nikon D90 & lens advice ...

SystemSystem Registered Users Posts: 8,186 moderator
edited January 17, 2009 in Cameras
having owned a decent 35mm pentax i know the importance of having a good camera body. having had a huge lag time in getting back into photography, i have now advanced through the digitals to a canon powershot, which i am getting close to the point of taking a leap into the slr's.

i have toyed with the idea of getting the nikon D90. and on the advice from the local camera shop, they have suggested the 18-200VR lens.

now, being out of touch with the new lenses as well as the new slr's, is this a good combination? taking into consideration bang for the buck, and something i can grow into with adding different lenses at a later time.

i enjoy going out for the day taking pictures, so my picture taking is varied ... from wandering through my garden and taking pictures of my flowers, to taking a walk through town and finding interesting things to snap at, to going for a drive and capturing some landscape or vegatation, or taking photos at gatherings, my family to sports events and to anything inbetween whether it be indoors or outdoors.

any input would be greatly appreciated.
thanks ....... .

Comments

  • cpallencpallen Registered Users Posts: 14 Big grins
    edited January 17, 2009
    Lens selections
    I have recently gone through a similar experience of working up through several point and shoot digital cameras to a digital slr. My funds are somewhat limited and so I bought a used D80 at a local camera shop.

    Here's a comparison article that helped me select an 18-70mm lens to start out with:

    http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Nikkor_kit_lens_group_test/

    Once again, I think budget constraints influenced my decision to some extent but I also feared that the 18-200 would be so big and bulky that it would discourage me from carrying (and subsequently using) the camera.

    You probably already know this but the focal length of the lens when used with the Nikon DX cameras must be multiplied by 1.5 to calculate their equivalent focal length. The 18-70 equates to a 27-105, and the 18-200 equates to a 27-300.

    Many people (Ken Rockwell included) rave about the 18-200. I think that I will probably get the 55-200 VR lens down the road if need be.

    Good luck with your decision!

    Courtney in Seattle
    having owned a decent 35mm pentax i know the importance of having a good camera body. having had a huge lag time in getting back into photography, i have now advanced through the digitals to a canon powershot, which i am getting close to the point of taking a leap into the slr's.

    i have toyed with the idea of getting the nikon D90. and on the advice from the local camera shop, they have suggested the 18-200VR lens.

    now, being out of touch with the new lenses as well as the new slr's, is this a good combination? taking into consideration bang for the buck, and something i can grow into with adding different lenses at a later time.

    i enjoy going out for the day taking pictures, so my picture taking is varied ... from wandering through my garden and taking pictures of my flowers, to taking a walk through town and finding interesting things to snap at, to going for a drive and capturing some landscape or vegatation, or taking photos at gatherings, my family to sports events and to anything inbetween whether it be indoors or outdoors.

    any input would be greatly appreciated.
    thanks ....... .
  • NikonsandVstromsNikonsandVstroms Registered Users Posts: 990 Major grins
    edited January 17, 2009
    having owned a decent 35mm pentax i know the importance of having a good camera body. having had a huge lag time in getting back into photography, i have now advanced through the digitals to a canon powershot, which i am getting close to the point of taking a leap into the slr's.

    i have toyed with the idea of getting the nikon D90. and on the advice from the local camera shop, they have suggested the 18-200VR lens.

    now, being out of touch with the new lenses as well as the new slr's, is this a good combination? taking into consideration bang for the buck, and something i can grow into with adding different lenses at a later time.

    i enjoy going out for the day taking pictures, so my picture taking is varied ... from wandering through my garden and taking pictures of my flowers, to taking a walk through town and finding interesting things to snap at, to going for a drive and capturing some landscape or vegatation, or taking photos at gatherings, my family to sports events and to anything inbetween whether it be indoors or outdoors.

    any input would be greatly appreciated.
    thanks ....... .

