard to go back.