Comparing 18-55mm lens with 55-200mm lens

[parth_pandit]

Hi All,

This is my first post in this community.

I am a beginner in photography and so far only used a point to shoot camera. I am planning to go one step forward to the world of DSLR. After extensive research and considering my budget, I have decided to go with Nikon D3100.

Nikon D3100 comes with standard 18-55mm lens, which I think will not be enough for day to day and travel photography. I saw a deal that gives me an extra zoom lens of 55-200mm for additional $100. If I buy this extra lens in the market, it costs me around $180. I am not sure if the price for the lenses ever going to decrease in future if I would not buy at this time.

My concept of 55-200mm lens is for additional zooming requirement. Please let me know, if there are any additional benefits for that.

I need your expert advise to help me decide my below doubts.

1. Will I need 55-200mm lens for sure in near future so it's better to buy it as a package for better deal?
2. Should I just buy the default package with 18-55mm lens as it will be sufficient for majority scenarios?
3. Should I buy the extra lens as package as I get it almost $80 less than the market price?
4. Should I wait to buy the extra lens in future and get my hands on 18-55mm first as there are chances to get the 55-200mm lens even cheaper than $100?

I will really be thankful to you, if you could help me take this decision and give me a genuine advise.

I don't want to spend any additional dollar unless it is a wise decision. My purpose is to photograph my family and on occasional travelling destinations. I am not planning to be a professional photographer at any point of time in future. This is all for personal use. I like nature photography as a hobby.

[RLucas]

Originally Posted by parth_pandit

Hi All,

This is my first post in this community.

I am a beginner in photography and so far only used a point to shoot camera. I am planning to go one step forward to the world of DSLR. After extensive research and considering my budget, I have decided to go with Nikon D3100.

Nikon D3100 comes with standard 18-55mm lens, which I think will not be enough for day to day and travel photography. I saw a deal that gives me an extra zoom lens of 55-200mm for additional $100. If I buy this extra lens in the market, it costs me around $180. I am not sure if the price for the lenses ever going to decrease in future if I would not buy at this time.

My concept of 55-200mm lens is for additional zooming requirement. Please let me know, if there are any additional benefits for that.

I need your expert advise to help me decide my below doubts.

1. Will I need 55-200mm lens for sure in near future so it's better to buy it as a package for better deal?
2. Should I just buy the default package with 18-55mm lens as it will be sufficient for majority scenarios?
3. Should I buy the extra lens as package as I get it almost $80 less than the market price?
4. Should I wait to buy the extra lens in future and get my hands on 18-55mm first as there are chances to get the 55-200mm lens even cheaper than $100?

I will really be thankful to you, if you could help me take this decision and give me a genuine advise.

I don't want to spend any additional dollar unless it is a wise decision. My purpose is to photograph my family and on occasional travelling destinations. I am not planning to be a professional photographer at any point of time in future. This is all for personal use. I like nature photography as a hobby.

When I got my D40 kit, I just got the one with the 18-55mm, and used it and kept track of what range I stayed in most of the time, which ended up being in the upper end of the zoom range. I stayed with that until I decided I needed more reach. Then I bought the 70-300VR. I just did it based on my needs, but you may be better off getting both at the same time. It will cover a pretty wide range of situations with just those two lenses. If you find you don't need the longer range of the zoom, they hold their value fairly well from what I have seen, and you can get a large portion of your money back. Especially if you are already saving $80.00 out of the gate.

[parth_pandit]

Hi Luke,

Thanks for your advise and a quick response! So I hear in your words that it is a good deal to get the additional lens as a package as it covers a very wide range of scenarios.