A good all round lens?
 

Hi everyone,

I have recently bought a Nikon D3100 as my first digital SLR, and am looking for . I currently only have the standard 18-55mm Nikkor kit lens, which has been fine so far, but I have been looking for a good all round lens. My friend has also recently bought her first digital SLR and has also bought a 50mm prime lens and is very happy with it, though she opted for a Canon body and lens, so she cannot recommend the same to me. I have heard good things about the Nikon 50mm f1.8 G AF-S lens, and wondered what people's thoughts on this lens, and it's standing as a good all round lens. I don't want to break the bank, and I have looked at the Nikon 50mm f1.8 D AF lens, but I have heard that the autofocus doesn't work on the D3100, and as a newbie, autofocus would be quite handy for me.

Any tips/suggestions/reviews/advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Pete

What is your budget? The version of the 50mm lens your friend has is only around £160. What type of photography do you do or want to do that you need the new lens? If you need extra reach perhaps something like an 18-200, 55-300 or 70-300. The 16-85 gives a pretty good range and is a good lens but will cost in the region of £450

Thanks for your reply :)

My budget is a couple of hundred pounds, and at the moment I am still open to all sorts of photography. So far most of the pictures I have taken have been of my niece (currently about 6 months old), my mates' band rehearsing and playing small gigs, nature and still life pictures, and everyday photography. I am keen to try out many other things, but of course realise that one single lens cannot do everything, and specialist lenses will be required, but a collection of lenses must start somewhere! My current 18-55mm kit lens has a maximum aperture of f4 or 3.6, and so some pictures come out blurred, or are too dark, or have too much noise in them. A good all round lens to begin with would be brilliant before I get into more specialist lenses.

Nikon 50mm f1.8d is a cracking lens. Only about £80 too. But you are right, I think you'll have to manual focus with the 3100.

[QUOTE=peteallen84;85269]My current 18-55mm kit lens has a maximum aperture of f4 or 3.6, and so some pictures come out blurred, or are too dark, or have too much noise in them. A good all round lens to begin with would be brilliant before I get into more specialist lenses.[/QUOTE]
The problem may not be as much with your current lens as with the lighting setup. An f/1:8 lens is a large aperture, for sure, but when you set it wide open, the depth of field is very shallow. If you are standing at one end of the band and the nearest member is in focus, the rest of the band will be out of focus. So to get everyone in focus, you'd need to switch to a smaller aperture, which brings you back to what your 18-55 lens will do.

I have a f/1:8 lens for my Nikon, and I know how incredibly shallow the depth of field is at maximum aperture. I'd hate to see you buy a lens and find it won't do what you want it to. You can rent lenses and it might pay to do that so you can find out what it will do. Otherwise, the f/1:8 is a good lens for other photography, especially when you want a blurred background. When the lighting is poor (as with a band on a stage) then you really need a tripod to prevent blurring. Even a monopod can help.

i'm a canon user, however I bought a 50mm 1.4, which is a really useful lens. Great for portraits, though on a cropped sensor is still quite 'long' for indoors. If I were making the choice now I would go for something a little wider. Perhaps 24mm or 35mm. The dof is greater so you could shoot wide open and have a greater in focus area. Also as shutter speed should be 1/focal lengthxcrop factor (rough guide) then it would allow for using slightly higher iso or f no.
I would take my camera to a store and ask to try the lenses on you camera and see what you think
24mm probably quite good for landscape I'd imagine.

[QUOTE=peteallen84;85269]Thanks for your reply :)

My budget is a couple of hundred pounds, and at the moment I am still open to all sorts of photography. So far most of the pictures I have taken have been of my niece (currently about 6 months old), my mates' band rehearsing and playing small gigs, nature and still life pictures, and everyday photography. I am keen to try out many other things, but of course realise that one single lens cannot do everything, and specialist lenses will be required, but a collection of lenses must start somewhere! My current 18-55mm kit lens has a maximum aperture of f4 or 3.6, and so some pictures come out blurred, or are too dark, or have too much noise in them. A good all round lens to begin with would be brilliant before I get into more specialist lenses.[/QUOTE]

If you are looking for a zoom lens with an aperture wider than around f3.5 you'll have to pay seriously big money. The Nikon kit lens isn't too bad a lens really and if it's one of the more up to date versions will have vibration reduction. so you could try the 50mm.

hi i am canon shooter but i would look at a sigma 17-700s it really is a good all round lens

I have the Tamron 18-270 piezo as my general lens and am very happy with this.
I bought the new sigma 18-250 for my son for chrismtas and was pleased to have a go at this, it's lighter and smaller and impressive too. I also think it has macro capacity (not dedicated macro). It was also good value for money
While I do have a couple of other lenses, I really like having a general, all round wide - telephoto lens to travel with.