 BetterPhoto Member |
General purpose D200 Lens Greetings! I've been given a Nikon D200 body and am now in the market for a lens or two. Because these things tend to be expensive, the lens I buy will need to be versatile enough to last me a while. So my question is this: If you had to operate with only one lens for a prolonged period of time, which lens would it be? I'm by no means a professional. I would like the lens to allow me to take indoor and outdoor photos, portraits and landscapes. Realizing that there is probably not one lens that would accommodate all of these subjects, is there one that comes closest?
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John P. Sandstedt |
Your budget is obviously tight. Altough many folks will argue that Nikon lenses are the ones to buy for your Nikon [or Canon if it were a Canon,]the fact is that third marty makers are doing a great job today. I've been using Tamron's zooms [2-200 and 200-400] for more than seven years with my Canon EOS 3 and 620 [film] bodies. When I bought my digital, th Canon 30D, I thought I wouldn't need any new lens. Wrong because with the 1.6 lens factor, the widest angle I had to work with was, in effect, a normal lens [45 mm.] Tamron makes a well reviewed 18-200mm [which translates to 28-300mm. This range should be more than sufficient to last you for a very long time [you may not ever need another lens.
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Raymond H. Kemp |
One lens? Try the Nikon 18-200 VR. Reasonably priced and should cover the aspects you need for awhile. Not sure how it matches up to John's Tamron 18-200mm. Ray
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Jon Close |
(a) minimalist - Sigma 30 f/1.4 EX HSM or Nikon 35 f/2D. Sharp normal prime with wide aperture for low light and depth of field control. Zoom with your feet. ;-) There was a time when people bought an SLR with a fast normal lens (50 f/1.8 for 35mm film) and for many that was the only lens they ever had. (b) Nikon 18-70 f/3.5-4.5G AF-S DX. Terrific zoom range without compromising maximum aperture or image quality as much as the longer zoom range 18-200s. 18mm gives moderate wide angle for interiors and landscapes, and 70mm is a great portrait length for the D200. Attach a close-up lens or extension tube for pretty decent macro. (c) Swiss army knife: Nikon 18-200 f/3.5-5.6G AF-S VR. Vibration Reduction allows hand-held shots at the long telephoto (100-200mm) range without blur from camera shake. Tamron 18-200 f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II or Sigma 18-200 f/3.5-6.3 DC are economical alternatives, but do not have VR or the AF-S in-lens autofocus motor. Great utility, but 10x zooms have smaller maximum aperture (f/5.6 or f/6.3) and are not as sharp at the long end of the zoom (still very usable).
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