Best 3 or 4 lenses for Digital SLR

[john.mathieson]

I have just bought a Nikon D100, and have to decide what lenses to

get. My old SLR is not a Nikon so none of the lenses I painstakingly

(and expen$ively) accumulated are of use. (ouch!)

 

What would be your choice of 3 or 4 great lenses for a digital SLR?

My interests include a variety of macro subjects, and outdoor scenes.

I haven't done much portrait work, but would like to try. I also do

like sports photos. Also - probably will get an underwater housing -

interested in Macro mainly Underwater, but some wide angle also. So,

what would you recommend? thinking of the following -

 

1. I already bought a Nikon 24-120 3.5-5.6 with the camera

 

2. a good macro

 

3. ultrawide, possibly zoom - outdoor and indoor use

 

4. maybe a telephoto for sports - specifically soccer

 

Any advice?

Many thanks

John

 

(by the way - I really am enjoying the D100 - great fun doing lots of

bracketing and then simply erasing the experiments)

[ellis_vener_photography]

17-35mm f/2.8 AFS Nikkor<P>28-70mm f/2.8D AF-S Nikkor<P>

80-200mm f/2.8D AFS Nikkor.

[jonathan_ratzlaff]

For a review of which lenses are good for digital cameras check this site

http://www.naturfotograf.com/index2.html He seems to have a fairly good collection of Nikkor lenses that he uses both with film and digital. His reviews cover both.

[ky2]

Hi John,

I'm in exactly the same boat as you. Tomorrow my S2Pro is suppose to arrive, and I ordered 2 simple lenses to go with it: the unbeatable Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D ($89), and for the wider side, the Nikkor 18-35 /3.5-4.5D ED IF ($479). I am also into macro, but decided to research the field a little before I spend more money. SO, I rented a D100 and three Macro lenses:

 

* Nikkor 105/2.8D

* Nikkor 60/2.8D

* Nikkor 70-180/4.5-5.6D

 

Although it's not 1:1 (more like 1:1.32) I know now that my next lens would be that 70-180 Zoom. It's heavier than the other two, and much slower - but I use a tripod anyway. The focal multiplicator turns this into a whopping 105-270 Macro zoom, which you can use as normal telephoto. NONE of these are a speed daemon, but macro is one field I'd like to slow down a bit.

[chuck]

85 T/S macro, 18-35 f/3.5-4.5 ED, 80-200 AF-S with a 1.4 TC for macro, wide, and sports respectively. D100 has a subframe CCD, which results in a 1.5 coverage focal length multiplier, so you really can't get "ultra-wide" with a D100 unless you invest in the very expensive and specialized 14mm f/2.8. I don't think it's worth it. <p>

Also, just looked at a D100 in detail today, and noticed that although it has a subframe CCD, it has full size mirror, shutter, and pentaprism, unlike the D1 series. This suggests a full-frame derivative of D100 in the not too distant future.

[john.mathieson]

Thank you all for your responses. Some of the lenses are a bit more $$ than I have left over at the moment - ie the 17-35 2.8 and the 85 macro - but they are obviously great lenses.

 

For the wide angle end, I was looking at the Sigma 15-30, or a 18-35 type. How much will the 3 degrees matter? I would suspect, a fair amount. Any comments on the Sigma?

 

For the Macro - Yaron - I am interested in your comparison of the 60 and 105 - on digital the 60 should function a bit like a 90 - what would be its main limitations?

 

Thanks again