Looking for cheap lenes.

[Killjoy]

I am a high school student. This means that spending a load of money on lenses is not an option for me.

I was able to buy myself a Nikon D3100 with the money I made from working over the summer and its an awesome little toy. The lens it comes with it is perfect for what I am trying to shoot, but I am also looking to expand.

I was wondering what were your experiences with cheap lens' and could you make any suggestions?

[Jonbar18]

What lens do you have now, and what are you looking to shoot?
An aproximate budget wouldnt hurt either.

[SwissJon]

Would suggest that you look on ebay.. There are plenty of decent second hand lenses around.

But what Jonbar said.. It's important to know how much you can afford, and what kind of photography you're looking to do.

[Killjoy]

Well I don't have a particular budget although I could never afford spending over 200-300$ on one lens.
I also like shooting a variety of different things. If you take a look at my photo blog you can see what I mean (signature). A range interests me.

[Jonbar18]

If you're just looking for more range, the two I can think of now is the 55-200 IS or the Sigma 70-300 (Nikon version is about double the cost) Both are about $250, or $200 if you're frugal. I also suggest checking out a local store that sells used lenses. If you don't mind losing auto focus, you can find a whole bunch of great lenses for cheap.

[NathanFranke]

50mm f/1.8

less than $150 US, regardless of brand. Sharp at mid-f/stops, has a wide aperture for the shots where you want small depth of field. Gua-ran-teed to make you a better photographer, because you'll have to zoom with your feet, analyze your subject, and make better photographs.

[Killjoy]

Originally Posted by NathanFranke

50mm f/1.8

less than $150 US, regardless of brand. Sharp at mid-f/stops, has a wide aperture for the shots where you want small depth of field. Gua-ran-teed to make you a better photographer, because you'll have to zoom with your feet, analyze your subject, and make better photographs.

Why would I want that when I already have my 18-55mm? I am on a budget and I am not going to spend money on a lens that already does what I have, even if it takes slightly sharper pictures.

[inkista]

Actually, I was going to say 35mm f/1.8G. But yeah. It is not only sharper, but also does a max. aperture of f/1.8. That's 10 times more light than an f/5.6 lens (which is what your 18-55 is @55mm). Think of that as being able to use 1/10th the iso setting, or 10x faster shutter speed in the same lighting conditions. Also a much thinner DoF is possible.

It ain't all about focal length coverage, and there's a reason the max. aperture is also given in any lens description.

A prime will also force you to compose with your feet. No zooming. And while you're shifting front/back, it will also (probably) occur to you to shift sideways. Or higher/lower. And you'll actually be actively composing more readily than you would with a zoom. It's weird, but newbies with zoom lenses tend to fixate on framing solely through zooming and sometimes miss how there might be better possibilities in shifting position.

Your only other alternatives for <$200 lenses are going to be old manual focus lenses. Which are kind of a PITA to use on a D3100 (no autofocus, no metering, no EXIF info from the lens), and are mostly going to be primes that aren't particularly wide or fast. The old AI lenses are probably the ones you'll want to find out about.

[PhilD41]

Killjoy, I have the D7000 and also own the 18-55mm zoom. I also have the Nikor 70-300mm and love it. If you can get a similar sigma for ~$200 then you will have quite the range covered. Even with that, the next lens I bought was a 50mm f/1.4 It is AMAZING how your images change when you switch to a prime.

I bought mine at a local photo store that has a small consignment section in the back. Only cost me $200 and is like new. I also bought my 18-55mm refurbished from adorama. It came looking and functioning like brand new and cost me considerably less. I believe there are a few other places online that sell used and refurbished.

Anyway... for the most flexibility I would start with the 70-300mm or something in that range and then look into a prime. A f/1.8 should be fine and keep you busy for a long time. Also, a side benefit of the 70-300mm is that it lets you do sudo macro by zooming in on something relatively close. Not a true substitute for macro, but gets you closer than you were.

Speaking of macro... I have an old Raynox DCR-250 from my super-zoom days that I have been using with success on my D7000. They are considerably cheaper than a true macro lens and might be an option as well if you wanted to branch out into that field. There is a flickr group for the adapter as well if you are curious what people do with it.

Anyway, that would me my suggestions. Good luck!

[Jonbar18]

I would definitely recommend getting a 50 or 35mm. Not sure on the AF-S costs (something like 400-500, right???), but the 50 1.8 can be bought for about $150 new, $75-100 if you're frugal or buy used. But again you lose autofocus. A great lens for learning (see above), but I would go for a telephoto first, so you can have the range you need. Either way, neither are very expensive and with a little smart shopping, you could probably get both while barely going over your $300 limit.

Originally Posted by PhilD41

Anyway... for the most flexibility I would start with the 70-300mm or something in that range and then look into a prime. A f/1.8 should be fine and keep you busy for a long time. Also, a side benefit of the 70-300mm is that it lets you do sudo macro by zooming in on something relatively close. Not a true substitute for macro, but gets you closer than you were.

Actually, the Sigma version IS macro, though only in the 200+ range. So there ya go, another reason to get it.

Originally Posted by inkista

Your only other alternatives for <$200 lenses are going to be old manual focus lenses. Which are kind of a PITA to use on a D3100 (no autofocus, no metering, no EXIF info from the lens), and are mostly going to be primes that aren't particularly wide or fast. The old AI lenses are probably the ones you'll want to find out about.

There are a bunch of older lenses for <200 that will still have full functionality other than auto focus. I bought a 28-80 3.5-5.6 that used to be the kit lens on film lenses and some of the older DSLR's for $100. Great lens if you don't mind manual focus.