<p>Hello to you all<br /> I have a Nikon D7000 and two kit lenses: Nikkor 18-55 f/3.5-5.6G, Nikkor 55-200 f/4-5.6 ED. In the few years I've had this, I've run into limitations which have made me want to upgrade the lenses:<br /> <br /> * Neither of my lenses have a distance scale, so getting hyperfocal distance for landscape work is difficult (I have read it's impossible, in reality). Would also like a bit wider for some of the shots I find I want to take, inside and outside. Probably also quite fast, to give me scope to explore inside, and outside in lower light.<br>
<br /> * I take a lot of portrait shots of my dogs, and want a faster mid-range and telephoto lens for more bokeh opportunity close up and further away.<br>
<br /> * I also take a lot of action shots of my dogs, and other fast moving things, so I need quick autofocus for this. I'm usually using the longer end of the telephoto for these, so sharp and good contrast at this focal length is important but I haven't felt limited with 200mm in most situations.<br>
<br /> * There have been a few occasions where a maximum focal length of 200mm has been a bit limiting, though. Not enough to get a lens that's too heavy to carry around with me, so I have been researching getting a teleconverter for this. I believe this means I will need an FX lens, at least for the telephoto, as Nikon say teleconverters cannot be attached to DX lenses. Not a bad thing as it gives me the flexibility to go full frame when I do eventually upgrade the body.<br>
<br /> Although I know the sort of stuff I've been shooting so far, this has been a bit limited by the kit I've had and I do plan to try all sorts of new things. So I am looking to get a set of lenses, hopefully 3 zoom lenses to cover all ranges, that give me all round flexibility but still good quality. My plan is to supplement these with primes as and when I establish the need, or that they'll be used enough.<br>
<br /> I don't have an enormous budget, probably about £700 (just over $1000), so I'm looking to buy second hand. I'd love Nikkor for all of them, but I don't think I'll be able to afford that even second hand. I've heard that some third party lenses can outshine kit lenses but I'm driving myself crazy trying to work out which ones. For example, I was looking at the Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 until I heard it can cause errors on the D7000....<br>
<br /> Any help or advice would be much appreciated.......or I fear I might never decide (and I've already spent around 7 days or so researching this, over several months!).<br /> <br />Many thanks<br /> Carla</p>