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My Camera Lenses
My camera bag is always full. When I travel, my backpack is almost 15kg heavy but I act chill so the airline doesn’t inspect the weight. As a digital nomad and photographer, it’s inevitable, really. When I’m traveling for an assignment, my bag has to be full of gear, not only my camera and lenses but also other devises. But when I was traveling full time, I had to make my bag as light as possible. For past 20 years, I’ve gone through many different camera bodies and lenses. This would be the longest blog post ever if I narrated them all. So, I compiled my relatively recent history of lenses I’ve used for variety of purposes with my DSLR.
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 (DX)
This is one of the first lenses I fell in love with. You can get it for a Nikon mount or for a Canon mount.I’ve been using super-wide angle lens ever since my Pentax MX days, and this one was a perfect replacement. Only for $450, you can widen your imagination with this beautiful lens. Before getting the 14mm Rokinon lens, this was also my go-to lens for astrophotography. Mostly, this lens allowed me to take so many great selfies! So versatile.
Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 (FX)
This is the classic, the best, and the most versatile lens in Nikon. From landscape to portrait, 24-70mm range is best for most anything. It’s also super sharp and has great color scheme. I don’t need to explain any more why this lens is the best. Only one downside; it’s a bit heavy (900g).
Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 (FX)
A midrange telephoto lens, 70-200mm is one of the most lenses used by professional photographers around the world daily. It’s super sharp and useful, but one the downside is its weight (1540g).
Nikkor 16-35mm F/4 (FX)
It’s my replacement of Tokina 11-16mm when I purchased D610. Sharpness sometimes fails me, but overall, the 16-35mm range is quite useful. Also I can still take an awesome selfie with it!
Nikkor 18-105mm f/4-5.6 (DX)
I picked up this lens in India right before starting my India tour, and it didn’t disappoint me. Most of my portraits in India was taken with this lens. The optic wasn’t the best but the 18-105mm range was very useful in many situations during the daylight. I have to thank this lens for some of the most amazing portraits I took.
Rokinon/Samyang 14mm f/2.8 (FX)
This super-wide lens is a dream for astrophotography. It’s perfect for a long-exposure star-trail or capturing the Milky Way. It doesn’t have AF function, so you need to be careful when shooting other objects.
Where do you buy camera gear?
Amazon is always an easy answer for camera equipment (and everything else, in fact). But for professional lenses, research before you buy because Nikon’s global warranty doesn’t apply to Amazon purchases. There are many other options out there, but recently I got to know a great site. Try KEH, the world’s largest online preowned camera and photography equipment store. They buy and sell preowned cameras and camera equipment and repair equipment. KEHoffers up to 40% below retail prices and instant quotes on your gear so you can upgrade your equipment as much as you want. As a reader of Runaway Juno, you are eligible to receive 10% off discount to purchase preowned camera gear from KEH! Use JUNO10.
My cameras
Nikon D610 (FX)
When I was considering getting a full-frame camera, as you can imagine, I was overwhelmed by the choices. Nikon was about to release D810, which was considered one of the best full-frame cameras. It was more expensive (obviously), offers bigger resolution, also bigger and heavier. There was D750, which is slightly better than D610 but not as the same level as D810. But for some strange reason the ones selling in Korea didn’t offer built-in WiFi. I couldn’t figure out why. So I went with D610 and traveled everywhere with it. I’m pleased with this full-frame camera.
Nikon D7000 (DX)
It’s my second DX digital camera after D90. Right around when D90 was about to retire, I enquired a used D7000. It was almost new but I got it quite cheap. With Tokina 11-16mm and Nikkor 18-105mm, they created some amazing work. Now I use this as a secondary body and with a telephoto lens.
