What lenses should I be saving for?
Discussion
Hi all, I'm just starting to think about my 'lens strategy' for the next year or so. I bought a Nikon D5000 a few months ago with Tamron 70-300 and Nikon 18-55 bundled in. Both are fine for me right now but I can also see that they are jacks of all trades and you know how that phrase ends.
I'm thinking of replacing those two with a Nikon 18-200 AF-S VR lens. That seems like it would make an excellent 'walkabout lens' as they say. I'm concerned that I'll miss the 300 zoom of the Tamron but I see that there are Nikon range extenders available if I really find that an issue. My only niggling doubt about this is that I'm wondering whether I'd be better off going for the substantially cheaper 18-105 and keeping the Tamron for when I need a bit more reach.
Hopefully that's the everyday lens sorted and I can just about budget for that by selling the other two and chipping in a bit more.
After that I'd like to start thinking about more specialist lenses. I've not got much cash at the moment so this isn't something I will do straight away but having a play with a couple of my mate's lenses at the weekend has got me thinking.
The one I liked most was a 50mm F1.4 Nikon lens that I used for portrait shots. That one's way over my budget, but I did wonder if there is anything out there (new or used) that could give me 95% of the results for less than £200 or so? I know Canon users have the 'nifty fifty'. Anything similar available for a Nikon?
And lastly (for the time being at least), I'd like to start thinking about a prime wide angle lens for landscapes. Again, I tried a 12mm Nikon at the weekend and was suitably impressed. I've no idea, what sort of cost a good wide angle lens is though.
Any recommendations for each (or the zoom) so I can start scouring the classifieds, ebay and store offers? Please bear in mind that the D5000 needs AF-S lenses for auto focus.
I'm thinking of replacing those two with a Nikon 18-200 AF-S VR lens. That seems like it would make an excellent 'walkabout lens' as they say. I'm concerned that I'll miss the 300 zoom of the Tamron but I see that there are Nikon range extenders available if I really find that an issue. My only niggling doubt about this is that I'm wondering whether I'd be better off going for the substantially cheaper 18-105 and keeping the Tamron for when I need a bit more reach.
Hopefully that's the everyday lens sorted and I can just about budget for that by selling the other two and chipping in a bit more.
After that I'd like to start thinking about more specialist lenses. I've not got much cash at the moment so this isn't something I will do straight away but having a play with a couple of my mate's lenses at the weekend has got me thinking.
The one I liked most was a 50mm F1.4 Nikon lens that I used for portrait shots. That one's way over my budget, but I did wonder if there is anything out there (new or used) that could give me 95% of the results for less than £200 or so? I know Canon users have the 'nifty fifty'. Anything similar available for a Nikon?
And lastly (for the time being at least), I'd like to start thinking about a prime wide angle lens for landscapes. Again, I tried a 12mm Nikon at the weekend and was suitably impressed. I've no idea, what sort of cost a good wide angle lens is though.
Any recommendations for each (or the zoom) so I can start scouring the classifieds, ebay and store offers? Please bear in mind that the D5000 needs AF-S lenses for auto focus.
Nikon 18-200 is very good and useful (I have one).
Nikon 50mm 1.4 is lovely...but the 1.8 is less than half the price so, at least in my eyes, a better buy. (again, I have one)
Tokina 11-16 is a thing of beauty (want one but don't need it) but not sure if it needs a camera with an inbuit AF motor or of the D5000 has one.
Nikon 50mm 1.4 is lovely...but the 1.8 is less than half the price so, at least in my eyes, a better buy. (again, I have one)
Tokina 11-16 is a thing of beauty (want one but don't need it) but not sure if it needs a camera with an inbuit AF motor or of the D5000 has one.
Yep, no in-built motor in the D5000 unfortunately. It's the only thing I don't like about the camera and it has made me question whether I should have paid more for a D90.
It doesn't look like nikon do a F1.8 Af-s 50mm. The 1.4 is on amazon at just shy of £300. Maybe I should be keep an eye for a good used 1.4. There is a 1.8 35mm but I don't think that would work the same.
It doesn't look like nikon do a F1.8 Af-s 50mm. The 1.4 is on amazon at just shy of £300. Maybe I should be keep an eye for a good used 1.4. There is a 1.8 35mm but I don't think that would work the same.
A few thoughts:
An 18-200mm is even more of a jack-of-all-trades than your current lenses. If you want better image quality, it's probably not the lens to go for. Also, I'm pretty sure it doesn't work with teleconverters.
As pointed out above, the lens that would be like a 50mm f1.4 and suit your budget is the 50mm f1.8 but unfortunately it doesn't autofocus with your camera. There is a 35mm f1.8 that does autofocus and costs less than £200, but it might not be the focal length you want for portraiture. An AF-S (i.e. will autofocus) 50mm f1.4 is £290 new, so maybe if you bought used and stretched your budget a bit you could get one.
There aren't really any very wide-angle prime lenses for your sort of camera, other than fisheye lenses. Nikon do a 14mm lens but that's about £1000 and would also be manual focus only with your camera. If you will consider a zoom lens though, there are lots that cover focal length ranges between 8mm and 24mm and start at about £350 new.
