I started photography in the mid 00s with a D40 and moved to a D5300 in the 10s. My most beloved lens from that era was a Nikon 70-300mm VR FX AF-S f/4.5-5.6 G.
There isn’t really an equivalent of that lens these days as it seems like everyone is making a 100-400 instead and those are generally bigger dimensionally and weight wise. That lens was not particularly sharp once you got out of the center, although it wasn’t much of an issue for me thanks to the APS-C crop.
There are some lens designs that have been basically the same for decades now (hello Sigma DG DN) and are still excellent, but I wouldn’t paint 00s glass as all being mature. I’m using a Tamron 150-500 these days on a Sony FF body and the Tamron focuses way faster, is sharper in the center and across the frame, has great bokah, and offers better micro contrast.
00s glass is in somewhat of a weird spot. It doesn’t have as much “character” as the glass that came before it and it’s also not as technically excellent as the glass that came after it. That said, it’s pretty affordable these days and is completely useable to get great photos. I will say that photos, even taken with the D40, have held up really well.
I started photography in the mid 00s with a D40 and moved to a D5300 in the 10s. My most beloved lens from that era was a Nikon 70-300mm VR FX AF-S f/4.5-5.6 G.
There isn’t really an equivalent of that lens these days as it seems like everyone is making a 100-400 instead and those are generally bigger dimensionally and weight wise. That lens was not particularly sharp once you got out of the center, although it wasn’t much of an issue for me thanks to the APS-C crop.
There are some lens designs that have been basically the same for decades now (hello Sigma DG DN) and are still excellent, but I wouldn’t paint 00s glass as all being mature. I’m using a Tamron 150-500 these days on a Sony FF body and the Tamron focuses way faster, is sharper in the center and across the frame, has great bokah, and offers better micro contrast.
00s glass is in somewhat of a weird spot. It doesn’t have as much “character” as the glass that came before it and it’s also not as technically excellent as the glass that came after it. That said, it’s pretty affordable these days and is completely useable to get great photos. I will say that photos, even taken with the D40, have held up really well.