Lens help.......

[J5MBF]

Morning all,

Currently have a Nikkon D3100 with just the standard kit lense. Looking to purchase a new lense primarily for taking pics of my first child (who is now 3 days late!!). Somebody suggested a 55-200mm? Is this what others think is best? Also, best places to purchase from and is it worth waiting till Jan?

Many thanks

[rlw]

A personal view from one just about to offload fancy lenses and a shedload of kit which is never used. Unless it is really awful, which I doubt, use the lens you have. It is designed to cover a wide range of situations and you can achieve wide angle and telephoto like shots by moving farther away or getting closer. My childhood was captured on a fixed lens box Brownie but with a bit of a talented parent who exploited what he had at his disposal..

Save your money and enjoy the new addition to the family.

[noell35]

Hi, it depends if you mean general action/family type shots or if you intend to do more portrait type photos.

I'm no expert but if it's the latter the Nikon dx 50mm f1.8 seems a good choice or perhaps the 35mm.

[Morbid]

I agree with Noel, either a 50mm or 35mm F1.8 will give you more options than the kit lens, especially if you like to blur the background.

[noell35]

Morbid said:

I agree with Noel

That's not a phrase I hear very often

[dojo]

+1 on the either the 35mm or 50mm prime.

[Mr Will]

J5MBF said:

Morning all,

Currently have a Nikkon D3100 with just the standard kit lense. Looking to purchase a new lense primarily for taking pics of my first child (who is now 3 days late!!). Somebody suggested a 55-200mm? Is this what others think is best? Also, best places to purchase from and is it worth waiting till Jan?

Many thanks

How far away from the child are you planning on standing?!?

35mm or 50mm 1.8 for indoor photos without flash and nice blurry backgrounds. It'll make a world of difference.

[james_tigerwoods]

I have the same camera and, while the 55-200 is a decent lens, it's not the one you want (I have it too).

What I do have which I can highly recommend is the 35mm 1.8 - I tried a 50mm and found it too long for photos of the kids.

As an aside, I got rid of my 18-55 as while it's a good kit lens, I found the 18-70 far better - If cost is a factor, then I'd go with that instead of the 35mm 1.8 (which isn't that expensive, really)

[AndWhyNot]

By standard kit lens you mean 18-55?

The 35 & 50mm lenses mentioned above are the cornerstones of an expanding kit bag, but it sounds like you do already have those focal lengths covered.

For a little bit more reach without any loss of quality what about the 85mm. It has the same light-gathering performance at f/1.8 although will need a steadier hand to overcome even narrower depth of field than its shorter siblings.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-AF-S-NIKKOR-85mm-1-8...

[james_tigerwoods]

AndWhyNot said:

The 35 & 50mm lenses mentioned above are the cornerstones of an expanding kit bag, but it sounds like you do already have those focal lengths covered.

I would have thought that, while the 85mm is a good lens, that a 35mm 1.8 would be better in lower light, non-flash situations for capturing shots of the kids?

[Morbid]

noell35 said:

Morbid said:

I agree with Noel

That's not a phrase I hear very often

Well, IMO you were right

OP - to give you an idea of what the F1.8 lens can do, here's a recent pic of my son. This is at F3.2 as I find that gives a shallow enough DOF for what I want. If you shoot at F1.8 you need to pay really close attention to focussing, and babies don't sit still, so you may find your hit rate of keepers is low (depending on your skill level, of course). I find F2.2 to F4 works for me.


IMG_3611 by Ian J Bradshaw, on Flickr

[AndWhyNot]

james_tigerwoods said:

I would have thought that, while the 85mm is a good lens, that a 35mm 1.8 would be better in lower light, non-flash situations for capturing shots of the kids?

A 35 1.8 will definitely be a better low light performer than the kit lens. 35 1.8 will probably be no better a low light performer than the 85 1.8 but may be more usable on account of being able to use a slower shutter speed and having a less shallow depth of field at widest aperture.

Sooner or later shutter speed will need to creep back up as the child(ren) start to move faster, and their ability to move faster comes off the back of their ability to move at all, which means they'll eventually be out of reach of the 35.

85 is a cracking lens for the long run, may not be ideal for a winter baby.

[james_tigerwoods]

AndWhyNot said:

james_tigerwoods said:

I would have thought that, while the 85mm is a good lens, that a 35mm 1.8 would be better in lower light, non-flash situations for capturing shots of the kids?

A 35 1.8 will definitely be a better low light performer than the kit lens. 35 1.8 will probably be no better a low light performer than the 85 1.8 but may be more usable on account of being able to use a slower shutter speed and having a less shallow depth of field at widest aperture.

Sooner or later shutter speed will need to creep back up as the child(ren) start to move faster, and their ability to move faster comes off the back of their ability to move at all, which means they'll eventually be out of reach of the 35.

85 is a cracking lens for the long run, may not be ideal for a winter baby.

And that's what swung it for me, I would always be close to the kids in the house so the 85mm was far too long - hence the 35mm.

And a flash, the SB600 makes a huge difference too...

[J5MBF]

So a 35mm 1.8 seems the general way to go. Thanks for the advice.

Next question, where to buy from?

[james_tigerwoods]

J5MBF said:

So a 35mm 1.8 seems the general way to go. Thanks for the advice.

Next question, where to buy from?

I got mine from Jessops as the price was within £3-4