An 18-200mm is even more of a jack-of-all-trades than your current lenses. If you want better image quality, it's probably not the lens to go for. Also, I'm pretty sure it doesn't work with teleconverters.
As pointed out above, the lens that would be like a 50mm f1.4 and suit your budget is the 50mm f1.8 but unfortunately it doesn't autofocus with your camera. There is a 35mm f1.8 that does autofocus and costs less than £200, but it might not be the focal length you want for portraiture. An AF-S (i.e. will autofocus) 50mm f1.4 is £290 new, so maybe if you bought used and stretched your budget a bit you could get one.
There aren't really any very wide-angle prime lenses for your sort of camera, other than fisheye lenses. Nikon do a 14mm lens but that's about £1000 and would also be manual focus only with your camera. If you will consider a zoom lens though, there are lots that cover focal length ranges between 8mm and 24mm and start at about £350 new.
Edited by SamHH on Wednesday 24th November 13:15
SamHH said:
A few thoughts:
An 18-200mm is even more of a jack-of-all-trades than your current lenses. If you want better image quality, it's probably not the lens to go for. Also, I'm pretty sure it doesn't work with teleconverters.
As pointed out above, the lens that would be like a 50mm f1.4 and suit your budget is the 50mm f1.8 but unfortunately it doesn't autofocus with your camera. There is a 35mm f1.8 that does autofocus and costs less than £200, but it might not be the focal length you want for portraiture. An AF-S (i.e. will autofocus) 50mm f1.4 is £290 new, so maybe if you bought used and stretched your budget a bit you could get one.
There aren't really any very wide-angle prime lenses for your sort of camera, other than fisheye lenses. Nikon do a 14mm lens but that's about £1000 and would also be manual focus only with your camera. If you will consider a zoom lens though, there are lots that cover focal length ranges between 8mm and 24mm and start at about £350 new.
I think the thing that appeals about the 18-200 is that it will cover the entire range of lenses that I could normally want. So if I'm out hill walking for example, I could take just one lens and potentially save a little weight but also not have to faff about constantly swapping lenses. Reading the reviews of that lens, it seems to suggest, it should perform at least as well as my current 18-55 for wider shots and be sharper than my Tamron for longer stuff, albeit with a fair bit less range.An 18-200mm is even more of a jack-of-all-trades than your current lenses. If you want better image quality, it's probably not the lens to go for. Also, I'm pretty sure it doesn't work with teleconverters.
As pointed out above, the lens that would be like a 50mm f1.4 and suit your budget is the 50mm f1.8 but unfortunately it doesn't autofocus with your camera. There is a 35mm f1.8 that does autofocus and costs less than £200, but it might not be the focal length you want for portraiture. An AF-S (i.e. will autofocus) 50mm f1.4 is £290 new, so maybe if you bought used and stretched your budget a bit you could get one.
There aren't really any very wide-angle prime lenses for your sort of camera, other than fisheye lenses. Nikon do a 14mm lens but that's about £1000 and would also be manual focus only with your camera. If you will consider a zoom lens though, there are lots that cover focal length ranges between 8mm and 24mm and start at about £350 new.
Edited by SamHH on Wednesday 24th November 13:15
Yeah, looks like the 1.4 is the portrait lens to go for. Just going to have to give that piggy bank a good rattle!
In terms of a wide angle lens, I'm open to the idea of a zoom lens. I don't have enough experience to know what the disadvantage of taking that approach is but I'm assuming a small loss of clarity. There is a nikon 12-24 Af-s lens which gets rave reviews but is a lot of £'s. Any cheaper recommendations would be most welcome!
Gad-Westy said:
In terms of a wide angle lens, I'm open to the idea of a zoom lens. I don't have enough experience to know what the disadvantage of taking that approach is but I'm assuming a small loss of clarity. There is a nikon 12-24 Af-s lens which gets rave reviews but is a lot of £'s. Any cheaper recommendations would be most welcome!
In theory yes, an equivalent prime lens will be slightly better optically. In reality though, there is no advantage in choosing a prime lens for this purpose because there aren't any. The Sigma 10-20mm f5.6 is often recommended and is relatively cheap. Tamron also do a similar one.
Just realised you need AFS: a little can be saved:
http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod1003.html
http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod1003.html
Edited by EJH on Wednesday 24th November 15:53
EJH said:
Just realised you need AFS: a little can be saved:
http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod1003.html
Cheers, I think I'll end up with a 1.4. Just not sure whether I'll pay new prices or look for a used one. It seems to be the lens to go for.http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod1003.html
Edited by EJH on Wednesday 24th November 15:53
Just looking on that same site for a wide angle zoom. They list two nikon lenses that look interesting: A 10-24mm F3.5-4.5G ED for £588 and a 12-24 F4G for £699. On the face of it, the cheaper one should be the better lens but maybe I'm missing something?
EJH said:
Tokina 11-16 is a thing of beauty (want one but don't need it) but not sure if it needs a camera with an inbuit AF motor or of the D5000 has one.
