Zoom lens for Nikon D300

Hi all,

 

In a moment of madness, I upgraded my D40 to a D300. I'm not sure I deserve this body quite yet, but I've

fallen in love and that's it.

 

Now, mounting the 18-55 f/3.5-5.6G D40 kit lens on the D300 feels quite wrong. I'm also thinking to sell

the D40, and I assume it'll sell better with the kit lens than body-only, given that the likely buyer is a

first-timer (as I was when I bought it).

 

I do have some other lenses (or rather, they are waiting for me, I haven't picked them up yet): a Sigma

30mm f/1.4, a Nikon 50mm f/1.8 and a Nikon 55-200 f/4-5.6 VR. Oh, and I've got two old, 100% manual

(but sharp!) primes: a 35mm f/2.8 and a 50mm f/1.4. These are fun, but I don't anticipate I'll use them

much since they don't auto-focus and rely on setting the aperture manually.

 

So, I'm thinking about buying a better "walk-around"/all-round zoom. I wouldn't be adverse to

selling/returning the 55-200 if it comes to that. Given that I blew the budget on the D300, I'd rather start

with something that's good value for money - perhaps a third party lens, or one of the more reasonable

Nikkors. In the shop, I used a Sigma 18-200mm which felt quite good (albeit in a constrained

environment).

 

Any recommendations?

 

Martin

Nikon's 18-70. Given what you already have, that's what I'd do (for the budget sweet spot). Or, wait a bit for the new VR lens they'll be releasing at <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00NqR5"><b>close to that focal length</b></a>.

Agreed. The 18-70 is my main zoom for my D300 and even though it's a "kit" lens there aren't many that will out perform it. I got mine for about $200 on the auction.

For a "walk-around" lens you can't beat the 18-200 VR. Don't have to carry extra baggage, don't have to change lenses.... Works great for a walk-around.

 

Dave

18-200 is great, but since you're getting the 55-200 VR, maybe you want the 18-70. Try

them both. The 18-70 handles better in my opinion, and is probably a little sharper, but go

figure... I bought the 18-200. And I LOVE it.

I had the 18-70 and the 55-200. On vacation, where I was shooting street scenes and scenics, I found myself constantly changing lenses and missing shots because I had the wrong lens on the camera. I sold both and got the 18-200. It is now my favored daylight lens.

 

Remember, the right lens for any photo is the one in your bag.

Don't get me wrong - given the (no-money-asked) choice between the 18-70 and the 18-200 for a keep-it-on-the-camera walk around, I'd go with the 18-200 (I have both, so I'm not biased, here). But since Martin indicated that he'd been eating canned beans for a while, I thought the several hundred dollar difference sort of points to the 18-70. Which is a very nice lens. Just sayin'.

the 18-70 performs better on a d300 than a d80, but the tamron 28-75 is even better.

The 18-135mm may be a good compromise - it gives excellent results and is quite economical.

Having owned both the 18-70mm and the 18-200mm VR, I hearily recommend the 18-70mm for overall better optical performance. I bought the Nikon 70-300mm ED zoom as a telephoto, and also own the excellent Tokina 12-24mm wide angle zoom.

"I've got two old, 100% manual (but sharp!) primes: a 35mm f/2.8 and a 50mm f/1.4. These are fun, but I don't anticipate I'll use them much since they don't auto-focus and rely on setting the aperture manually."

 

Why ? Don't you ever do that ? Just shutter priority and full auto ? For me, setting the aperture to what I want is the fun part of a SLR or DSLR.

Hi guys,

 

Thanks for all the recommendations. I guess it comes down to price... That said, I will

probably be able to return or sell for near-purchase-price the 55-200 VR, so an 18-200

is not necessarily a bad option. Money allowing, of course.

 

Are we talking only about the Nikkors here? Any experiences with the Sigma or Tamron

18-200's?

 

@John - I gather the D300 may be able to make better use of these lenses, so maybe I will

use them. However, they are "non-CPU" lenses so on my D40 the camera wouldn't meter

and I had to guess the shutter speed. That made for a lot of trial-and-error. I haven't

gotten to the part of the D300 manual about non-CPU lenses yet. :)

 

Martin

The D300 (and D200) both meter with the ai MF lenses. I have a 24mm f2.8 ai I like to use--give me about the same as a 35mm lens on a film camera. Also meters with my 80-200 f2.8 Tokina ai MF lens--one reason I got the D300.

These lenses are *very* old though. They actually work, but the aperture measurement

thingie (the spring-loaded ring with the little plastic knob) gets confused, because rather

than having a similar bit that points down (and thus pushes the aperture thingie up when I

move the aperture ring on the lens), it has a metal thingie that on the old manual camera

it came from slots around a small metal rod, pointing "up" from the lens. So, it works, but

the camera gets the aperture wrong (the little plastic thing moves, but only by friction and

doesn't always move to the right position).

 

Okay, that was a crap explanation, but you may get the point.

 

Martin