Best next lens?
Discussion
Afternoon all,
I've got a Nikon 3200 with the 18-55 kit lens as well as a sigma 70-300 lens that followed last year. What I'm wondering is what next? I quite like the idea of a wide angle lens to capture buildings on city breaks but I also like the idea of something with a wide aperture so I can start playing around with the depth of field more and think that might be more useable?
I don't want to end up spending £100 or so to get something I'll use once and then leave in the camera bag... I'm wondering what people would recommend as a next lens and why?
I've got a Nikon 3200 with the 18-55 kit lens as well as a sigma 70-300 lens that followed last year. What I'm wondering is what next? I quite like the idea of a wide angle lens to capture buildings on city breaks but I also like the idea of something with a wide aperture so I can start playing around with the depth of field more and think that might be more useable?
I don't want to end up spending £100 or so to get something I'll use once and then leave in the camera bag... I'm wondering what people would recommend as a next lens and why?
You want <18mm and ~ f/2.8?
You already have 18mm+
You already have 18mm+
docter fox said:
I don't want to end up spending £100 or so to get something I'll use once and then leave in the camera bag... I'm wondering what people would recommend as a next lens and why?
What is your actual budget, because £100 doesn't give much hope of anything....I would say for learning purposes, either the 50mm 1.8 or the 35mm 1.8, both available as AF-S (which you will need for AF compatibility).
These will allow you to play around with depth of field and get a good grasp of how apertures alter the final result. Plus, both of these are great optically and nice and light.
The 35mm is probably a little more practical given that it will give you (as near as makes no difference) an equivalent of 50mm focal length which is similar to what you would see with your naked eye - the 50mm will be more of a 'zoom' and you may find yourself backing out of the room to fit everyone into your photograph!
Really it depends on what you want to do... the budget that you have set does really limit your options and a wide angle fast lens is going to be pretty spicy.
These will allow you to play around with depth of field and get a good grasp of how apertures alter the final result. Plus, both of these are great optically and nice and light.
The 35mm is probably a little more practical given that it will give you (as near as makes no difference) an equivalent of 50mm focal length which is similar to what you would see with your naked eye - the 50mm will be more of a 'zoom' and you may find yourself backing out of the room to fit everyone into your photograph!
Really it depends on what you want to do... the budget that you have set does really limit your options and a wide angle fast lens is going to be pretty spicy.
For budget, I was thinking up to about £200 max, it's only going to get used every now and then so any more would probably be a waste... The prime contender so far is this fixed 35mm Nikon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-AF-S-NIKKOR-35mm-1-... - although it doesn't come with VR, from what I've read this doesn't seem to be a big issue until you're using more of a zoom?
£200 for a wide angle lens doesn't seem to give me much difference in terms of specs on paper over the kit lens but I'm wondering if this will be more obvious when using it? (I've never actually used a wide angle lens)
£200 for a wide angle lens doesn't seem to give me much difference in terms of specs on paper over the kit lens but I'm wondering if this will be more obvious when using it? (I've never actually used a wide angle lens)
As mentioned above the 50mm and 35mm f1.8 primes are both great.
For wide options you're looking at nearer £200 for a second hand Sigma 10-20mm or Tokina 12-24mm. Had a tamron 11-18mm a few years ago and didn't really get on with it.
Could get something interesting if prepared to go manual focus, though not sure a d3200 meters with old lenses
For wide options you're looking at nearer £200 for a second hand Sigma 10-20mm or Tokina 12-24mm. Had a tamron 11-18mm a few years ago and didn't really get on with it.
Could get something interesting if prepared to go manual focus, though not sure a d3200 meters with old lenses
I have the exact same camera and two lenses as you OP.
Just got the 35mm f/1.8 two weeks ago and it's great so far. A few quick observations (from a complete amateur!):
+ Large aperture shots are fun and give an impressive bokeh affect.
+ Great sharpness to pictures in the middle apertures, much better than kit and sigma lenses.
+ So much lighter and gives the camera a totally different feel.
+ Inexpensive for quality of pictures produced.
- Autofocus seems very unreliable and so use it exclusively in manual focus.
- Focus ring seems very plastic and light weight compared to sigma leans.
-Macro is really not its thing, Sigma kills it for any close up work.
Overall would definitely recommend it. The pluses above are pretty major while the minuses and quite small and can be worked around.
Off topic, but I also got my first hotshoe flash (Neewer TT560 @£30) and found that to be a great value purchase which will help my photography progress. Nice results so far by setting the flash power low and using wide aperture on the prime lens.
Just got the 35mm f/1.8 two weeks ago and it's great so far. A few quick observations (from a complete amateur!):
+ Large aperture shots are fun and give an impressive bokeh affect.
+ Great sharpness to pictures in the middle apertures, much better than kit and sigma lenses.
+ So much lighter and gives the camera a totally different feel.
+ Inexpensive for quality of pictures produced.
- Autofocus seems very unreliable and so use it exclusively in manual focus.
- Focus ring seems very plastic and light weight compared to sigma leans.
-Macro is really not its thing, Sigma kills it for any close up work.
Overall would definitely recommend it. The pluses above are pretty major while the minuses and quite small and can be worked around.
Off topic, but I also got my first hotshoe flash (Neewer TT560 @£30) and found that to be a great value purchase which will help my photography progress. Nice results so far by setting the flash power low and using wide aperture on the prime lens.
bony_13 said:
- Autofocus seems very unreliable and so use it exclusively in manual focus.
You 3200 may need its AF correcting at Nikon. My 3200 was a nightmare for AF, hunting all over the place - under warranty, Nikon replaced the AF unit and it was spot on every time, even in challenging light conditions.
toohuge said:
You 3200 may need its AF correcting at Nikon.
My 3200 was a nightmare for AF, hunting all over the place - under warranty, Nikon replaced the AF unit and it was spot on every time, even in challenging light conditions.
Its fine with other lenses though. The more I think about it there more it's probably me (as a relative newcomer) struggling with such a small depth of field when down a f1.8 where the margins for in-focus and out-of-focus are tiny. Either way I'm happy using manual focus.My 3200 was a nightmare for AF, hunting all over the place - under warranty, Nikon replaced the AF unit and it was spot on every time, even in challenging light conditions.
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