Camera Labs

Hi All,

Been reading the posts here for sometime. A lot of good information is to be found out here.

I will be the owner of the D80 in a week or two. Question boils down to the choice of lens.

The first is the obvious choice of 18-200 VR.

Or should I look at something like the 17-50 2.8 Tamron and the 70-300VR Nikon?

I do have the 35-70 2.8 D Nikkor lens in-house. (On my Nikon N90s).

Is the one lens a better option than the 2 lens. (Besides the dust and obvious extra load!)

Lastly - anyone know a short list (web site) of proven lens from other less costlier brands, i.e Tamron-Sigma-Tokina?

Thank you all.

Hello BoZz, and welcome to the Camera Labs forum!
Before coming to any conclusions we need to know what range you want to cover, when building your lens-collection (e.g. starting at 10mm, 12mm, 18mm? Ending at 200/300/400/500mm?) How much do you need VR? And what is more important to you: IQ or price / IQ or compactness?

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

And what sort of photo will you be taking?

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Nikon D80 | 18-135mm Kit Lens | 50mm f/1.8 | 4GB 150x Card | SB-600
http://flickr.com/photos/antmanisfubar

Hi Thomas,

Well 18-200 is sufficient but 12 - 300 would be ideal for me. VR would definitely help but certainly not totally essential.

Is price a factor? Whenever is it not? On the other side I would opt for IQ to compactness.

Any words of wisdom for me.

Thanks and good night for now.

Antman - mainly potraits and lansscapes - besides the run of the mill ones!

Thank you

Well BoZz, here is a suggestion that goes totally against the reputation I have here in the CL forums :
Get a 12-24mm (I'll be shortly testing personally some candidates), because for landscapes, you'll love the even wider format than those lenses starting at 18mm!
For the middle range use your "old" Nikkor 35-70mm/f2.8 D
And for the long range go for the Nikkor AF-S VR 70-300mm 4.5-5.6G IF-ED. An very good lens! See test here.
With that you have a great 25x range covered, you have IS (aka VR) on the long end and plus you'll only have to invest in two lenses.
What do you think

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Thomas,

Thanks once again. I have to admit I was thinking on the same lines. And I have noticed that you are, (or is it were now?) an ardent supporter of the 18-200 VR. Has anything happened to change that?

On the other hand when do you think you will have the reviews for the ultra wides in?

Is the 70-300VR a better lens than 18-200VR in your opinion?

While a 3 lens solution is a good one, it does pack quite some weight to the package, no?

Appreciate your advise.

B.

Sure, we're talking of around 1200g weight + plus your current lens and perhaps something of 900EUR invest! So if you're a backpacker, go for the 18-200mm and be happy ever after! Because you don't "forget" the other lenses and lose valuable pics and you don't have to change (lenses) in (time-)critical situations.
But when you'd like to cover a broader range, there are inevitably some overlap creeping in your lens-range unless you go
- Tamron 11-18mm
- Nikkor 18-200mm
- Tamron 200-500mm
But this will be even heavier (also on your wallet).
My first suggestion was based on the goal, to make the most of your exisiting lens.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Once again thank you for the advise.

One quick question - is the 70-300VR rated better than the 18-200VR?

So why do you need such big focal range if you just doing mainly portraits and Landscapes I find 135mm heaps lol.

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Nikon D80 | 18-135mm Kit Lens | 50mm f/1.8 | 4GB 150x Card | SB-600
http://flickr.com/photos/antmanisfubar

Wildlife photography when I visit South Africa! Besides I like to have the spare range just in case.

What do you say to the combination of 18-70 Nikkor and 70-300VR Nikkor as compared to a single 18-200VR? (Let us say that I only use 200mm FL for comparision only)

That combi is certainly fine and get's you further on those safaris than the 18-200mm.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Thank you. I can see that it gets me further but would it better than one lens 18-200VR if 200mm was all that was required?

I believe (although Tom will correct me on this if I'm wrong) that the 18-200mm lens is physically better built than the 70-300mm.

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My Flickr

I've got the 70-300mm VR and my Dad has the 18-200mm VR lens. I couldn't spot any difference in build quality between the two lenses.

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Nikon D80, Nikkor lenses: 35mm f1.8 G AF-S DX, 50mm f/1.8 AF D, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR, SB800 flash
My photos on SmugMug