Recommend a lens for Nikon D60

WillyWonka

Hi All,

I have a D60 with the 15-55 VR kit lens, however I'm looking to purchase some additional lenses.

I'm thinking 35mm 1.8 which seems to be a good prime lens that I can learn a lot from and make use of in low light without flash. Its pretty cheap too compared to the new Nikon 50mm 1.4 AFS.

Also I need something that has more zoom for walkabouts, surfing, nature, some sports shots, taking pictures of people without pointing a camera in their face, etc.!

The lens will need to be AFS as I have the D60 and I'm also thinking VR would be a bonus.

I was thinking the Nikon 55-200, but maybe the Nikon 18-135 would do?
Not looking to spend a fortune either.

Any advice or thoughts would be welcome...

Thanks
Willy

dudara

FYI, I have a D40 and I bought the VR AF-S DX version of the 55-200mm from an eBay seller for around E200 including VAT etc. Very pleased with it so far, though I already want a much bigger zoom.

WillyWonka

dudara wrote: »

FYI, I have a D40 and I bought the VR AF-S DX version of the 55-200mm from an eBay seller for around E200 including VAT etc. Very pleased with it so far, though I already want a much bigger zoom.

thanks Dudara, what do you use it for?

I'd like something with more than 200m but think it will do fine as I want something reasonably lightweight. I am only a buddy photographer

dudara

I didn't buy it with any particular purpose in mind, I just wanted to be able to get closer.

All the photos on the first page of my Flickr photostream were taken with the 55-200, bar the very first.

The one downside (and it is small) is that the autofocus can be slow at times so it may not be the best for quick-action shots, although you can slip it into manual focus.

I took a series of test shots with and without the VR, and it does make a nice difference.

Nforce

A nikon 70-300mm VR would probably suit........you'll probably get one for under €300 off Adverts.ie or ebay.
As regards primes, the 50mm F1.8 is the pick of the bunch for price/performance.

bbbbb

I'm in a similar boat, I have a d40x.
Bought a 55-200 VR second hand at a good price, but don't use it much (so maybe not such a bargain!)
Also a second hand 50mm F1.8, but that's a manual focus. I would say I haven't mastered it yet; good for low light with the wide apperture, but then the DOF is v.shallow and focus needs to be spot on.

For my next lens (which I don't need), I'm thinking along 2 lines:
a) walkabout with longer reach, e.g
Nikon 18-200 VR
Tamron 18-270 DI-II VC Nikon (IF version available?)
b) walkabout with wider apperture
Nikon 17-55 f2.8 (too expensive)
Tamron 17-50 f2.8

I'll probably go b). Take some indoor shots, & light in Ireland is poor. Don't think I need the extra reach as I don't use the 55-200 much

Thirdfox

55-200mm vr is fantastic - many of my top shots were taken with it (see sig - 1st photo was taken with a 55-200 at 135mm). Filters will fit both the 18-55 and 55-200 too (the lens is very compact being a dx lens - almost half the size and weight of the 70-300vr which I personally found too big).

I love being able to mount cheap lenses on the camera (20-35 euro Nikon lenses you get for cheap off ebay) - these would be pre-AI or AI lenses (30+ years old) - manual focus and manual exposure - but superb quality primes that you would be paying 10x - 20x for nowdays for the AFS version. And best part - since other Nikon cameras can't use them, they are really the cheapest lenses to get.

So my bag contains:
D40
18-55mm
55-200mm vr
50mm f2 H
28mm f3.5
FE (film camera I recently got for fun - hence getting the 28mm)
SB600 flash

2 days ago I bought a new Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 ultrawide lens. First impressions are quite positive (though me being very thrifty, am pained that I spent 300 euro on that lens - seems to be "worth" it though).

So now my zoom range is from 10-200mm and includes two primes. A very complete kit and a very capable one (I believe I am in the lucky position of having earned/won more money than spent on this hobby of mine). The D40/60 series are very capable cameras!

Hope this helped!

edit:
add this one shot of the 55-200 (at 200mm - certainly it was sharp enough for me)


Though I found for fashion photography in low light it's a bit slow (or my D40's ISO couldn't go high enough).

Thirdfox

Nforce wrote: »

A nikon 70-300mm VR would probably suit........you'll probably get one for under €300 off Adverts.ie or ebay.
As regards primes, the 50mm F1.8 is the pick of the bunch for price/performance.

The 35mm f1.8 probably would suit better as it has autofocus and is the "normal" perspective lens for DX.

Though I like the manual focus lenses - you probably shouldn't pay for something you won't be able to use (autofocus) - unless you're planning on upgrading soon to bodies with built in AF motors (and Nikon is currently obsoleting the models).

Cosmo K

Bought the 35mm 1.8 two weeks ago, and I'm very happy with it, its a very sharp lens. I had the 50 mm 1.8 on my D40 for a while, but never got used to manual focus tbh.

WillyWonka

Thirdfox wrote: »

The 35mm f1.8 probably would suit better as it has autofocus and is the "normal" perspective lens for DX.

Though I like the manual focus lenses - you probably shouldn't pay for something you won't be able to use (autofocus) - unless you're planning on upgrading soon to bodies with built in AF motors (and Nikon is currently obsoleting the models).

Thanks guys,

Thirdfox the 35mm is pretty cheap so not really paying for the AFS.
(the 50mm 1.4 AFS is about €360 here in Ireland)