HELP me choose a new lens

[flipfrog]

i have some cash to burn so want a second lens. so far all i have is the d70 kit lens.

i shoot everything, but like doing portrait stuff (want a real sharp lens), street/photojournalistic, and landscape.

where to start....

any help or suggestions would be great!

thanks

[MATT]

70-200VR

or 70-300 VRII


MATT

[edneeves]

12-24

A truely awesome bit of glass!

[dooda]

Dee, one thing you can do is take your memory card to the shop, tell them you're looking at some lenses, throw the lens and memory card on a camera, and snap some shots at different apetures.

If you'd like my 70-300 ED lens I'd sell you it. It's barely been used and it's not bad glass if you want to stretch your money out a little.

I think you should get a 30mm 1.4, or a super wide, but if it's portraits you want, maybe an 85 1.8 or 1.4, or if you want to go crazy, the 70-200 vr (it's a lot of money though and it's huge)

[Raskill]

The 85mm 1.8 is a very nice sharp lens, as is the 50mm 1.8. I sold my kit lens to get more primes, and now think I made the wrong decision, having the zoom function is a good, very handy option.

Sure it ain't as sharp as a a prime, but in it's place I now carry a 20mm, 50mm and 85mm, which take up space and weight.

I guess the gist of my rambling is basically try to find a good quality sharp Nikkor lens with a good focal range. The 70-200mm VR is great, really great, but big, heavy, expensive and theres none left in the whole world (apparently).

[Onyx]

18-200VR - so far it's received acclaim for its image quality, inspite of strereotypes of image quality from wide zoom lenses.

[Jeko70]

Budget?
.....Sharp as razor....uhmmmmmm

In my opinion

PJs lenses:
Nikon 17-35 f2.8
Nikon 28-70 f2.8

Less expensive but Nikon
Nikon 35-70 f2.8

Good prize and good lenses
Tamron 28-75 f2.8
Tokina 28-80 f2.8


Portrait:
Nikon 85 f1.4 top one
or Nikon 85 f1.8

Landscape or WA
Tokina 12-24 f4

Fab

[wendellt]

for portraiture the shallow depth of field and quality bokeh profuced by the 85mm f/1.4 is excellent

for street reportage guess most photojournalists use the 28-70 f/2.8

[LostDingo]

a 28-70 2.8 would stay affixed to your camera most of the time, 70-200 vr if you have a deep pocket but would like to make it shallow

[paulvdb1]

Depends on your photography style I guess...

If you have your flash on all the time then the kit lens covers just about everything. The 28-70 would be great for everything but 2.8 is not quite enough for some people like me who only use the flash in specific situations. Getting the 50/1.4 or 1.8 is a great decision for portraiture and other low-light situations. You get the benefit of a light lens, low light usgae, shallow DOF when needed, and good sharpness. Or you can dig up a 35/f2 like I did - fairly cheap as well.

I'd like to try the Sigma 30/1.4 myself. It may also turn out to be something you might use. I just haven't seen any raves about it yet.

[nito]

You cant go wrong with a 17-35 or 17-55 mm 2.8 lens. If VR is your flavour the 70-200 is an excellent choice or a sigma 70-200 if VR is not required.

[flipfrog]

wow
some great reviews here...thanks guys!

is the nikon 85mm f/1.4 a pricey lens? anyone have it ?

[fozzie]

flipfrog - firstly I do not the either lens.

I have just looked at hksupplies.com ebay website and with shipping costs taken into consideration the costs are:

85/1.4 = US$975 (approx.)

85/1.8 = US$400 (approx.)

wow
some great reviews here...thanks guys!

is the nikon 85mm f/1.4 a pricey lens? anyone have it ?

[Matt. K]

Best all rounder...50mm F1.4. And it won't break the bank.

[Mal]

Best all rounder...50mm F1.4. And it won't break the bank.

I'll second that! But if the bank is broken then the F1.8 is very good as well.

[ajo43]

I have a heap of fun with my 35mm F2.0 supplied by Birdy for around A$400.

The digital equivalent to the standard lens.

How much do you want to spend?