Camera Labs

Hey guys,

Just stumbled across this website, what a great place with a ton of info. I am new into photography and buying the D7000 as my first SLR. I have been learning alot researching and settle on this camera.

Now I need some lenses. I am looking for an all purpose lens that I can use for my family, dog, vacations etc.

I should also note I am purchasing the Nikon 105mm VR macro as I need it for work (dentist) with the R1 flash setup.

So my questions are....

1. What can I use the 105mm for outside the office beside macro?? Would it be good for anything else or not really and need other lenses?

2. I am considering the Nikon 18-200mm VR for my all purpose lens as I like the idea of having one lens, any thoughts??

3. I am also considering getting two lense to cover the range, say a DX 35mm F1.8 and a nikon 70-300mm zoom, or alternatively a local camera store has the 16-85mm and 70-300mm package with the D7000??

Since I am new to photography I like the idea of only having one lens instead of having to change between two but also dont know if two is worth it and my 105mm macro can substitute in certain situations.....

Anyways i know lots of info but appreciate any guidance you guys have or advice for me since I am new to all this SLR stuff!! )

thanks,

Greg

Welcome Greg.

The 105 is a cracking lens & imho (depending if you can step back a little from your subject if needed) a good portrait lens also.

The 16-85 is also a pretty decent lens for `walk around` use & for the money, but obviously not as fast as others.

!st thing to consider is what you mainly want to shoot, then the size/weight of a chosen lens.

It all boils down to budget really, but if you're serious & can afford them, get the fastest/brightest lenses you can afford, although the 50mm 1.8 gets great reviews & is cheap as chips!

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Nikon D700 & D7100 bodies + Nikkor 300mm F2.8 VR11, 1.7TC, 50mm F1.4G, 16-35mm f/4G VR, 105 F2.8 VR macro, 70-300mm lenses. A couple of filters, Giotto tripod & ballhead. Lowepro Slingshot 302 AW

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcarlos/

Also, in case you haven't seen the sections, Check out Gordons recommendations here; http://www.cameralabs.com/lenses/lens_b ... nses.shtml

There's also the `Lens gallery` here; (give you some idea of the pic quality) http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7148

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Nikon D700 & D7100 bodies + Nikkor 300mm F2.8 VR11, 1.7TC, 50mm F1.4G, 16-35mm f/4G VR, 105 F2.8 VR macro, 70-300mm lenses. A couple of filters, Giotto tripod & ballhead. Lowepro Slingshot 302 AW

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcarlos/

I can vouch for the 16-85 and the 70-300. With the 105, you will have a very versatile outfit.

The 18-200 would be more convenient if you wanted compactness and obviate the need to change lenses too much.

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HCC
Nikon DSLRs, film cameras from Leica to Linhof

thanks for the info so far guys. There isnt ONE thing I like to photograph it just depends. If I am going home for xmas I want a good inside lens, if I am going to the park I want a bit of zoom to get my dog at a distance, if I am going on holidays I want a lens for whatever I am doing that day.

So being new to this I wanted u guys with experience to say if I am better off with the versatile 18-200mm or having two lenses like the 16-85 and 70-300m. Based on how u were when u started photography and are now, how would u have started?

If u go out for the day with ur camera, are u really switching lenses back and forth or are you really doing one sort of activity where a zoom, or a wide angle, or an interior lens is enough and u arent always switching.

Just rambling a bit and hoping for some more advice

Hi gregv, welcome to the forum. Everyone has their favorite lens depending on what their interest is, for me I got frustrated at missing shots at festivals and sport whilst changing lenses, 18-55mm and 70-300mm. It always seemed I had the wrong lens on so I went for the 18-200mm and have no regrets.

As for indoors, many here would recommend a fast lens, then again if you purchased the 18-200mm you can test it indoors and decide if you want a fast lens. The D7000 is quick and easy to use with it's function buttons and the favorite menu button.

Cheers

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Nikon D7000, D40X, Nikkor 18- 200 VR II, f3.5-5.6, 70-300 AF non VR, Kit Lenses.

Hi gregv and welcome to the forum.

I started out with an 18-105mm kit lens, and quickly added the 70-300 VR to that. I tended to have specific needs for the 70-300 VR, and therefore knew when to carry it and use it. In my circumstances, the extra 100mm over an 18-200 was more useful (i.e. airshows, Grand Prix etc) so I wasn't missing shots.

The 16-85mm is highly regarded, but as bang for your buck as a starter the 18-105mm may be all you need, keeping money 'in the bank' until you can make a more informed decision about what you need next.

I wanted a higher quality everyday zoom, so went for the 24-70. Again, as there were few times that I needed wider, I wasn't missing shots and benefitted from the better quality images. On the few occasions I needed wider, I invested less and got a Sigma 10-20 (under half the price locally of a 10-24 or 12-24 Nikkor).

So if I were you I wouldn't invest too heavily too early.

The 105mm Micro will be a great lens, and will double up as a long telephoto prime for portraits. You will be a long way from your subject for head/shoulder shots, which will give you nice separation but won't necessarily be useful indoors. Also, when travelling it would be good for detail shots in towns and cities that you visit as well as isolating interest in landscapes.

For low light, there's the 50mm range from Nikon, but this may again be too long a focal length for you indoors. At around $200, the new 50mm f1.8G is a steal and great bang for your buck.

35mm gets you towards the traditional standard focal length on a D7000 (35mm is 52.5mm equivalent on 35mm film cameras) and here you have the well priced 35mm f1.8 Nikkor - as an indoor lens for people this could be ideal for you, if you can make do with the slight distortion and OK backgrounds.

