So many choices, my brain hurts!

[kmria]

Hey guys,

I have been shooting professionally for the last two years and have gained experience in both children's (family) portraits and weddings.

I am looking to upgrade my lenses by selling my current two lenses and buying 2-3 others. I need any suggestion on which other lenses I should buy.



I currently own:

Nikon D300s

Nikon 18-135 AF-S 3.5 G ED DX

Nikon 70-300 VR (not VRII)



My main jobs involves taking photographs at the weddings. While I don't have to work in the low light a lot so far I do feel the need of wide angle lens. Also the range of 18mm to 200mm is must.

While money is not a big problem, I don't have lots of it either so that I can afford them 12-24mm lens.



Please suggest me which lenses I should get.



Thanks for reading guys, I hope you can help choose.

Amit.

PS. Brand is not an issue as long as lens is well built and image quality is good.

[OldBoy]

I've got the Nikon 12-24mm F4 and 14-24mm F2.8, cracking lenses but lots of money. Suggest you checkout the Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 for wide angle, as lots of people use it and swear by it. Look at the Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 which has also had great reviews from users. Then the Nikon 70-200mm F2.8 VR should complete your line-up and cover you for most situations. I can recommend this lens as it the one I use the most on my D3.

[Cathus]

you're shooting professionally and you want the advice of what are mainly a group of amateurs & hobbyists?

[kmria]

Originally Posted by OldBoy

I've got the Nikon 12-24mm F4 and 14-24mm F2.8, cracking lenses but lots of money. Suggest you checkout the Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 for wide angle, as lots of people use it and swear by it. Look at the Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 which has also had great reviews from users. Then the Nikon 70-200mm F2.8 VR should complete your line-up and cover you for most situations. I can recommend this lens as it the one I use the most on my D3.

Thanks OldBoy,

I will look in to that Sigma lens as for the 18-200 Nikon might be too expensive for me at this moment, i will certainly keep it in mind.Good to see a helpful reply unlike some

[rbarry]

Originally Posted by kmria

Thanks OldBoy,

I will look in to that Sigma lens as for the 18-200 Nikon might be too expensive for me at this moment, i will certainly keep it in mind.Good to see a helpful reply unlike some

Hi kmria,

I think you'll find Oldboy suggested a 70-200 f2.8 lens which is going to be a far superior lens compared to an 18-200mm lens!

Cathus made the observation that you may have come to the wrong place to seek professional advice. The vast majority of members here are amateur photographers, although a few of the regulars here have sold some of their work, it will be on a part time basis and unlikely to be their main source of income.

However, I believe you may not live in the UK and the photographic market may not be the same where you live. I can not judge your work as you have not supplied any forum profile to link to, other than a single portrait image of an Asian lady at a wedding. I am also not technically qualified to judge your work other than to observe what I find pleasing as an amateur photographer.

It would be difficult for anyone in the UK to set themselves up as a professional photographer with the equipment you have used over the last two years. That does not mean you are a bad photographer: an experienced professional photographer will be able to take a better picture with basic camera equipment than an average amateur photographer would with the best equipment. But, a professional photographer will take a better picture with better equipment. Market forces would demand that anyone setting themselves up in business as a full time photographer here in the UK would need to have industry recognised professional equipment if they were to be taken seriously. This may not be the case for you.

Oldboy's advice is good, and is certainly a step up from the lenses you have at the moment. The equipment you need may not have to be of the highest order in the market place you operate in, but if you were wanting to set yourself up as a professional photographer in the UK you should seek professional advice and invest more in a wider range of equipment.

There have been a lot of spam postings from newly created members, as happens in most public forums on the internet, so Cathus's remarks may have been triggered by suspician that you may be yet another.

Please don't take my remarks personally, you may have a great talent and be in high demand.

Welcome to the forum!

All the best,

Rick.

[Cathus]

sorry for the unhelpful reply, it was triggered mainly by your comment that you have been shooting professionally for two years, which raised the question as to a) why is a professional photographer in need of this advice & how come they don't know about the quality & use of lenses

and b) how come a professional photographer shooting weddings & other stuff is factoring in cheapness into their choice of lens?

It just struck me as a strange question to ask from someone describing themselves as a two-year professional photographer.

I guess we must have different opinions about what is a professional photographer.

And as regards the question, I can't help at all as I know nothing about Nikon gear, sorry.

(And I did think this would be another spam thread as we have had similar threads asking similar questions followed up by the poster posting spam links to spurious websites as a way of sneaking past the spam police, apologies if this is not one of them)

[kmria]

Hey Rick,

Thanks for your in detail reply. I didn't realised that

PhotoRadar Forum > Cameras & Equipment Forums > Lenses

would be a wrong place to post message about lenses!

I understand that my message might look like bot's (automated) post to some but reply it with one liner like second reply doesn't help at all. There is no way to tell that semi-professionals are not suppose to post here.

To be able to do professional work you don't have to have D3 or expensive lenses. Have a look at some of my other work at http://www.amitpatelphotos.co.uk. I guess this forum is not as good as the magazine they produce. Btw, who ever came up with the new folded booklet thing is genius. The first wedding one is very very handy.

I have one D300s, one SB-900, two lenses as above and reflector. With the help of just this four gear i been taking quality shots that keeps my customers happy and yes, they are based in UK.

I feel like it's is time for me to go one gear up and hence in hunt for lenses that are of better quality, but I guess I was looking at the wrong place.

No hard feeling

[Cathus]

If you'd have said that you were doing a bit of paid work in your first post, I wouldn't have posted at all to be honest as I know nothing about Nikon lenses & wouldn't have been able to help.

My response was based on the assumption that when you said you had been shooting professionally for two years that you were a full time professional photographer (though 'professional' has nothing to do with standard of work, just that it is your main income), and therefore it lead me to think that what is a professional doing asking such a basic question & to the assumption that any minute now you're gonna stick some spam links to cheap eastern websites asking if it would be good to buy from them and thus disguise a spam post as a serious question.

From your last reply it now seems that you are not a professional photographer just that you do some paid work on a part time basis? (as a lot of us do)

Forgive me for the misunderstanding. I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot.

Good luck with your new lenses, whatever they might be.

[OldBoy]

Originally Posted by kmria

To be able to do professional work you don't have to have D3 or expensive lenses. Have a look at some of my other work at http://www.amitpatelphotos.co.uk.

You have some great photos but to be honest they lack sharpness. Now if you get the Nikon 70-200mm F2.8 VR you will notice a big difference, hence why it is regard as Pro lens. The Nikon 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 AF-S VR is extra sharp, so suggest you swap yours for this model.

[cosmicma]

i was allways told the nikon 80mm 1.8 prime was the ultimate portrait lens but i would presume that would be on a full frame sensor
bearing that in mind the nikon 50mm 1.8 prime would be reasonable on the 300d for portraits

or the nikon 24 - 70 2.8 vr if you want more versatility

dunno i use canon but the nikon users i know like these lenses a lot