D80 - Best option for a "travel" lense.

[indi77]

Hi there,

Off to America for a holiday in June, and want to ensure that I am kitted up with the right lense to ensure that I am not disappointed with my snaps when I arrive home.

I currently have a Kit lense on my Nikon D80 - 18 - 105mm.

I am guessing that a lense with a reach to 200mm would be better. Any advice ? Models ?

THanks,

[ozimax]

I don't shoot Nikon anymore, but I am told that the 18-200mm is a fairly decent all rounder. It's most probably not great at any one focal length, but will do a pretty good job.

There are many Nikon-ites here on the forum who can advise you as to a good travel lens.

Ozi.

[DaveB]

The pedants on the forum will pipe up and point out that there's no such thing as a "lense". The singular term is "lens".

If you want a single "all-rounder" lens then the Nikon 18-200mm VR lens sounds like a good choice. But I haven't used it myself so can't really comment.


Wait... that makes me a pedant. Oh yeah!...

[gstark]

A lense?

A lens!

What do you intend shooting? Where in the US are you traveling to? These are important questions.

The 18-200 is a great lens, and especially for traveling, but the issue is that you have the 18-105, which already covers much of that range.

Neither of these lenses are optically fast; is that a problem for you?

[ixero]

Never used the 18-105mm myself, but the 18-200mm is perfect for daytime shooting.
You could probably do without the extra focal length, and your $$$ might be better spent on a fast prime around the 35-50mm range for low light. That would be something you would have to decide for yourself.

[indi77]

Firstly, apologies for the cardinal sin of a spelling mistake! I stand corrected.

I am pretty new to all of this !!! I am finding now that I am disappointed with the range that I get on the 105mm - hence my wish to upgrade on that level.

I love taking photo's of people and their expressions ; for travelling it will be scenic as well as people.

Nikon AFS18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED VR ... around $1k mark
Nikon 70-300mm ƒ/4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR ... ???
Nikon AF-S DX VR 55-200mm ... around $300 mark
Tamron AF28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 VC ... around $900 mark
Tamron AF18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II LD ... around $700 mark
Tamron AF18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II LD ... around $300 mark..

Obviously there is a massive price difference.

ANy thoughts on the above bundle of lenses. I am working on a Nikon D80 body.

Thanks,

[fozzie]

indi77 - here are independent reviews from Fred Miranda website:

Firstly, apologies for the cardinal sin of a spelling mistake! I stand corrected.

I am pretty new to all of this !!! I am finding now that I am disappointed with the range that I get on the 105mm - hence my wish to upgrade on that level.

I love taking photo's of people and their expressions ; for travelling it will be scenic as well as people.

Nikon AFS18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED VR ... around $1k mark
Nikon 70-300mm ƒ/4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR ... ???
Nikon AF-S DX VR 55-200mm ... around $300 mark
Tamron AF28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 VC ... around $900 mark
Tamron AF18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II LD ... around $700 mark
Tamron AF18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II LD ... around $300 mark..

Obviously there is a massive price difference.

ANy thoughts on the above bundle of lenses. I am working on a Nikon D80 body.

Thanks,

Nikon AFS18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED VR ... around $1k mark
http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/show ... =28&page=1

Nikon 70-300mm ƒ/4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR ... ???
http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/show ... =28&page=2

Nikon AF-S DX VR 55-200mm ... around $300 mark
http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/show ... =28&page=2

Tamron AF28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 VC ... around $900 mark
http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/show ... =43&page=2

Tamron AF18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II LD ... around $700 mark
http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/show ... =43&page=1

Tamron AF18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II LD ... around $300 mark..
http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/show ... =43&page=1

Trust that this will be of assistance, along with other comments to follow on this thread..

[gstark]

ANy thoughts on the above bundle of lenses. I am working on a Nikon D80 body.

While this may, at first, sound counter-intuitive, please try to understand that it is your camera body that is the disposable item here. You should purchase your lenses with a view to the future - a view towards enhancing and enabling your future photographic experiences.

That said, I would probably look towards the Nikkor 55-200 DX VR. For very few PP you will be getting the greatest flexibility in a lightweight but quite sharp lens. It has similar speed to the 18-200, but is less than 1/3 the cost. For most places in the US, this one, plus your existing 18-105, should handle about 95% of the shooting opportunities that should present themselves to you.

I would also perhaps consider adding the Sigma 10-20 (the new model - just announced - offers a fixed f/3.5 throughout the focal length range) to add to the wide end of your lens range, and perhaps also consider the 50mm f/1.8 because it's a fast, inexpensive prime.

Now, you also say that you are disappointed in the 18-105, but you don't say why. Could you please expand upon this for a moment?

If your concern is that things seem "too far away", then while the 55-200 (or 18-200) will go some way towards addressing that perceived issue, with the D80 you also usually have enough in-camera resolution to be able to substantially crop the image down to something more closely resembling what you might be expecting to see. This becomes a combination of a couple of issues - the management of your expectations, coupled with ensuring that your technique is solid enough to ensure that you have images that possess acceptable quality (focus, exposure) to permit cropping of the image. If your technique isn't up to par, then your images may appear grainy or noisy (exposure issues) or they may lack sharpness, but with a little practise, your technique may be able to be improved upon to help you overcome these issues.

Of course, addressing any issues in your technique will yield benefits right across your whole photographic spectrum, and thus it's the best approach to addressing any perceived problems.

So, please let us see a couple of the images that have disappointed you, and why. We can then work from that as a basis, having the knowledge of where you are coming from.

[surenj]

ANy thoughts on the above bundle of lenses. I am working on a Nikon D80 body.

While this may, at first, sound counter-intuitive, please try to understand that it is your camera body that is the disposable item here. You should purchase your lenses with a view to the future - a view towards enhancing and enabling your future photographic experiences.

That said, I would probably look towards the Nikkor 55-200 DX VR. For very few PP you will be getting the greatest flexibility in a lightweight but quite sharp lens. It has similar speed to the 18-200, but is less than 1/3 the cost. For most places in the US, this one, plus your existing 18-105, should handle about 95% of the shooting opportunities that should present themselves to you.

I would also perhaps consider adding the Sigma 10-20 (the new model - just announced - offers a fixed f/3.5 throughout the focal length range) to add to the wide end of your lens range, and perhaps also consider the 50mm f/1.8 because it's a fast, inexpensive prime.

Now, you also say that you are disappointed in the 18-105, but you don't say why. Could you please expand upon this for a moment?

If your concern is that things seem "too far away", then while the 55-200 (or 18-200) will go some way towards addressing that perceived issue, with the D80 you also usually have enough in-camera resolution to be able to substantially crop the image down to something more closely resembling what you might be expecting to see. This becomes a combination of a couple of issues - the management of your expectations, coupled with ensuring that your technique is solid enough to ensure that you have images that possess acceptable quality (focus, exposure) to permit cropping of the image. If your technique isn't up to par, then your images may appear grainy or noisy (exposure issues) or they may lack sharpness, but with a little practise, your technique may be able to be improved upon to help you overcome these issues.

Of course, addressing any issues in your technique will yield benefits right across your whole photographic spectrum, and thus it's the best approach to addressing any perceived problems.

So, please let us see a couple of the images that have disappointed you, and why. We can then work from that as a basis, having the knowledge of where you are coming from.

Good advise Gary. I would like to see these dissapointing images as well. I would be stoked with a 18 - 105 walkabout. The Canonians don't have access to such greatness!