Saving up towards a lens - need advice

[lerabu]

Hi!

So, I have just bought a Nikon D80 and am using my old Nikkor AF 35-70mm (21 years old!) that my grandfather had on his Nikon F601.

With the D80's crop factor the lens is something like 56 - 112mm putting it I guess into some kind of tele lens?

Right now to go "wide angle" I use a X 0.45 adapter that I screw onto the lens which kind of puts it somewhere from 28-56mm.

I really love wide angle but then again, there is always that shot when you wished to have tele

So I would really love your advice on the following:

1. Get a wide angle (Nikon or third party? Budget is a bit of an issue, I saw Tokina lenses at half the price, I am not looking to go pro, hobby is more my game) + Get a tele adapter for my current lens - 2X - 3.5X are available on the market
2. Sa

ve up loads of cash and get the Nikon 18-200mm VR II?

Adapters really affect the sharpness of the shots and also there is so much possibility for dust, which I found out the hard way... :/

Thanks!

[PWhite214]

I do not own a Nikon, so just a few general comments.

Tokina, Tamron and Sigma are the probably the most popular 3rd party lens manufacturers. Then there is Vivitar/Phoenix/Cosina. All make lenses of varying quality and price. I am sure that there is a comprehensive review database somewhere on the 'net.

A quick search located the following:

lreviews.info - your SLR lens review database

I am sure you can find more.

I use Sony Alpha DSLR's and have lenses branded by Minolta, Sigma, Tamron and Vivitar. All of my lenses (except the "kit" lenses) were used, purchased from EBAY, pawn shops, ETC. Fortunately there is a huge lens review database for the Alpha Mount at Dyxum.com making reasearch simple. Possibly that might help on 3rd party lenses as the build and optics should be the same, just a different lens mount.

A-mount lens database (lenses for Minolta and Sony DSLR cameras)

I hope this helps.

Phil

[Aegea]

I have an old 35-70AF f/3.3 - 4.5 - I assume that's the same as yours. It's not a bad lens at all, I think mine is at least as good as the 18-55 kit lens optically, and much better built. You are right that it is a normal to short tele on a crop camera. I've never used a wide angle adapter, but I imagine there is some quality degradation when using one.

You don't mention your budget, but for wide angle at a low price, you could get a used 18-55 kit lens, but that overlaps the 35-70, and 18 isn't that wide on a D80. The Tokina 12-24 is a good third party lens, but moderately expensive at $400 or so for the version without a motor in the lens.

For the long end, a 2x extender will almost certainly degrade the IQ significantly, as well as giving you f/9 at the long end, so autofocus won't work. Not recommended, in my opinion. A Kenko 1.4x would be feasible, but you'd be better off getting a used longer zoom for about the same money. I bought a Nikon 28-105 from KEH for $190 which works pretty well.

I'm sure other people will have other suggestions, but these have worked for me.

Before buying anything, I'd recommend you do some reading of review sites. Bjorn Rorslett is very good Lens Evaluations for Nikon lenses. Other sites include dpreview Digital Cameras: Digital Photography Review, News, Reviews, Forums, FAQ and SLRGear Camera lens tests, user reviews, camera accessory reviews - SLRgear.com!

Google will be your friend!

[lerabu]

Dear both,

Thank you very much for your answers and those very useful links you have sent! As I mentioned, I am a newbie so everything is pretty much unkown to me so far and I am here to discover!

Aegea,

Yes that is that lens! It is great but unfortunately a bit skewed towards the long focal lengths due to the D80's crop factor

My budget is up to 300 EUR for the lens, I will definitely buy second hand off eBay or other online sales stores because for hobbies I don't mean to spend the full price of a new lens

Thank you! You have both pointed me in the right direction for my search!

BTW, this is really newbish of me but I didn't know a tele adapter would affect the f-number that badly! :/ I guess it makes sense as it narrows heavily down the amount of light that comes into the camera through the lens!

[OsmosisStudios]

Ditch the 35-70 and get an 18-55 and 55-200 and be done with it.

[Almond.Butterscotch]

or an 18-55 + 70-300? (Budget permitting)

[lerabu]

Hey!

I was looking at lenses for half a day today on the internet, my eyes are sore right now :P

I saw the 18-55 made it into Ken Rockwell's top 10 Nikon lenses! And I was reading reviews and it looked awsome actually when compared to the other "kit lenses". How relevant is Ken Rockwell's opinion? I apologise if it borders on blasphemy!

Thanks for the suggestions for the tele lenses but they'are unfotunately going to have to sit out for a while due to budget constraints

I saw the 18-105 VR and 18-135 had a lot of distortion and vignjetting issues. Is it really that bad?

[Almond.Butterscotch]

First of all, you should never take Ken Rockwell's advice on face value. Ever. The man's an idiot and his "reviews" are seriously biased. Check out his review for the 18-200mm and then do a search on this forum for what real photographers think about it.

That said, the 18-55mm is indeed a solid lens. Plasticy, sure, but solid nevertheless.

Admittedly, for my purposes, the 35mm f/1.8 all but replaced my 18-55mm. I'll occasionally still use the 18-55, but it may as well be an 18mm f/3.5.

[lerabu]

Hehe Thank you for your thoughts on that particular website

Because of my budget and the level of engagement I am looking at into photography, right now, being mostly hobby I think I will need to get a zoom lens for sure. Primes are really exciting! The more I learn about photography the better they seem!

So I think it's going to be either of the three:

• 18-55
• 18-105 VR
• 18-135

I have put it on paper and I think I will need a good all-rounder lens (I know this is as close as it gets to an oxymoron but that's what my budget allows for at the time being). I am under 30 so by the time I am 50 and the kids have left home I will be able to drive in some more cash into this! Right now I need a lens to capture the coming family moments!

Which of the three would you recommend? Still the 18-55?

From what I have read the 18-55 is the best concerning optics but the 18-105 - the kit lens being sold with the D90 seems good enough? It appears it will encompass the low focal lengths which I am missing out on with my current lens and I will still get some "tele" to shoot kids at a moderate distance. It appears that with enough light and the appropriate apperture I will be able to take photographs without too muc vignetting and distortion? I will for sure run the photographs through Lightroom and Photoshop to correct for eventual lens distortions.

Thanks for taking the time to put your answers in this thread!

[OsmosisStudios]

The 18-105 is a fantastic walkaround zoom. If you've got the budget, i'd be tempted to go for the 16-85 instead, but the 18-105 is still quite good.