Not Upgrading Now

[phil_burt]

Good Morning,

 

Well I was going to trade up my Nikon D40 for a Nikon D90, but I have decided to wait awhile. I need to learn

more about what I have. I get really decent pictures, but I do have a lot to learn. I've had this DSLR less than

a year and it is my first one.

 

Now I have decided what others have suggested, get some decent glass, and hopefully it will work when you do

upgrade. I am really sure I will never move into the "Pro" Nikons.

 

I have the 2 kit lenses 18-155 & 55-200. I also have a Sigma 30mm 1.4 that stays on the camera most of the time.

I do general types of photography. A little of everything. I do shoot some concerts for our local Bluegrass

organization. I like portrait work, landscapes .... like I said almost everything.

 

Can you recommend a prime or two that would go with what I have. I do want it to AF. I have about $500.00 to

spend and I am not anywhere near a Photo shop. Closest is about 2.5 hours away. I have no problem going with

Sigma, or other good brands.

 

As Always,

Thank you,

phil

[seland]

Maybe the upcoming Nikon 50mm f/1.4G AF-S? Ships (in theory) in December. I guess it would be a very good portrait lens for the D40.

[ronald_moravec1]

Hard to go wrong with the 50 1.8 AF if you don` mind manual focus. Very cheap. Otherwise wait for the 50 G above.

 

A 28 is nice. The 28 AiS 2.8 is my favorite, Your 30 will not cover FX

 

Definately don`t get a Dx lens as your next camera should be a D700. Don`t waste your money with incremental

improvements.

[stephen_worth]

You also might want to consider an ultra wide... 12-24 or the Tokina 11-16. The bargain choice would be the 50mm 1.8 for

portraits though.

[richard_thomas9]

Hi Phil,

 

You might want to stretch your budget a little bit more if you want a prime lens that would AF on your D40. You already have the Sigma 30mm 1.4 so you might want to consider the Sigma 150 2.8 APO Macro HSM. It's one of the best Macro lenses out there and not bad for portrait also.

[eric_arnold]

if you have $500 to spend on a prime, i'd consider the sigma 50/1.4 EX HSM over the current nikkor 50mm 1.8 and 1.4s. it's supposed to be better at 1.4 than its peers, although it remains to be seen how it compares to the new AF-S nikkor 50/1.4. because of HSM, it will AF on a d40.

 

outside of the HSM sigma 50 and the AF-S nikkor 50, you're kinda stuck for primes right now on a d40 if you want AF capability at that price point. hopefully nikon will add AF-S to one of its 85s, but if so, it will likely be the more expensive 1.4 model.

 

if you dig macro, tamron is coming out with a micromotor version of its famed 90mm/2.8 which should be in your price range. it's not as fast as nikon 105 VR, so a little less good for portrait work, perhaps.

 

i'd also take a look at tamron's 17-50 and 28-75 /2.8s, both recently updated with micromotors. IQ is vastly better than your kit lens and comparable to 50/1.8.

 

the only two ultrawides which will AF on d40 right now are sigma 10-20 and nikon 12-24. tokina's updating its 12-24, but that could take a while.

 

one last suggestion is to look for a used copy of the sigma 50-150, a very underrated portrait lens with great IQ which will AF on d40.

[guendanadxi]

Not sure why its never mentioned, but the nikon 35mm (that would roughly coud be translated to 53mm on a DX...) f/2 is a

great portrait lens, is fast, have a short minimmum focal distance and has a good bookeh, as far as i am concerned...

Would be around 300 USD.

 

I have one and I love it! !

 

Luis

[nolan_ross]

Most of the lenses recommended will not work fully on your camera as they are not AF-s lenses...To me it seems you have a good assortment of lenses.. Why not just keep shooting until you find there is something you want to do but lack the gear to do it...It would be easy enough to go to BHphoto and browse the selection of lenses in your price range.

[albertdarmali]

I think you can get a new Tamron 90mm macro with focusing motor inside.