Zoom Lens

I have a D40x, wanting a zoom lens at not an outragous price. What is the best

bang for my buck?

Jeremy, are you looking for something wide or long? Specifying a focal length really helps, as well as whether it has to be AF-S and what kind of budget you have in mind. Otherwise, there are dozens of possible choices.

It depends on what type of lens you are looking for, what you have, and what you like to photograph. Assuming that you only have the original "kit lens", the Nikon 55-200 AFS VR lens or Nikon 70-300 AFS VR lens are good choices.The 55-200 would be less expensive.

Jeremy, I would imagine that you cannot just have a D40x body without any lenses. Could you tell us which lens(es) you already have? That would help identify a lens that doesn't overlap much with what you already have.

 

Additionally, why types of subjects are you planning to photograph with the new zoom? For example, indoor (e.g. concert) or outdoor, people (e.g. children sports), landscape, or animals ...?

the 18-55 that came with the camera. I like to photograph sports and nature mostly. my budget is probably around $300 give or take a little. The 55-200 is $200 at my local wolf camera, I was leading towards that but I wasnt sure if there was something better for not much more expensive

That's a good price for a new VR lens, the VR 55-200 is reviewed better than the regular 55-200.

70-300mm VR will give you additional 100mm of zoom, which can be quite handy for nature and possibly for sports (although it is not a 'fast' lens). It costs around USD 450, but might be worth the investment in the long run.

The only lenses worth "investing" if for the long run - i.e. that hold their value well are faster, professional lenses.

 

Zooms that are f/2.8 throughout their entire range definitely hold their value well. If you buy them in the used market you can pretty well be assured that you can use them for several years and turn around and sell them for the same amount (or more) at a later date.

IMHO the best bang for a buck sports and wildlife telephoto would be the Nikkor 300mm f4 and if needed a 1.4tc. I don't use TC's but lots of others like them. The D40 requires a AF-S lense for auto focus which probably means a new lense or if you can live with out auto focus look at KEH.com for the older AF-D Nikkor 300mm f4. I also think the 80-200mm f2.8 AF-D is a great value but no auto focus again. Fast teles are real handy when the light is weak and that happens all to often. If there is any kind of action you want to stop then VR will not help, you still need a high shutter speed. The next best solution might be a 70-300mm zoom but its one stop slower which can and probably will make a difference, limits DoF isolation at the least. For larger subjects that don't move fast then the 55-200 may work well. Great fast teles can really become expensive.

For $480, the 70-300mm/f4.5-5.6 AF-S VR would be a good choice, but it still exceeds the original budget by quite a bit. A 300mm/f4 AF-S will be more like $1000 and any additional TC-14E will be another $400+.

I agree with Shun go for the 70-300 VR its an absolutely wonderful lens.Tack sharp.Though a tad soft at the long end. Way ahead of the earlier ED type as far as optics are concerned. Here are a few samples at the extreme end. Although it doesnt work with TC's should suffice though, unless you would like to go in for birds. those too come out Ok like. Here are a few samples.

Heres another one.

Jeremy,

 

A Nikkor 55-200VR for $200 is a very good deal. Just be sure that it is indeed the VR version as it is quite a bit better than the non-VR version.

 

I've been using the VR version for about a year and am really impressed with it. I like its light weight, small size and that it takes all of my old 52mm filters. I'm not crazy about the plastic lens mount, but so far it's showing no sign of wear after numerous lens changes.

 

Optically, it's pretty sharp wide open and gets better (no surprise) stopped down. Almost no distortion or CA which is a rarity given the price. It's a bit slow (f5.6) at the long end, but VR makes up for it to some degree but still doesn't allow you to throw backgrounds out of focus to any degree.

 

Hard to go wrong with the 55-200VR, but the 70-300VR is probably the better lens overall, if you have the extra money to spend. Again, it's only f5.6 at the long end so bear that in mind.