I am amateur and have had a Nikon F60D that was stolen, and I am buying a new camera. I am interested in the landscape, wild life, archetecture,Portrait, and flower pictures. I suppose I will buy F80 S. Besides, I am thinking about buying the Nikon AF 24-120 Zoom, and Sigma AF 170-500 zoom. However, I will have a gap between both zooms (120-170 mm)that is not covered by one of them. I am also interested in buying Polarizer, Sunset, and Graduate blue filters. As the zooms are with large diameters, I am thinking about buying a set of filters that fits both of them, and to use an adapter ring. I haven't used these filters before, and I am working in Zimbabwe, where the cameras and there accessories are very rare, and I can't get many information from the on-line shops. So, I would like to ask about: 1- Is my choice for the zooms reasonable? 2- What are the specifications of the filter that I should order? 3- Are there any advices regarding the filters? 4- What is the flash that I should buy? Thank you Ala'a

-- Ala'a Elnahas (aelnahas@netconnect.co.zw), May 22, 2002

Answers

Both the Nikon 24-120 and the Sigma 170-500 get mixed reviews. Some people say they're great, some say they're okay but not great, and others say they are not sharp enough for anybody's use. I've never used either so I wouldn't know.

I have heard more consistent praise for the new Tamron 24-135. Supposedly it's sharper that the Nikon 24-120. Also the Sigma 135- 400 is supposed to be very similar but sharper than the the 170-500. It's also smaller and the aperture is larger. If you could get by with a 400mm lens instead of the 500mm I'd recommend that. The combination would go from 24mm to 400mm without any gaps, not that I think the gap between 120mm and 170mm is enough to be conserned about.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), May 22, 2002.

The filters you are considering would work fine if you bought them sized to fit larger lens and used step-up adapter rings to match then to the smaller lens.

I would get a graduated grey or neutral density instead of the grad blue. It's more usefull.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), May 22, 2002.