lens advice for new D300..

[NicolaB]

Well, I finally bit the bullet and my new D300 has arrived! Will hopefully go out and have a play with it somewhere this weekend.

My boyfriend is going to buy my D60 off me, plus the 18-55mm and 55-200mm VR lenses I bought with it in the first instance, so I was wondering which lens to go for as a replacement for these two for me to use with the shiny new camera once I sell the others.

I've been looking at the Nikon 18-200mm VR or 18-105mm VR, or possibly a Tamron 18-270mm VC. I'd ideally like a lens that covers a big range that I can use as a walkabout lens when carrying my Bigma about would be impractical, such as when I'm wandering about in the Brecon Beacons.

Any advice would be really welcome! I'm actually really tempted by the 18-200VR Nikon, but the extra length of the Tamron appeals as well.

[ron1863]

The Nikon AF-S DX VR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED looks like a good un. I just had a look on the net and it gets excellent reviews.

[Richard G.]

Congrats on the D300 Nicola, I'm green with envy...

Can't comment on the Tamron or the Nikon 18-105mm, I do have the Nikon 18-200mm though. Initial enthusiasm for this lens amongst the masses seemed to diminish after a few longer term reviews were published. Mine was on back order for months, they were so hard to come by and I started to have a few thoughts about changing my mind and cancelling.

Very pleased I didn't, as a walkabout lens, the range is superb and the VR makes it very useable even handheld at 200mm. I often wish it went a little wider and probably don't use the top end so much, so these days I might actually look at the Nikon 16-85mm too, but then I'm more of a landscape shooter and have the 12-24mm for that.

I'm very happy with the IQ of the 18-200mm though, but I'm not a pixel peeper. Mine does suffer from the lens creep you might see mentioned, but it's not that big a deal. Barrel distortion is noticeable and disturbs me at 18mm though, easily fixed with PTLens, but something to bear in mind perhaps if you don't enjoy the post processing side.

If I'm travelling, in the hills or just need to keep gear to a minimum though, always reach for this lens and rarely do I regret having no other option.

Hope it helps...

[pressld2]

Nice one Nicola! You're going to have a great weekend!

My D300 has just celebrated it's 1st birthday and has now gone 3 times round the clock. 30,000 images in a year - eeek!

Lenses: traditional wisdom has it that the greater the range of a zoom the lower the image quality will be, particularly at the extreme ends of the range. But lens technology is improving all the time and so is post processing software so maybe this is no longer of such concern. Personally I have no experience of the 18-200. I use the 16-85 and the 80-400, both with a 5x zoom range, and am very happy with both lenses (although I wish the 80-400 had a silent wave motor to make it a bit quicker to focus).

Sure there are occasions when I'm taking a landscape with the smaller lens and something will turn up that has me cursing I didn't have the 80-400 on, but that's fairly rare. And when it happens it's always the 400 end I wanted so I think I'd still be cursing if I was using an 18-200.

I'm looking forward to seeing your pics so post some soon!

Dave P.

[NicolaB]

Thanks for the advice all! Will keep you posted, and hopefully have some nice shots by Monday!

[momji1971]

Well done nicola! You got it! I'm sure you'll be impressed with the new toy! Can't wait to see some pics.

regards.
Stu.

[welsh.lensman]

Hi Nicola and welcome to the D300 club.

Before I got the D300 I had the D80 and I bought the 18-200mm VR lens to go with it, when I upgraded I kept the 18-200 because its so versatile, I've used it for portraits, landscapes and even a couple of weddings, and I've never had any reason to regret purchasing it.
I use the Nikkon 105mm VR for my macro photo's and the Sigma 105-500mm when photographing birds, but for any other photographic tasks I rely on the 18-200mm.


This is just my personal view Nicola, and whatever lens you decide to buy I hope you have lots of fun with your new camera on the Brecon Beacons.

Regards

Wayne.