Suggested lens for a D3000?

[ian83]

Hi

I have a D3000 with the kit lens (18-55 VR) and also a 35mm f/1.8 lens.

Am looking to upgrade my lens collection now and want a bit more focal length. Also something for some wide angle landscape work.

Was looking at the Nikon 10-24 or the Sigma 10-20 for the wide angle.

As for the longer focal length i am not sure if to get the 55-200,an 18-200 to replace my kit lens, the new 55-300, a 70-300 or a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 lens.

Will be using the longer focal lens for motorsport and airshows and maybe a bit of wildlife photography.

[chris-p]

Hi Ian, welcome to the forum

Originally Posted by ian83

Was looking at the Nikon 10-24 or the Sigma 10-20 for the wide angle.

Both good lenses. The Sigma is usually cheaper and not much different in terms of image quality. Personal preference, but I chose to save the cash and bought the Sigma (the f/4-5.6 not the f/3.5 which is a waste of money).

Originally Posted by ian83

As for the longer focal length i am not sure if to get the 55-200,an 18-200 to replace my kit lens, the new 55-300, a 70-300 or a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 lens.

Will be using the longer focal lens for motorsport and airshows and maybe a bit of wildlife photography.

Well, this is a tough one. First question is budget - how much money?

Generally I recommend the Nikon 70-300mm VR - it's excellent. 200mm is a little short for airshows and motorsport, although it does depend on the specifics (which airshow, what motorsport at what track etc).
The new 55-300mm will be a good lens (not used one myself yet) but the 70-300mm is still a better one. It's a step up from the 55-300mm. The other one to consider is the new Tamron 70-300mm VC lens - it's recently been tested back to back against the Nikon one and came out basically identical in terms of build and image quality. It is cheaper though.

[ian83]

Hi

Cheers for the reply. Budget for the longer lens is going to be upto £500 have seen a few sigma 70-200f/2.8 for that second hand for reputable shops. Airshows will mainly be one place which is Duxford as it's only a half hour drive from where i live. As for the motorsport it will probably vary to most of the UK tracks with Silverstone and Snetterton being about an hour and half for me to get to.

Just had a look at the Tamron lens and it looks very promising. If it's designed for full frame am i right in thinking if i multiply the zoom ranges by 1.5 for my DX sensor to get the comparative focal range to FX camera's?

[greenwing]

Originally Posted by ian83

If it's designed for full frame am i right in thinking if i multiply the zoom ranges by 1.5 for my DX sensor to get the comparative focal range to FX camera's?

Well. yes, but it doesn't matter to you whether it's a 'full frame' lens or DX. It's the camera that causes the 'crop factor', not the lens. The 55-300 DX lens should look pretty much the same on your camera as the 70-300, it just goes that bit wider.

Chris

[ian83]

From what i had read i gathered it was all in the sensor and what i had also read said to times the zoom lengths by 1.5 to get the equivalent focal range to a full frame camera.....i think that's right!

Was looking to replace my kit lens with the 16-85mm lens and possibly go for the 70-300 so i have all focal ranges covered from 16-300 with a small overlap of 15mm would this be the best way to go?

[chris-p]

With regards to the full frame equivalent (or 35mm equiv.), did you ever shoot with film? If not - ignore it. It's meaningless to talk about focal lengths in terms of equivalents if you don't know the format you're referring back to.
It's actually not really focal length multiplying anyway, it's field of view changing. There is a lot of information on this in this thread and I've also written a tutorial on it on my website (apologies though, you'll have to register as I've had people nicking by tutorials).

That lens selection seems sensible. Mine covers 10-20mm, 18-105mm and 70-300mm with 35mm and 85mm primes in the middle. I wouldn't worry too much about the gap in focal lengths though - it's not much of an issue.

[ian83]

Cheers for the reply. Well i made the choice and have ordered up a 16-85mm Nikon lens. And will be getting the 70-300 after a few more paychecks. All ready have the 35mm f/1.8 prime which i am so happy with for what it cost such an outstanding lens.

Not sure if i am going to need anything wider than 16mm but will see how i get on with it. Was looking to use Cokin P series sized filters but seen some other post's you have made saying on anything wider than 12mm you get vignetting.

Is the 85mm prime you have the macro lens?

[silversnapper1]

You should not have to worry about vignetting at 16mm. It is not as wide as 12mm and the cokin system should be ok.

Steve.