Happy Friday! Big thanks to our readers for continuously sending questions to us and participating in the comments section of our blog. We truly value your feedback and we do our best to respond to your queries as soon as we can. Here is the third compiled list of FAQs from the last two weeks:

1. What lens do you recommend for architectural photography?
   If you are serious about architectural photography, you should get a tilt and shift lens like the Nikon 24mm PC-E f/3.5D, with an ultra wide-angle lens such as Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G. Both are superb for most architectural photography needs.
2. I have heard so many stories about a thread problem and debris inside the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II lens. Is this something to be worried about? Also, how does the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II behave on older camera bodies such as Nikon D70s?
   Forget about the thread/debris problem in the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II, because it is NOT a problem. People started complaining about this so much that they made Nikon provide an official response, in which they are stating that the lens thread is normal, it will not release any debris inside the lens and the performance is not going to be affected in any way. Although the lens was released specifically for FX cameras, it will work even better on DX cameras, including the older Nikon D70s/D80/D200 cameras.
3. Do you recommend the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G lens for landscape photography on a DX body?
   No, I do not. The Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G is wide enough for FX, but on a DX body is equivalent of 35-105mm lens, which is sometimes too long for landscape photography. If you are shooting on a DX body, the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G or the new Nikon 16-35mm f/4.0 VR would work better, because they have a bigger field of view, which means that you can fit more of the scene into the frame. I love the 24-70mm f/2.8G lens and it is definitely one of my favorite lenses for landscape photography, but when shooting on FX.
4. What should I buy, a lightly used Nikon D300 or a brand new Nikon D90 for the same price?
   If you know the person who is selling the D300 and know for sure that the D300 is slightly used, then get the D300 of course! Although noise-levels on the D90 on high ISOs are slightly better, the D300 is a solid professional camera with a better AF system, faster speed and tougher weather sealing (in addition to many other features) compared to the D90.
5. Will Nikon be releasing a VR or f/1.4 version of the Nikon 35mm lens anytime soon?
   Rest assured that the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 lens is not going to get VR, at least not anytime soon. Adding VR would make this lens heavier/larger in size and would add to the cost. In addition, there are many other lenses that are due for updates. For example, the Nikon 85mm f/1.4D needs an update, hopefully with VR. As far as an f/1.4 version of the 35mm, it is definitely long overdue and many photographers have been desperately waiting for an AF-S version of this lens.
6. I am afraid to purchase the Nikon D5000, because it does not have an autofocus motor in it. What do you recommend?
   I do not know why this question keeps coming up, but stop worrying about having or not having an AF motor in the camera body. Sure, having no motor was a problem in the past, but Nikon has released so many new excellent DX and AF-S lenses that having no AF motor in the body is no longer an issue. Instead of wasting money on an old, used lens that you think is a bargain, just buy the cheap and excellent Nikon 35mm f/1.8G lens and you will not regret it.
7. What Nikon lens do you recommend for indoors and outdoors sports photography?
   For outdoors sports photography, it all depends on how far away you are from the subject. The Nikon 70-200mm VR II would be a great choice for medium range photography and you could add a Nikon 300mm f/2.8 VR for subjects that are further away. If the above lenses do not fit your budget, try the inexpensive Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR lens – it works great when there is plenty of available light. When it comes to indoors sports photography, the choices are limited to either expensive f/2.8 lenses or fast-aperture fixed lenses such as Nikon 85mm f/1.4, considering that you cannot change the lighting conditions.
8. Will Nikon be releasing updates to current DSLR cameras this year?
   I honestly do not know, because I do not work for Nikon and manufacturers always keep camera and lens announcements in secret. But you can get a pretty good picture of when Nikon will be releasing an update based on the schedule of camera releases by Nikon in the past.
9. Do you really respond to all comments by your readers?
   Yes, we do. At least we try. Sometimes it takes me several days to catch up with all the comments, but Lola and I do our best to respond to every single query. I am not sure that I will be able to continue responding to all comments going forward, because the number of comments has dramatically increased and I sometimes spend more time responding to comments than writing content for the website. But I promise to do my best.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Starting from today, I decided to start posting some of the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) by our blog readers. We get a lot of questions and feedback through comments and email, so I decided to post some of the shorter ones here. Let’s get started with the first part of Photography FAQ.

