Nikon lens advice please

[pressld2]

After several months hard saving, I'm going to take the plunge and buy a D300 next month. I'd like to pass my D70 on to my son, Tom, and the 18-70 kit lens with it. So I need to buy a "standard" lens to use with the D300 and I'm thinking a short zoom might be the way to go. At the moment I'm leaning towards the 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX IF ED.

I've been reading the reviews of this lens and, as always, there are pluses and minuses. On the plus side it has a 67mm filter thread - the same as the 18-70 - so I won't need to buy a new polarizer, and the focusing is all internal so no problems with the front element rotating. It also seems to be rated very highly for sharpness throughout the whole focal length range. On the minus side, some reviews complain of both barrel and pin-cushion distortion at certain focal lengths and also of chromatic abberation.

I believe this lens was the most commonly sold kit lens with the D80 (and possibly the D200 too) so I'd appreciate any opinions and experiences of WAB members using it in real life as opposed to magazine tests.

Another plus point for this lens is that I can get it for under £200. Would anyone recommend an alternative at a similar price point (up to £300 at a pinch)?

Thanks in advance,

Dave P.

[mh68]

I knew it wouldnt be too long before you splashed out on a D300
I`ll keep an eye open on the camera forums Dave, and if i find any info of use concerning the lenses you`ve mentioned i`ll let you know.

Mark H

[pressld2]

Thanks Mark - much appreciated!

Dave P.

[mh68]

Dave,
A quick search on dpreview forums for the lens you mentioned suggests that as well as the negative points you stated, it apparently can also vignette a bit through the whole focal range, more so with a filter attached.The Tamron SP 24-135 seems popular and is said to be very sharp, but looks to be at the upper limit of your price range. Also the Nikon 24-120 af-s vr has positive feedback and looks to be within your price range. Might be worth checking out some reviews etc for these 2.

Mark H

[Seajay]

Hi Dave, I have this lens - it came with my D80. Not used it much but when I did I was quite taken at how sharp it was! Never noticed any fall off or aberration but then I do not profess to be a pro.
Like all DX lens it is very light so I kept mine to use on holidays abroad. I have other, faster lenses but they cost 5 times the price! Who wants to risk those abroad? I had to work all my life to get those (used some of my lump sum when I retired from the Civil Service). What I am trying to say is for the money it is a really good, excellent, practical and affordable lens for general use.
Against it is no VR and you cannot use Nikon converter's with DX.

You are buying the D300 which is a cracking camera and my next purchase when I can afford it - could you not stretch to the 18-200 VR as a general lens? Ive not used it personally but my son-in-law swears by his.

As an aside have you considered the D80? It is really a cracking camera and much cheaper than the D300. The money offset could go towards a better lens. Do not make the mistake of thinking of the D80 as an upgrade of the D70. It is nearly up to the standard of the D200 in spec.

It's really a matter of weighing up all the pros and cons. The camera in digital photography is extremely important but without a good lens you'll always be dissatisfied with the results. In other words, what do you want out of photography and what are your circumstances because you will always need something else.

Think carefully and wisely and get the equipment that will give you the maximum return for the outlay you can afford at the stage of life you are in. A bit mind boggling I know but it is the best advice I can give you.
With a young family life can be a struggle.

Colin

[VinceS]

I have this lens and also got it with my D80 just before Xmas. I am certainly not a pro so I would not use my comments as a recommendation. All I can say is I was amazed how sharp the images were and I did not notice any aberration. As has been said before for the price it is a good lens.
Vince

[stephen p]

Hello Dave,

I havent personally used this lens but i noticed someone quoted that the 24-120vr lens is good, me and my dad use this lens on our D200's and it is brilliant.
My dad recently used it for a wedding and the results were brilliant, he had never used it for this type of work but it performed spot on and putting on the D300 you wont got wrong especially with the sharpness and details of the 300.
Also the 18-200 VR is a cracking lens, maybe a bit more on the price but covers a wide zoom range.

Stephen

[pressld2]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions everyone - some real food for thought there.

I have a friend who owns a D80 so I know what a cracking camera it is. As you say, Seajay, it's a lot more than just a souped up D70. I must admit that when I first heard about the D300 my initial thought was "Oh good, the D80 and D200 will come down in price now, and I can get one of those". But then I read the D300 spec, and then I read the reviews, and then I got to play with one (briefly) at the Nikon Solutions Expo in Olympia and that was it - hooked! The extra 2 megapixels is useful but not that important. The best things about it for me are the high ISO performance (something that I think Canon users have enjoyed for a while now but which is the one and only complaint I have ever made about my D70) and the high burst rate. When I picked one up at Olympia I didn't realise it was set to continuous shooting. I pressed the shutter expecting it to take a picture and it took about six before I could react and lift my finger from the button!

The Nikon 24-120 and the Tamron 24-135 both look good and have the added advantage that they aren't DX lenses. Any weaknesses with lenses are always more pronounced at the edges, whether it's vignetting (obviously!), softness or distortion. Using a non-DX lens with a DX sensor means that the camera is cropping most of these weaknesses off for you. The problem with these is that the 24mm end of the range is not really wide enough as the DX sensor makes it a 36mm equivalent. With my old film cameras I often used a 28mm wide angle for landscapes and to get the equivalent field of view now I need 18mm.

I was initially put off the 18-200 because of the zoom range (11X). But following Seajay's and stephen p's posts I've given it a closer look. From your comments and other reviews it does seem to be at least the equal of the 18-135 which really surprised me. However, it looks like the only real benefit for the extra money is the increase in zoom range from 135mm up to 200mm and with my 80-400 VR lens I already have that range covered.

I've just done what I should have thought to do at the outset, which is to look at the equivalent reviews of the 18-70mm kit lens that came with my D70. I've always been perfectly happy with that lens and yet it's rated worse than the 18-135 for both barrel distortion and vignetting!

So, all things considered, the 18-135 is still looking the best bet at the moment!

Dave P.

[pressld2]

Ooh, there's a new kid on the block!

Nikon have just announced the AF-S DX Nikkor 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR which will start shipping in Feb. Definitely worth waiting a bit to see how good this lens is. If it cuts the mustard I could cover every focal length from 16mm to 400mm in just two lenses, both with VR, and with only a 5mm overlap in the middle!

Plus points: It has a silent wave motor and VR II and it takes 67mm filters. The press release doesn't mention internal focusing but I'd be surprised if it doesn't have that. Closest focus is 0.38m throughout the zoom range.

A few minor downsides...

• It's a DX lens like all the 18-nnn ones so might suffer a little from vignetting, soft corners etc. I'll have to wait for some reviews to see if that's an issue.
• With an RRP of £429.99 it's a bit over my budget although I'm sure it will retail for under £400.
• At 85mm the max aperture is f5.6, however the VR II should more than compensate for that.

Dave P.

P.s. forgot to mention - the new D60 10.2 megapixel DSLR was announced in the same press release.