A Good Walk-Around Lens

The inconvenient thing about having a full camera, is that they aren’t very portable and packable like a smaller point-and-shoot or phone. The camera and lens are big enough that many times I just leave it behind and then regret not having it when I want to shoot a good photo. The cameras on phones these days are OK, but the photos are not nearly as good as what you can get with a good full-frame camera. So, in an attempt to solve this problem, I picked up a NIKKOR Z 24-50mm f/4-6.3, which is a compact and lower cost full-frame lens. I didn’t buy it new, I got it less than half-priced at a used camera merchant. I have purchased used lenses before and it usually goes well. The image below shows the camera (Nikon Z7II) with the 24-50mm lens with a 35mm f/1.8 prime sitting next to it for comparison. With this lens in its compact position you can just about put the camera in your jacket pocket.

This is a lower cost and lower quality lens, but today’s lower quality lenses are as good as pro lenses from 15 years ago, so it isn’t a big penalty. Below are some photos that I took hand-held in the park near my house the afternoon that the lens came in. The photos are taken from 24mm to 50mm. I think it is perfectly sharp enough for my camera. It does give up a bit in light gathering vs. the more expensive pro lenses, but modern cameras are really good at higher ISO these days so it is fine for most situations.

So, I think I have a compact enough camera and lens that I can pack easily with my duffle bag or backpack on an airplane when I am not necessarily traveling for photography. Or it can fit easily into the center console of my vehicle so that I can have a camera with me when I go here and there and see something I might like to shoot.

On my first such outing, I think the camera performed quite well. I carried it around in a very small bag that it wouldn’t have fit in with any other lens attached. And it was so light, that it didn’t bother me to have the camera hanging on my wrist by the strap as I walked around. I set it to auto-ISO, didn’t worry about it, and shot photos.

Below is a photo of a bridge I saw, taken from the deck of a moving boat. It was quite crowded in this boat and I had to just stand there and take some quick photos. It was clear and sunny day and the ISO only climbed to 720. Shot at 1/8000 second, f/5.6, at 42mm

Next, I happened across a view port in another bridge and I saw the opportunity to use it as a frame for some buildings. The nice thing about shooting with a full-frame camera is that with the basic exposure, the stone work in the shadowed foreground is completely dark, but it was easy enough to pull up those shadows in Lightroom with the camera raw data so you get an idea of what you’re looking at. Shot at 1/1000 sec, f/1.7, 24mm, ISO64 as I got to stand still for a second.

Next, I came across this building with a handy clock in it that played a catchy tune at the top of the hour. The sun was directly behind the tower so the architecture was in shade. Again, with a camera raw file you can adjust the shadows and make the image look more like what I saw with my own eyes. Now, don’t worry that I reversed the image, for some reason everyone was driving on the opposite side of the road. Shot at 1/1600 sec, f/1.7, 24mm, ISO64.

I came across a fancy building that a bunch of people were standing around looking at. The people that lived there seemed to like showing off by dressing up in fancy uniforms and marching back and forth in front of the building. I wasn’t invited in for coffee or anything so I walked through a big park next door.

Anyway, this lens gets a bit looked down upon as it is lower cost and not a pro lens, but I think it serves its purpose quite well. It was not burdensome to carry the camera around and easy and fun to shoot quick photos. And with a full camera, you get full-frame image quality to edit later. I frankly don’t enjoy shooting with a phone camera and often just leave my phone in my pocket even though I have whatever the latest iPhone is and it is supposed to have good cameras for a phone. I enjoy shooting with a real camera and being intentional about it. I am happy enough with the lens and what I paid for it. Thanks for reading.

20 thoughts on “A Good Walk-Around Lens”

  1. One nice thing about having a cheaper lens, is that when you ask someone to take your picture, they’re less likely to run off with your camera.

    But if you had not said it was a cheaper lens, I don’t think I would have notice any difference. They are all good shots, in my view. The yellow in the flowers seemed to lack detail, so maybe that might be a difference.

    There’s something about the later photos in this post, that looks familiar. The location is on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t quite say it in plain English.

    Liked by 3 people

  3. WP was hiding this from me, but I outwitted them and found it.
    Wonderful photos! I like the red flower, the best of the flower ones.
    I really liked how you framed the bridge.
    Cool clock. I think I wrote a story before about that clock. Maybe the story will make the clock famous someday.
    Too bad they didn’t invite you into the castle. Maybe you missed the sign of where to enter for the teaparty.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Jason, if you are happy with the photos, no worries. We are our own biggest critics, and other folks’ opinions shouldn’t matter. In the past some friends would give me a hard time about not buying the fastest primes (newspaper colleagues) and like the Jerry McQuire movie, I always asked them to show me the money and make a gift of it. Never got any takers, and the distorts didn’t complain. There were “pixel peepers” back in the film days too. 😳😎🙈😱

    Liked by 2 people

  5. Like the setup… nicely compact and usable. My big (old) Canon DSLR shot great photos. But a decent pocket camera was usually what would travel. Mirrorless was a boon. No pro anything, but about 50/50 decent native vs. 3rd-party. I’ve had surprisingly good luck so far with Viltrox. Curious about your U3 settings.

    I think I bought that bridge a few years back.

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