<p>Personally, I have had mixed results with third party lenses, so I tend to stick to Nikon now. IF you are never planning to go to FX, I would suggest a basic kit of the 12-24 DX, which I find optically good from 12 to about 18 and excellent above, and which also takes filters; the Nikon 24-120 F4 is a great walk around lens, constant aperture and I find very sharp. Some pooh-pooh the distortion, but I'm not into architecture so it is not that big a deal; the 70-200 F4 lens is as sharp as its f2.8 big brother and a joy to use. That would be my basic three lenses. If into macro, I would look at the 85mm DX lens. A friend has that and is quite pleased with it. I like the 105mm f2.8 macro....but that is a lot heavier. Throw in the prime that you think best suits your needs and perhaps a 1.4 extender, and you have a four, maybe five, lens outfit (if you really think you will need the longer reach, keep the 70-300 lens. Nice lens, but not as sharp, in my opinion, as the 70-200).</p>