Wide or Tele

[The Jolly Todger]

Hello,

I bought my first DSLR (Nikon D5100) about 6 months back and currently have the standard kit lens (18-55mm VR) and also a 35mm F1.8 prime.

I have a significant birthday coming up and am thinking of treating myself to another lens to give me some more flexibility when shooting.

My current thoughts are that I will either go for the:

Nikon AF-S VR 70-300 F4.5-5.6G IF-ED

or the

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED

I realise I would struggle to pick two lenses further away from each other in terms of use but I guess I aim to end up with both eventually.

I suppose I am interested to find out what lens people think I would get more use out of. I know this depends on what I'm shooting but as I'm only really a beginner I'm really not focusing on any areas in particular.

I live in London if that helps but I also do a range of other outdoor pursuits to get away from urban areas.

An outside shout for a third option was the Nikon AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85mm f/3.5G ED VR Lens

As a sidenote I kind of regret going for the D5100 over the D7000 but don't feel that the upgrade is worth it now I have comitted. When shopping around originally I didn't appreciate the importance of things such as dedicated buttons for AF-type, ISO or white balance etc. My current long term plan is to wait for the D7100 or whatever comes next, give it a year or so to reach its proper price (rather than the launch price) and upgrade then. Upgrading to FX is not something I can see myself doing currently.

[Republik1980]

I think you'll find the wide lens will allow you far more creativity and versatility than the tele in most situations.

When you get it right you'll love the dramatic exaggerated perspective and the feeling that you could shoot inside a matchbox and still get thee of the four corners in shot

That said the WA will probably be less "forgiving" (harder to get a good composition). The 70-300 will give you more range and better background blur.


It largely depends on what you want to shoot with it..

WA: Landscapes, interiors, architecture, events (to an extent)
Tele: Sports, wildlife, portraiture

[Speed addicted]

I tend to use the wide angle much more than the telephoto. Most of what i shoot is landscapes and it's perfect for that sort of thing.

[anonymous-user]

I'm going to get shot down for this... But the best DX lens I bought was my Nikon18-200 VR.

It's been all over the world with me, taken a beating, shot thousands of photos, on all my DX Nikons from an old D40 through to my current D7000, and it's never let me down. 18mm is wide enough for most things like landscape or inside architecture, and 200 is great for action, sports, street photos, candid portraits of people... You name it.

Surprisingly nice Bokeh towards the 200mm end, and always really quite sharp, Surprisingly so for a 'do it all' lens, plus the VR is great.

It's the only lens you need on DX for travel, holidays, events etc.

I've got a few other lenses for the D7000, but if I was forced to keep only one it would be the 18-200, as I find it the quality of images from it very good considering how versatile it is.

Other lenses I own:

love my Tokina 11-16 F2.8, mega sharp, built like a tank, fantastic for a surprising amount of things! Landscape, automotive, architecture, indoor shots in low light or tight spaces. (I think this may be only manual focus on a D5100 though due to a lack of in camera focus motor?)

Nikon AF-D 50mm 1.8 is cracking for portraits and automotive stuff.

One lens I really didn't get on with was a Nikon 80-200 2.8... One of the Nikon holy trinity yet simply far to long on DX. At 80mm you needed to be quite a distance from cars/people to get them in the frame! Just quite impractical unless all you did was sports/wildlife. Sold it.

[Simpo Two]

If you don't know then you don't actually need either... but I'd agree the w/a is likely to be more useful. You can often get closer to things but not far enough away - interiors being an obvious one.

[K12beano]

Simpo Two said:

If you don't know then you don't actually need either

Stick the money on premium bonds for 12 months while you work out what's what and you see the tools that will help your style and subjects!

[K12beano]

Or

........you need a 200-400mm f/4 and I'll look after it for you.

[ian in lancs]

I have a 70-300mm for my D300s and never use it. The 18-105 is on all the time for much the same reasons as the poster that talked about the 18-200.

[JDRoest]

The Jolly Todger said:

I suppose I am interested to find out what lens people think I would get more use out of.

Wide.

[chriis]

Another vote for the 18-200 Nikkor , my go-to lens .

[The Jolly Todger]

Thanks for all the comments so far.

[Ari]

I have a 70-300 on a D7000 and it's a great lens but agree with what's said here, it has limited use (basically stuff that's a long way away, and that's it. So good for motorsport or birdies, useless for landscape type stuff).

Also have a 12-24 and that's a brilliant lens and gets more "general" use.

So out of the two I'd say the wide will be more useful.

[The Jolly Todger]

After being pretty convinced by the 70-300mm yesterday I've swung right back to the 10-24mm today.

As I said I'm pretty sure I will end up with both so why not start with the most expensive one.

The 70-300mm does seem like it could be due for replacement soonish too.

[K12beano]

The Jolly Todger said:

The 70-300mm does seem like it could be due for replacement soonish too.

Interesting What leads you to that conclusion?

[The Jolly Todger]

K12beano said:

The Jolly Todger said:

The 70-300mm does seem like it could be due for replacement soonish too.

Interesting What leads you to that conclusion?

When I say soonish I mean in the next 2-4 years or so. The only reason I say this is that it's been out since 2006 and I imagine a VRII version or whatever could be around the corner.

[_rubinho_]

NinjaPower said:

love my Tokina 11-16 F2.8, mega sharp, built like a tank, fantastic for a surprising amount of things! Landscape, automotive, architecture, indoor shots in low light or tight spaces. (I think this may be only manual focus on a D5100 though due to a lack of in camera focus motor?)

There's a MK II which does have an AF motor out now: Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 Pro DX II. I'm a D5100 owner and this is on my wishlist.

[The Jolly Todger]

_rubinho_ said:

There's a MK II which does have an AF motor out now: Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 Pro DX II. I'm a D5100 owner and this is on my wishlist.

I've seen that, it's only £60 cheaper than the Nikkor though. I know it has better build quality and the IQ is also good but for £60 I think I'd have to go for the Nikkor.

The original version without the internal AF motor is available from DigitalRev for £369 which is very tempting as everything I read keeps telling me how focus is so easy with wide lenses and my D5100 has a focus confirmation dot in the viewfinder and a rangefinder feature to aid manual focus anyway.

Overall I still think the 10-24mm wins due to it's wider angle and greater residuals.

[_rubinho_]

The Jolly Todger said:

I've seen that, it's only £60 cheaper than the Nikkor though. I know it has better build quality and the IQ is also good but for £60 I think I'd have to go for the Nikkor.

The original version without the internal AF motor is available from DigitalRev for £369 which is very tempting as everything I read keeps telling me how focus is so easy with wide lenses and my D5100 has a focus confirmation dot in the viewfinder and a rangefinder feature to aid manual focus anyway.

Overall I still think the 10-24mm wins due to it's wider angle and greater residuals.

It's the speed of the Tokina through the range which attracted me. The 1mm extra width of the Nikkor is tempting too. Proves you can't have everything!

I haven't the cash for either at the moment and I'm having a bit of a photography crisis to so I'm not buying soon. Good luck in your decision.

[The Jolly Todger]

Just a quick update. I ordered the Nikkor 10-24mm yesterday. Hopefully it'll be here on Wednesday. Can't wait to give it a shot. Thanks for all the opinions and advice.