I could not came to conclusion

[pjgoswami]

I could not came to conclusion for the buying my present lens requirements.

As per my senior in this forum I finalized to buy a Nikkor 70-300mm VR lens for my Nikon D5000 in addition to the kit lens 18-55mm VR.

Before purchasing the lens I found some advertisement from some of users in other forum want to sell their some lens. Now my confusion starts here. They are selling “Sigma 18-200mm os hsm (nikon mount) six month old ” in somewhat low price. During last 2-3 months lens prices shooting very high in our place. So my wish to go for that to get the range between 55mm to 70mm, and can keep for everyday use. After that I will go for “Nikkor 70-300mm VR”.

For that reason I searched in some website for the review. All the reviews showing mixed results. Dpreview, photozone etc sites showing that in the range of 80mm its result is very poor. In some of the site I have seen some photograph which are very low contrast.

So I need help from your side before doing the wrong selection. The Nikkor 18-135mm/18-105mm are costlier then the Sigma & I am not sure about the VR availability.

One more doubt from my side that when I use some old manual lens getting the result very impressive. In this point I am wrong or right please guide me. If I use manual lens then I have to modify my little gear that install one Katz focusing lens in prism assembly. Till today they haven’t release their Nikon D5000 version. So I will manage one from old 35mm film camera and will cut in to the size and will fit to it, till getting the Katz lens. Will it be right thing to do?

Thanking you.

[radityopradipto]

Hey... In my opinion, you should get the 18-200 IF you think you'll need an ALL IN ONE lens. I have Nikon 18-200, it still give reasonably sharp result as long as you didn't shoot at its weakest point (i.e. 135mm).
18-135 is NON VR lens, while 18-105 has VR. I'll skip the first one and go for the second one if my choice is only that two lens.
Sigma's 18-200 is quite nice (I mean, cheaper than other 18-200) but remember the max aperture for 200mm is 6.3, not 5.6 like Nikon's or Canon's.
About the focusing screen, I can't really answer your question
But you can cheat the manual focus to be honest.. Use the Live View while focusing to get better result Hope that this will help

Cheers mate

[OsmosisStudios]

I wouldnt bother with an 18-200 unless you NEED a single-lens solution. Just get the 70-300 and be happy with it.

[Shokinen]

I agree, your feet can cover for the 55-70 range.

The 70-300mm was actually my second lens (started with the 18-55 just like you) and I'm always carrying it.

[pjgoswami]

Thanks to everybody for the valued guidance, now I will go for Nikkor 70-300mm VR.

And loan some manual lens (as per my hobby) for testing purpose from friends. Generally I am in the favor of Vivitar Series 1, which I found handy as well as sharp but TOO HEAVY then the camera body.If there any suggestion please give me.

Thanking again for the guidance.