I have the Tokina 11-16 and it is a superb lens. Absolutely love it and would seriously recommend it. The build is beautiful and the pictures are pretty good (I think). It's very difficult to appreciate build quality if you've never felt it before, but the way the zoom and focus rings flow just make you never want to go back. Totally corrupting.Problem I have with the Tokina now is using any other lens. I am having to force myself to use other lenses as I work through my photography exercises.
I know b/w is cliched, but screw it. This was two weekends ago at Honister.
tinman0 said:
EJH said:
Tokina 11-16 is a thing of beauty (want one but don't need it) but not sure if it needs a camera with an inbuit AF motor or of the D5000 has one.
I have the Tokina 11-16 and it is a superb lens. Absolutely love it and would seriously recommend it. The build is beautiful and the pictures are pretty good (I think). It's very difficult to appreciate build quality if you've never felt it before, but the way the zoom and focus rings flow just make you never want to go back. Totally corrupting.Problem I have with the Tokina now is using any other lens. I am having to force myself to use other lenses as I work through my photography exercises.
I know b/w is cliched, but screw it. This was two weekends ago at Honister.
Nikon 10-24 is looking the favourite at present but it's way way over budget.Pretty much decided I'm going to go for:
18-200 VR2 (will sell other two lenses to fund this)
50mm F1.4
And then save like buggery for a 10-24mm Nikon Lens.
Budget has been thrown straight out of the window.
The only thing I'm worried about is whether I'll miss the 300 mm zoom. I don't suppose anybody has heard any rumours of Nikon working on a competitor for the Tamron 18-300?
18-200 VR2 (will sell other two lenses to fund this)
50mm F1.4
And then save like buggery for a 10-24mm Nikon Lens.
Budget has been thrown straight out of the window.
The only thing I'm worried about is whether I'll miss the 300 mm zoom. I don't suppose anybody has heard any rumours of Nikon working on a competitor for the Tamron 18-300?
Gad-Westy said:
And then save like buggery for a 10-24mm Nikon Lens.
Sigma 10-20?Gad-Westy said:
Budget has been thrown straight out of the window.
The pavements outside photographer's houses are littered with such budgets 
I don't know what the event at Honister was but it reminds me of something from an old copy of Autocar - looks fun!
Edited by Simpo Two on Thursday 25th November 09:50
Simpo Two said:
Gad-Westy said:
And then save like buggery for a 10-24mm Nikon Lens.
Sigma 10-20?Simpo Two said:
The pavements outside photographer's houses are littered with such budgets
And I thought cars were an expensive hobby!Gad-Westy said:
Simpo Two said:
Gad-Westy said:
And then save like buggery for a 10-24mm Nikon Lens.
Sigma 10-20?Simpo Two said:
The pavements outside photographer's houses are littered with such budgets
And I thought cars were an expensive hobby!Lucas CAV said:
Gad-Westy said:
Simpo Two said:
Gad-Westy said:
And then save like buggery for a 10-24mm Nikon Lens.
Sigma 10-20?Simpo Two said:
The pavements outside photographer's houses are littered with such budgets
And I thought cars were an expensive hobby!Gad-Westy said:
Lucas CAV said:
Gad-Westy said:
Simpo Two said:
Gad-Westy said:
And then save like buggery for a 10-24mm Nikon Lens.
Sigma 10-20?Simpo Two said:
The pavements outside photographer's houses are littered with such budgets
And I thought cars were an expensive hobby!It worked on my D70s and on a D200
The sigma 10-20 is a really nice lens. I recently sold mine as I wasn't getting much use out of it, but it was nice and it did magic things to skies. It has HSM, so will autofocus on your D5000 too. I wouldn't really worry about paying more the slightly faster version.
I've also got the Sigma 50mm 1.4 which I love, very solid lens and excellent bokeh. I'm not sure how that compares price wise with the Nikon these days. I wouldn't rule out the 35mm 1.8 Nikkor either, I recently picked one of these up and it can be very nice for portraits where you just don't have the room to use the 50mm. The quality seems good so far, nice and sharp and it's a bit of a bargain.
I'm very tempted by the Nikon 105mm 2.8 at the moment, maybe in the new year....
I've also got the Sigma 50mm 1.4 which I love, very solid lens and excellent bokeh. I'm not sure how that compares price wise with the Nikon these days. I wouldn't rule out the 35mm 1.8 Nikkor either, I recently picked one of these up and it can be very nice for portraits where you just don't have the room to use the 50mm. The quality seems good so far, nice and sharp and it's a bit of a bargain.
I'm very tempted by the Nikon 105mm 2.8 at the moment, maybe in the new year....
Gad-Westy said:
Does it have a built in focusing motor like the Nikon AF-S lenses?
Yes, HSM is Sigma-speak for AF-S.I use one for interiors sometimes, especially churches. It's not a fast lens but it's so wide I can hand-hold or brace against something (wideness helps camouflage camera movement).
Simpo Two said:
Gad-Westy said:
Does it have a built in focusing motor like the Nikon AF-S lenses?
Yes, HSM is Sigma-speak for AF-S.I use one for interiors sometimes, especially churches. It's not a fast lens but it's so wide I can hand-hold or brace against something (wideness helps camouflage camera movement).
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