DiploStrat
Expedition Leader
Futures
I have never used the 16-85mm. (Not many photo shops where I live, so I am strictly mail order and pray a lot!)
I have only one DX lens (the 18-200 VR) as I expect to migrate to FX when I return to the U.S. Unless you shoot critters, 200 - 300mm is the outer limits for most real people and I have a BIGMA which goes to 500mm. Never long enough on DX in Africa, it should be fine on FX in the U.S.
SMALL UPDATE: OK, did some Internet research. If you goal is to go FX, then about the only DX lens I would buy is the 18-200 VR, simply because it is such a good Swiss Army knife lens. The 16-85 VR appears to be about the same price, same quality, just a bit shorter. If I'm buying an all-in-one, and accepting the compromises, then I would go for the wider range. (I sort of agree with Ken Rockwell on this. Horrors!) As always, YMMV.
Ethiopians serve coffee as part of a whole ritual. First you roast and grind it:
Then serve:
Finally, enjoy with popcorn and an unidentified green herb (some form of mint, I believe):
FWIW, all of these images taken with a Sony DSC-707 which has a smaller sensor than APS-C. The Zeiss glass was nice, but the Sony was not up the standard of any modern DSLR. But then, that is why I paid for an SLR.
My only point being, buy the best gear you can afford, but the limits to your photography are more likely to be your skills and luck, rather than your gear. (Sports and critters being the exceptions, perhaps.)
I have never used the 16-85mm. (Not many photo shops where I live, so I am strictly mail order and pray a lot!)
I have only one DX lens (the 18-200 VR) as I expect to migrate to FX when I return to the U.S. Unless you shoot critters, 200 - 300mm is the outer limits for most real people and I have a BIGMA which goes to 500mm. Never long enough on DX in Africa, it should be fine on FX in the U.S.
SMALL UPDATE: OK, did some Internet research. If you goal is to go FX, then about the only DX lens I would buy is the 18-200 VR, simply because it is such a good Swiss Army knife lens. The 16-85 VR appears to be about the same price, same quality, just a bit shorter. If I'm buying an all-in-one, and accepting the compromises, then I would go for the wider range. (I sort of agree with Ken Rockwell on this. Horrors!) As always, YMMV.
Ethiopians serve coffee as part of a whole ritual. First you roast and grind it:
Then serve:
Finally, enjoy with popcorn and an unidentified green herb (some form of mint, I believe):
FWIW, all of these images taken with a Sony DSC-707 which has a smaller sensor than APS-C. The Zeiss glass was nice, but the Sony was not up the standard of any modern DSLR. But then, that is why I paid for an SLR.
My only point being, buy the best gear you can afford, but the limits to your photography are more likely to be your skills and luck, rather than your gear. (Sports and critters being the exceptions, perhaps.)
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