Which lens

[Kwacker]

After attempting to repair my 18-55 lens (and completely buggering it up)

I am thinking about buying a new lens. Possibly a 18-105 or a 18-200.

Now does it really matter which brand? Tamron, sigma, nikkor.....
Is the glass really any better?

The camera is a Nikon d5000.

I did buy buy a tamron 70-300 which I find a bit slow on the autofocus, but that might just be because it is older than the camera. Or is it that tamron just isn't as good as nikkor?

Advice please

thanks

Kwacker

[GetCarter]

Lots of lens reviews here: http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/

[browno]

I've got the sigma 18-50 f/2.8 which I got for about £250 new from park camera and is a great everyday lens on my d300s - and complements the coverage of my 50-150 sigma too... It's a nice balance of a decent bit of kit but not too extravagantly priced (otherwise I'd have the Nikon 24-70!)

[K12beano]

Kwacker said:

Now does it really matter which brand? Tamron, sigma, nikkor.....
Is the glass really any better?

Some people think so. I happen to be one of them having had various Tamron, Tokina and Sigma lenses in the past.

It is primarily the glass itself which it is rumoured is formed to closer tolerances by Nikon and Canon. But that's not the only factor. It is relatively rare these days, but occasionally there are compatibility issues, the coatings, the use of particular SWMs and VR technologies, the design of aperture blades and the overall build quality and tolerances. With Nikkors the "D" and "G" designations mean the lens is accurately telling the body about distances, which have a knock-on effect for metering and flash metering. Plus Nikon bodies can interact smartly with even older Nikkors which can be handy for the body understanding what aperture is set et cetera. So there are a number of issues to take into account. I think there are wider tolerances in all these things for non-Nikkor - and probably non-Canon if you are on that side!

But, at the end of the day, people do buy expensive Nikkors and then shove a filter on. Which just about negates whether the glass was that much better, in my book!

Whatever, don't neglect to look after things like electrical contacts and keep a lens dry when storing it. Then your lenses are the investment, that can outlive several body changes.....




For reviews, primarily of Nikkors, this man knows his Optical Onions: http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_surv.html