How much can I get for my kidney?

Irish_Tom

Irish_Tom

Irish_Tom

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Lo all,

Now that I'm back from my suspension, for which I blame Photoshop's 'save for web' for giving me a sig size of 60kb even though I set it to optimise for 20kb, I can now tell you all about my exciting weekend.

I'm leading a week long photography shoot for my uni-graduation exhibition; showcasing work produced by the 62 Graphic Design students who have just completed a BA(hons) at The Arts Institute at Bournemouth.

The head of the Graphics department has very kindly lent me a Nikkor 12-24mm + 2 x SB-800's to go with my existing kit and over the weekend I've been familiarising myself with it all so it at least looks like I know what I'm doing over the next week.

All I can say is WOW. I need to get a super-wide lens and at least two Nikon flashguns. I've been using a Vivitar 283 for some time but going from a full manual FG to Nikons Creative Lighting System is like entering the 21st century from the Dark Ages.

I downloaded a .pdf from Nikons website regarding creative ways of using flash and the possibilities are almost endless!

Also the field of view from 12mm is amazing, more than I thought it was going to be (having never played with a SW before). I was also pleasantly surprised by how little distortion there is considering how wide it is. I think there's more distortion in the 18-200VR at 18mm that then 12-24 at 12mm (although that could be explained by the difference in focal length.

So to go back to my original question: How much could I get for a kidney?

I would settle for a Sigma 10-20mm if I can't get enough for a Nikkor 12-24. :p

Panzer
 
Panzerbjorn said:
I would settle for a Sigma 10-20mm
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Thom Hogan said:
Overall: As many of you have noticed, the 10-20mm Sigma replaced the 12-24mm Nikkor in my bag, and I've been shooting with it for quite some time now (almost two years). You're probably wondering why, as none of the performance points (other than autofocus, which I rarely use) are stellar with this lens. Well, they're not stellar with any other lens that goes that wide, either. Consider that we're at the FX equivalent of 15mm. That means you have to compare this lens at 10mm to a D3 using the 14mm Nikkor or perhaps the 14mm Sigma I've reviewed before. And you know what? When you come at it that way, you discover that the Sigma 10-20mm is about the best of the wide angle bunch for DX-framed cameras, and probably better than the FX frame options to date (I haven't tested the new Nikkor 14-24mm yet). Only the 10.5mm Nikkor fisheye goes wider, and it has more faults. The Nikkor 12-24mm is the clearly better lens at 20mm, but at 12mm I lean slightly towards the Sigma even though the test results would say the slight advantage is still Nikon's (plus, of course, I can go 2mm wider, which is significant for the DX frame). Vignetting and chromatic aberrations are easily dealt with in software these days, so it really boils down to corner sharpness at 10mm for me: is it good enough to be usable? And the answer is, yes, stopped down to f/8 or f/11. The center sharpness of the Sigma 10-20mm at 12mm is slightly better than the Nikkor 12-24mm, so there I have my answer: Sigma by a nose for my work.
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I've read a lot of hit and miss things with the quality fo the Sigma 10-20mm. Seems there is a lot of variation between each lens so if you go for one of those check it out first to make sure its a good copy!

You should be able to pick up a 12-24 for around £400ish second hand. I sold mine on ebay for £410 a few months back. Cracking lens and I do miss the wideness but it had to go when I got the D3 :(
 
Cheers rob. :)

To be honest I could never stretch to the cost of the Nikkor anyway so it was always going to be the Sigma. As tempting as £35k is I think I'll save my kidney so I have a spare.

*Edit* cheers SP. I know there are QC issues with Sigma so I'm going to buy in the UK. I think even at £400 second hand I'll save the £100 difference and get a brand new Sigma.

It's all a bit moot at the minute because I'm so skint but never mind. One day it will all be mine, oh yes! It will all be mine.

Panzer
 
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SilverPenguin said:
You should be able to pick up a 12-24 for around £400ish second hand. I sold mine on ebay for £410 a few months back. Cracking lens and I do miss the wideness but it had to go when I got the D3 :(
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Presumably you've bought a 14-24 in its stead, though
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you could try selling your soul on fleabay see how much you get for it could get a new lens :p
 
i managed to buy my 12-24 off fleabay for a bargain just before xmas and i agree with what you say about it being a cracking lens, i really should use it more thou.
 
You've actually made me consider selling my kidney now, and googling for 'most unneeded organ to sell' and trying to find some buyers. :p

I think it's probably closer to £20k, depending on demand.
 
Sorry for the off-topic post, but my girlfriend's just been offered a place at the Bournemouth art instutute for their animation course - what did you think of your time there / do you know anyone on Animation who could spare some time to chat to her? :)

She's in Colombia see so kinda hard to visit in time to make a decision, but it looks good so far :)
 
Beansprout said:
Sorry for the off-topic post, but my girlfriend's just been offered a place at the Bournemouth art instutute for their animation course - what did you think of your time there / do you know anyone on Animation who could spare some time to chat to her? :)

She's in Colombia see so kinda hard to visit in time to make a decision, but it looks good so far :)
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include a kidney reference and we'll talk :P
 
Well I've certainly enjoyed my time here and while I don't know much about the animation course (or anyone on it) if it's anything like my GD course it will be a lot of hard work but very rewarding. The institute itself is a good creative environment and there's a good night out to be had in Bournemouth.

Sorry I can't be much more help.

Panzer
 
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