NIkon D300s lens question
Discussion
gary71 said:
24-70 f2.8 Nikon 
You'll never need to buy anything else!
...or for that matter be able to afford anything else after buying it...
Is the right answer! The real answer depends on what you want to use it for though......You'll never need to buy anything else!
...or for that matter be able to afford anything else after buying it...
The 55-300 is a decent and flexible kit lens but would be blown out of the water by the 24-70 F2.8....they go for about £950 second hand or £1150 new. I bought one myself recently.
A good cheap lens is of course the "nifty fifty" 50 F 1.8...image quality will be much better than the 55-300 and obv be much better in low light. A bit cheaper than the 24-70 F2.8 is the 24-120mm F4.....not as sharp but gives a better range and still with a fixed aperture.
YorkshirePudding said:
Tokina 11-16 f2.8.
This is beauty. I use one on my D300. Also madly in love my 35mm 1.8. It really does depend what you want to shoot and what the budget is though. The 24-70 is amazing I'm sure but I'd personally find it a little long on a crop for most of my needs.
Gad-Westy said:
The 24-70 is amazing I'm sure but I'd personally find it a little long on a crop for most of my needs.
Me too; not much wide angle with DX.However if you want a one-size-fits-all lens then you may have to abandon quality/speed for range and consider 18-135mm, 18-200mm etc.
Thoughts on the 18-105 that I got as the kit lens on my D90 as a less expensive option?
Has served me reasonably well as a 'general' lens in my first year of SLR ownership
I have only added the 50 since I got the body although will be getting the sigma 10-20 (slower one) at the end of the month.
I guess budget plays a huge part in the decision.
Has served me reasonably well as a 'general' lens in my first year of SLR ownership
I have only added the 50 since I got the body although will be getting the sigma 10-20 (slower one) at the end of the month.
I guess budget plays a huge part in the decision.
XKjimmy said:
Thanks for the replies guys! Certainly a lot to be looking at. Gad-westy, I will be shooting a bit of everything with this lens, going to be one that will be on it most of the time probably.
The closest thing to a universal lens is something like the Nikon 18-200 that Simpo mentioned, or maybe the ludicrously rangey 18-270mm Tamron. All lenses are a compromise though and from what I have read, these 'superzooms' often have soft spots in their zoom range and can suffer from strong distortion at both ends. It's probably a given that the IQ suffers by trying to make the lens cover such a vast range. On the plus side, you may never need to take the lens off.It really is very personal. My mother uses a Tamron 'superzoom' and loves it. I prefer to lug around a bag full of lenses but I do have a sigma 18-50 2.8 that is the closest thing I have to a walkabout lens. Its a nice range for landscapes but can also take decent portrait shots with a nice shallow dof. It also works well in low light. That said, there are times when my 35mm 1.8 lives on the camera and is used for all types of shots.
The 18-105 VR mentioned above is very good. Also take a look at the the 16-85 VR which seems to be very highly regarded and offers decent range.
XKjimmy said:
... what every day lens ....
Phew - almost impossible to answer! My suggestions would be totally different to the next man. What are you taking photos of on an everyday basis? What results do you want? What angle of view most meets your requirements?Personally, though, if you're investing in Nikon kit, I'd go with a Nikon lens. The optics and the quality tolerances on the "better" Nikons will be a good investment, unbeatable even. Possibly have an edge still, even over Canon, although there are some apparent holes in the range - and think about whether there's a likelihood of switching from DX to FX and whether you have a need for speed. The lens has more influence on the quality of the output than the box you stick it on.
Every day use, it will be mainly used for land scape photography, maybe a bit of wild life. Just a general purpose really.
This is all new to me as my last camera was a Leica X1, no zoom there, just the 1 lens. I would like to start trying night time and star photography. Trying to get some clearish pictures of the moon too when the time comes.
Im hoping the 55-300 will be able to do this.
This is all new to me as my last camera was a Leica X1, no zoom there, just the 1 lens. I would like to start trying night time and star photography. Trying to get some clearish pictures of the moon too when the time comes.
Im hoping the 55-300 will be able to do this.
With my D300, I found
18-200 Optical mediocrity. Sold.
35 f1.8 Great for night time, but of limited use because...
24-70 f2.8 My favourite lens, optically so superb you won't want to go with anything else
11-16 f2.8 Tokina, such a flexible lens with brilliant performance.
70-300 f5.6 Average at best
What gets used? 11-16 and 24-70 are the only 2 lens you'll ever need for 99% of the time.
18-200 Optical mediocrity. Sold.
35 f1.8 Great for night time, but of limited use because...
24-70 f2.8 My favourite lens, optically so superb you won't want to go with anything else
11-16 f2.8 Tokina, such a flexible lens with brilliant performance.
70-300 f5.6 Average at best
What gets used? 11-16 and 24-70 are the only 2 lens you'll ever need for 99% of the time.
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