paul_justin

I agree that the 80-200mm 2.8d is

a bit slower at times to auto

focus, but as far as image

quality, ive never had any

issues. As far as comparing it to

the 70-200, I woukd hope the

latter is better it's newer and

costs four times as much. The

tripod collar or lack thereof

could be an issue for some, but

again, I don't shoot from a

tripod so my experience is

different than others. Even

though there are modifications

that can be made to add a ring to

use it on tripods, I don't find

it necessary. I do agree with you

that the 50mm afs is superior to

the d version at minimally more

money, and overall I wasn't

necessarily stating these are the

lenses he shoukd get with his

current setup, simply stating

that in my situation, I ended up

spending more in the long run by

not knowing what it is I was

actually trying to accomplish

with my shooting. On the plus

side, I now have a setup that

suits me, as well as a backup

camera and a plethora of lenses

to be able to teach my son how to

take pictures and have fun doing

it. Lol

Being a new amateur photographer

myself and starting with the same

setup as you did not too long

ago, I will throw my two cents

in on your questions. Again,

this is just how I personally

came to my decisions and by no

means reflects what the pro

photographers might choose to do.

I took one 10 hour workshop with

my 3300 before I decided it

wasn't good enough to suit my

needs. The picture quality is

great but the lack of

functionality and having to

access the menu for features all

of the time drove me nuts. I also

purchased some older cheap ais

lenses and some dandelion chips

to offer metering on the 3300

with the older lenses. I

purchased a 35-135 and a 100-300.

I also purchased a 50mm 1.8d,

which did not auto focus on my

3300.mind you my kit came with

the 18-55 and the 55-200 lenses.

This setup lasted me about a

month.. Then I scrapped it all. I

went out and purchased a D7200

that allowed me to have more

control over the camera and also

allowed the option to use those

older lenses without being

chipped. I also purchased a new

sigma 17-50mm 2.8 which was just

under 300 on eBay brand new. I

then purchased an older but in

great shape nikkor 80-200mm 2.8d.

Those two lenses allow me to

shoot pretty much anything I

want. The 80-200mm lens was about

350, also on eBay. They both

offer great versatility along

with great picture quality. I set

the 100-300 ais lens up with a

nikon 6t achromatic lens filter

for macro, in case the desire

arose. So for me, I woukd

recommend the sigma and the 80-

200mm 2.8. Both can be had for

just around 600 or so if you are

patient and shop around. The

moral of my story is.. Don't buy

a bunch of stuff, you'll outgrow

quickly. You'll be better off

getting now what you will grow

into in the future. If you're

unsure early what you want to

shoot, take the advice of others

on here, shoot with what you

have until you know it's no

longer good enough before rushing

out to buy something just for the

sake of buying it.