If Nikon produced a well priced 24mm fast prime for DX it would sell like hot cakes and would be ideal for a lot of new Nikon users. However, the 24mm f1.4G is quite highly priced. If you were willing to invest that much, I'd recommend the 24-70mm over it initially as you have more flexibility, it's 2 stops slower, but you have good low light capability with the D7000. If you're shooting into the night, you'll want as fast a prime lens in the focal range you like, be it the 35mm f1.8G or the 50mm f1.4/f1.8G lenses from Nikon or even the 50mm f1.4 from Sigma. You'll be surprised just how dark the evening becomes while you're still shooting with a f1.4 without requiring flash.

So it's totally up to you really! You can go for the 18-200 which suits people's needs a lot of the time. However it is a jack of all trades (and master of none) so depending on how interested you are in ultimate image quality you may wish to go down the lines of two lenses. I don't think the 16-85 has that much IQ improvement over the 18-105 (but I haven't tried that lens on the more demanding D7000) to warrant the extra price it demands, so I'd go down the lines of 18-105mm and the underrated and underpriced 70-300mm VR myself in your position (bearing in mind you want the 70-300 VR and not the non VR version)

Check out some of my posts in the various sections of the forum - plenty of 18-105mm examples in there.

As its your first DSLR I'd buy a broad range multi purpose zoom to start off with (18-200 come well recommended it seems(edited for typo) and just start taking photos. There is lots to learn about photography and worrying about which lens to use can get in the way of taking good photos. If you find yourself regularly not able to take the kind of shots you'd like to and cant solve the problem any other way then thats the time to invest in new glass.

Of course us boys do like our toys though

I've just been reading some of Ken Rockwell's articles and I quite like some of the themes in there, perhaps it will help a bit with your decision making http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/simplicity.htm

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Canon EOS 550D (with Magic Lantern)
18mm - 135mm Kit Lens, 50mm f1.8, Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM
430EX II Flash with Phottix Strato Wireless Tigger Set
Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 with 496 Ball Head. Gorilla Pod SLR
Canon Powershot A720IS with CHDK and intervalometer script. Pentax Optio W90

My Blog - http://www.ianganderton.wordpress.com

Whoa - KR!

Search wider for a balanced view as well!

Ha ha, yes I can see that he puts his opinions across strongly

But

Surely it is true that its all to easy to get caught up in an equipment arms race and forget that its actually the photographer that makes the difference between a good image and a second rate one?

For anyone (like me) learning the craft of photography is it not better to focus on fundamentals and get used to using camera equipment simply, correctly and imaginatively rather than be worrying that the reason my images are crap is because of equipment not being right?

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Canon EOS 550D (with Magic Lantern)
18mm - 135mm Kit Lens, 50mm f1.8, Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM
430EX II Flash with Phottix Strato Wireless Tigger Set
Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 with 496 Ball Head. Gorilla Pod SLR
Canon Powershot A720IS with CHDK and intervalometer script. Pentax Optio W90

My Blog - http://www.ianganderton.wordpress.com

True - but once needs are evaluated then 18-300 in two lenses may be a better solution than 18-200 in one lens, at a small cost difference

I agree to a certain extent Phil but its this phrase thats the problem

From my experience being new to DSLRs the only way to evaluate needs is to get stuck in and to do that needs a lens. the 105mm is far from idea as a single lens to get you started so there needs to be something else.

With an 18 to 200 (which I believe has a reasonable rep for a do it all lens) beginners have a jack of all trades lens that will give them chance to take lots of photos across a wide range of types of photography simply and easily.

It doesnt take long for lens lust to set in but it will likely be specific lusts to solve specific problems that are being encountered so the money will be likely better and more accurately spent.

_________________
Canon EOS 550D (with Magic Lantern)
18mm - 135mm Kit Lens, 50mm f1.8, Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM
430EX II Flash with Phottix Strato Wireless Tigger Set
Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 with 496 Ball Head. Gorilla Pod SLR
Canon Powershot A720IS with CHDK and intervalometer script. Pentax Optio W90

My Blog - http://www.ianganderton.wordpress.com

I said above, "Everyone has their favorite lens depending on what their interest is". It comes down to what interests any newcomer wants to shoot, that alone will dictate what lens/lenses will be most suitable. I also use a Nikon 70-300mm kit lens for surfing shots, for me it's to soft and not long enough on some occasions.

Its a simple matter of deciding one's interests.

Cheers

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Nikon D7000, D40X, Nikkor 18- 200 VR II, f3.5-5.6, 70-300 AF non VR, Kit Lenses.

That's why I recommended the 70-300mm VR lens, rather than the non VR version

Appreciating the comments guys!! Good news as I emailed my wedding photographer from a few years ago to ask him about his recommendations and he has a 105mm macro VR lens that I was going to buy. He is selling it cause he doesnt like to lug it around for weddings and rarely uses it. Its mint condition and he used it about 6 times. So he is selling it for $650 which will save me about $250 over a new one with tax!!

One more question, are you guys familiar with R1 ring flash I need for my macro lens and dental pictures. I see its the camera's flash that will automatically trigger the ring flash but I DO NOT want the camera flash to go off. There is a extra thing called the SU-800 commander that will trigger the ring flash and prevent the camera's flash from going off. Its an extra cost as well and I was wondering can I just used the r1 and set up the camra some way so the cameras flash can trigger the ring flash but the camera's flash WILL NOT GO OFF??

Thanks for the help, will update this weekend as I will likely make some purchases!

Greg