    It all depends if you're willing to change lenses or not. I'm actually about to buy the 17 to 50 F. 2.8 Tamaron, from my brief experience with it, and lots of reviews it seems to be a great lens. It's not an ultra wide angle lens, but it's decent being the equivalent of a 25.5 mm lens

    And then you could get a zoom lens for cheap, like the 55 to 200 VR for your sports photography

    And this next ones I recommend no matter if you get the above two or the 18 to 200. The Sigma 50 mm F2.8 macro. It is amazingly sharp, and cheap being only a little above $200. I actually bought it a few years ago specifically to do a project based on flowers so I can tell you it does great job for those. And while not being able to get the razor thin depth of field of a 1.4 lens, you can still isolate the subject really well for a portrait, and the 75 mm equivalent focal length is great for them as well.
  • SystemSystem Registered Users Posts: 8,186 moderator
    edited January 17, 2009
    thanks for all the input!
    very much appreciated.
  • bosco0633bosco0633 Registered Users Posts: 52 Big grins
    edited January 17, 2009
    I was looking at the D90, however, decided on the D300. The lens for me was the 18-200mm VR. It is an amazing lens, and a great all purpose lens. It lets you do a little bit of erverything.

    You can use it as a wide angle lens, portrait lens, and macro lens all in one. My local dealer called it the best all purpose lens. He said it was the lens that you keep on your camera 90% of the time, however, when you want to do something very specific you can change lenses.

    Now with that all said, it is on f3.5 to f5.6 so it is a little slower. A picture at 200mm in focal length will be at f5.6 so you will be shooting at higher ISOs causing some noticeable noise. But noise now of days is not a huge issue with editing programs.

    I really love taking macro shots and I am very new to photography so I have alot to learn, but this lens has done a decent job with macro photography. Here is an example of a shot I took with the 18-200mmVR

    DSC_1396.jpg

    I will keep this lens as my number 1 but I admit there are 2 lenses right now that I want to purchase over the next 2 years.

    Nikon 105 macro VR
    Nikon 70-200VR

    I realize that the 18-200mm has its limitations and I will never claim that I want it for everything, but all round it is a great lens that will be on my camera more times then not. Oh yeah it is a great vacation lens as well as you dont need to bring all of your gear with you.

    Just my 2 cents for what its worth
  • catspawcatspaw Registered Users Posts: 1,292 Major grins
    edited January 17, 2009
    the 18-200 was my 'base' lens for the longest time and I'm really still sad that I'm upgrading into new ones. Something about that lens allowed me to do nearly anything I wanted. It's definitely a HUGE seller --- and you can always resell it easily enough if you decide to move on :)
    //Leah
  • bosco0633bosco0633 Registered Users Posts: 52 Big grins
    edited January 17, 2009
    the only way I would get rid of it is if I got the nikon 24-70mm f2.8 (Iwish it was VR) and the 70-200 f2.8. But that is 4000.00 that I dont have right now. But even then, it would still be nice to have it all on one lens despite the slower speed.

    how about an 18-200mm VR f2.8 lens, now that would be someting, I wouldnt ever to be able to afford it, but it would be pretty amazing
  • SystemSystem Registered Users Posts: 8,186 moderator
    edited January 17, 2009
    thanks again for all the input,
    that being said, i have read different reviews, but i find, reading post from first hand users to be a little more helpful ...... .

    thanks again!
  • jonh68jonh68 Registered Users Posts: 2,711 Major grins
    edited January 17, 2009
    I would say get the D90 and the 18-200 VR. I used the 18-200 on my d50 and my D300. While I can't give you first hand experience with a D90, it is similar to the D300. If the distortion and barrel roll of the 18-200 gets annoying, you can get the program called DXO that automatically corrects lens distortion for each specific lens and camera used.
  • JohnCJohnC Registered Users Posts: 222 Major grins
    edited January 17, 2009
    That 18-200 vr will be a great start for a do anything walkabout lens.

    A ton of Nikon lens info and sample photos are posted here:

    http://www.nikoncafe.com/vforums/forumdisplay.php?f=108

    Good Luck! thumb.gif
    Nikon D300 l Nikon SB-600 l Nikon MC-30 Remote l Nikon AF-S 24-85mm 1:3.5-4.5G IF-ED l Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D l Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM l Quantaray Pro U-100 backpack by Naneu Pro l Quantaray QSX 9500 Tripod by Sunpak
    Canon AE-1 Program l FD 28mm 1:2.8 l FD 50mm 1:1.8 l Sunpak Auto 821 Dedicated
  • SystemSystem Registered Users Posts: 8,186 moderator
    edited January 17, 2009
    i really appreciate the posted picture, so i have a better idea of what i can expect, and for the posting of the program, and the forum and of course all the individual postings to my quest.

    i getting rather excited about my new step upward into the digital world!
  • TexPhotogTexPhotog Registered Users Posts: 187 Major grins
    edited January 17, 2009
    I'm in a similar dilema between D90/D300 and this particular lens...