1. I am having a hard time picking between Nikon D90 and Nikon D300/D300s. What do you recommend?
   Unless you are planning to photograph fast-action sports, action and wildlife, I would recommend Nikon D90 over Nikon D300/D300s, especially if it is going to be your first DSLR. Nikon D90 is a great camera that works great for occasional portraits, landscapes and other types of photography where the speed of the camera is not important. As can be seen in our Nikon D300 vs D90 high ISO comparison, Nikon D90 deals with noise in high ISOs a little better than Nikon D300. This is due to a slightly better sensor and a more aggressive noise-reduction algorithm on the Nikon D90. Therefore, if you were to compare the image quality of both cameras, Nikon D90 would have a very slight edge over Nikon D300. In addition, accessories for Nikon D90 are a lot cheaper than for Nikon D300/D300s (for example battery grip and remote camera trigger). So, unless you have special needs, you should buy the Nikon D90.
2. Do you recommend using filters on lenses for protection? Do filters degrade image quality?
   Absolutely! I use clear filters on every single lens that I have for not only protection, but also for easiness of cleaning. Many lenses have round front elements that stick out and are somewhat painful to clean. In contrast, filters do not have this problem and are very easy to clean. If a filter gets scratched or damaged, you throw it away and get a new one, knowing that the front element of your lens is always protected. Now as far as filters degrading image quality, it all really depends on the quality of the filter. In general, filters do have a slightly negative impact on image quality – after-all, it is another glass element in front of your lens! However, if you get a good high-quality filter, it will have almost no negative impact on image quality. At least not something you will notice with a naked eye. I personally use clear/protection filters by a company called B+W and I use their B+W 77mm MRC Clear Filter on lenses with a 77mm filter thread. I buy the same kind of protection filter for all other filter threads as well. Always make sure to get an MRC (Multi-Coated) version of the filter. There are many other filter manufacturers such as Tiffen and Hoya out there, but I prefer to use B+W, because their glass is of higher quality.
3. Is there a considerable difference between FX (full frame) and DX (cropped-sensor)?
   Yes, there is. Full frame sensors have a much larger sensor than cropped sensors and therefore have larger pixels that are more sensitive to light. When it comes to both image quality and low-light capabilities, FX has a huge advantage over DX. There is a 2-stop difference between low-light capabilities of FX versus DX. For example, shooting at ISO 3200 on Nikon D700 is comparable to ISO 800 on Nikon D300s. Check out my FX vs DX article on differences between these formats in much more detail.
4. What Nikon portrait lens do you recommend?
   In my opinion, the best lenses for portrait photography are Nikon 50mm f/1.4G, Nikon 85mm f/1.4D and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II (not cheap). I personally love the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G and use it more than any other lens.
5. I see that most of your articles are about Nikon. Are you planning to cover Canon gear in the future as well?
   We try to write most of our “howto” articles for both Nikon and Canon digital cameras. However, since we primarily use Nikon cameras and lenses, we feel that it would be wrong to write about gear we do not have much experience with. I personally shot with Canon Digital Rebel and 40D/50D/5D DSLR cameras in the past, but we do not own any Canon equipment at the moment. We are hoping to start playing with Canon equipment more in the future though, read why below.
6. Are you planning to write more reviews on cameras and lenses?
   Going forward, one of the largest photography stores in the world (you can probably guess which one) will be sending us new equipment for reviewing and testing. We are honored and privileged to be able to do this and our review section will be growing in numbers fairly quickly. The only problem I have is time – testing, reviewing and writing about products takes weeks of hard work. But we are committed to our website and our readers, so we will work hard on making it all happen!

If you buy from any of the above links, we get some diaper money for our Ozzy :)

That’s it for now, more to come later!