    Make sure you check out DPReview's info on this lens... although it is a recommended lens, it does have some limitations midrage - 85-150mm range...

    From other readings that I've done... it is a nice sharp lens at either end, but again, be careful on the midrange...

    Someone mentioned getting the D90 combo at B&H that has the 18-105 and the 70-300 included... that may also be another route for you...

    Hope this helps...
    Miguel
    www.kabestudios.com
    I use a little bit of everything gear wise...
    Nikon/Canon/Sony/GoPro/Insta360º/Mavic 2 Pro
  • JohnCJohnC Registered Users Posts: 222 Major grins
    edited January 17, 2009
    This might help... <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/thumb.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" >

    Lens Image & Review Archive
    <HR style="COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=1>
    <!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->What is this?

    This is a list of links to threads of example images - ideally over time we will get it down to 1 or possibly 2 threads per lens, but for now, we're just building up a list, and over time, the list will be fine-tuned. If you want to post some example images, to show the worths of a particular lens, it would be great, if you could contribute to existing threads, rather than starting a new one.

    What should you post in the threads?

    A selection of images showing the qualities of the lens. It may also be worthwhile to post a 100% crop from different areas of the images which are worthwhile seeing - e.g. for a particular problem with the lens (e.g. strange bokeh, peculiar chromatic aberrations, etc), or to show how good the lens is - e.g. great levels of sharpness / contrast etc.

    How to get the thread listed
    Please either post a message to this thread, or PM me, with details of the lens, the link, and whether it's a review, or sample images. Thanks!


    Nikkor Zooms

    16-85mm f/3.5-5.6 VR DX AF-S
    17-35mm f/2.8
    18-55 VR
    18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 DX AF-S (also 1)
    18-135mm
    24-70 f/2.8
    28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 AF-D
    35-70mm f/2.8 AF-D (also 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
    35-135mm AF-D
    70-210 f2.8 vr
    70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR AF-S (also 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
    80-200mm f/2.8 AF-S


    Nikkor Primes

    10.5mm f/2.8 DX AF-D
    20mm f/3.5 UD (AI'd)
    24mm f/2 AI-S (also 1, 2)
    50mm f/1.8 AF-D (also 1)
    50mm f/1.4 AF-S
    85mm f/1.4 AF-D (also 1)
    85mm f/1.8 AF-D
    105mm f/2.8 AF-S VR
    105mm f/2.5 AI-S (also 1)
    105 DC and 135 DC (shared thread)
    180mm f/2.8 AI-S
    200mm f/2 VR AF-S
    300mm f/2.8 VR AF-S
    300mm f/4 AFS (also 1)
    500mm f/4 AF-S
    600mm f/4 VR


    Sigma

    10-20mm EX DC HSM (aka Wigma)
    14mm f/2.8
    15mm f/2.8 EX DG Fisheye
    18-50 f/2.8 EX DC
    24mm and 28mm f/1.8
    24-60mm f/2.8 EX DG (also 1)
    24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG
    30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM (aka the Dirty Thirty)
    50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM
    50-150mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM
    70-300 F4-5.6 DL Macro Super DG
    80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 EX OS
    150mm F2.8 EX DG HSM
    300mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM
    400mm f/5.6


    Tokina

    11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X
    Tokina 12-24 f/4 ATX Pro DX


    Tamron

    17-50 XR Di
    70-200 f/2.8


    Others
    Voigtlander Nokton 58 F1.4
    Zeiss 100mm 2.0 ZF Makro-planer

    <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
    Nikon D300 l Nikon SB-600 l Nikon MC-30 Remote l Nikon AF-S 24-85mm 1:3.5-4.5G IF-ED l Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D l Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM l Quantaray Pro U-100 backpack by Naneu Pro l Quantaray QSX 9500 Tripod by Sunpak
    Canon AE-1 Program l FD 28mm 1:2.8 l FD 50mm 1:1.8 l Sunpak Auto 821 Dedicated
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