Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Best All-Round Lens for D40?

Kardashian

Kardashian

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 4, 2005
2,083
2
Britain.
I'm going travelling to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and LA, as some of you may know.

Whilst I'll be taking a Canon IXUS 70 (after I get a new one, after being MUGGED.. lovely), I'd like to use the D40 as much as possible.

It will be used for scenery shots, and pictures of myself and my friend against backgrounds, and just general day to day snap shots.

Most will be outside during the day, and some will be at night.

What would you recommend? I'm also on a tight, tight budget, so as cheap as possible. Also, would you recommend any filters?

Thanks all :)
 
RevToTheRedline

RevToTheRedline

macrumors 6502a
Sep 27, 2007
581
154
In that case I'd say go for the 18-135mm it's the kit lens with the D80. I have one and like it a lot, it's one of the only kit lenses I've ever liked.

I think it's pretty cheap now at around $200 USD whatever that figures out for you (the 18-200 VR is around $800 so that gives you a idea of price difference)
 
Kardashian

Kardashian

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 4, 2005
2,083
2
Britain.
RevToTheRedline said:
In that case I'd say go for the 18-135mm it's the kit lens with the D80. I have one and like it a lot, it's one of the only kit lenses I've ever liked.

I think it's pretty cheap now at around $200 USD whatever that figures out for you (the 18-200 VR is around $800 so that gives you a idea of price difference)
Click to expand...

Brilliant. It's mostly going to be random snapshots of me/my friend doing random things - walking, lying on the beach, just ''memories'' in general. I'm not hoping to create some big spectacular photoshoot.

Will the 18-135mm be ok for night time use, as well? I understand it won't be perfect but, it won't be ''bad''?

[I really appreciate your help] :)
 
RevToTheRedline

RevToTheRedline

macrumors 6502a
Sep 27, 2007
581
154
JDT said:
Brilliant. It's mostly going to be random snapshots of me/my friend doing random things - walking, lying on the beach, just ''memories'' in general. I'm not hoping to create some big spectacular photoshoot.

Will the 18-135mm be ok for night time use, as well? I understand it won't be perfect but, it won't be ''bad''?

[I really appreciate your help] :)
Click to expand...

You'll have to up the ISO if you wanna do moving objects in dark scenes, but you have a D40, it can handle that.
 
C

ChrisA

macrumors G5
Jan 5, 2006
12,828
2,033
Redondo Beach, California
For casual use the kit lenses do well. The D40 is usually marketed with the 18-55 but there are other "kit" lenses the 18-70 and 18-135. On the D40 135 may be as long as you will ever need and 70mm is enough for most uses like those you describe. So look at both of those. Your first lens should always be one of these "kit lenses" because they are sold at such a low price. The second lens is harder to pick and depend on what you are shooting.

Don't let them sell you one of those ultra long but slow and cheap telephoto zooms. Anything longer than 135 is not as usfull as many beginners think it will be
 
Poncho

Poncho

macrumors 6502
Jun 15, 2007
470
184
Holland
Wait a minute! Wait a jolly minute! You're all heading way off on the wrong track here. The best lense for the shots you require is the 18-55mm that comes with the D40 in its kit (18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor to be exact). Use it all the time myself, and I have a few options that I always leave at home these days.

It's small and light too.

Filters? Just use a clear one for protection, or even a polarised one as you are gooing to places with nice natural daylight.

Go direct to the Hoya site.

http://www.hoyafilter.com/

In the UK, at least, prices are WAY cheaper ordering from here. Though site doesn't work with Safari if you want to proceed to shopping basket. Only Firefox.
 
Kardashian

Kardashian

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 4, 2005
2,083
2
Britain.
ChrisA said:
For casual use the kit lenses do well. The D40 is usually marketed with the 18-55 but there are other "kit" lenses the 18-70 and 18-135. On the D40 135 may be as long as you will ever need and 70mm is enough for most uses like those you describe. So look at both of those. Your first lens should always be one of these "kit lenses" because they are sold at such a low price. The second lens is harder to pick and depend on what you are shooting.

Don't let them sell you one of those ultra long but slow and cheap telephoto zooms. Anything longer than 135 is not as usfull as many beginners think it will be
Click to expand...

I've got the 18-55mm kit. Would you recommend I go to 135mm next? Which would be best for evening shots, sunset time etc, using the built-in flash?

Thank you
 
P

pubb

macrumors regular
Mar 13, 2007
154
158
My advice has always been to buy better glass than you need. If they're cared for properly, your lenses will continue to work well after your camera is obsolete.

Aside from a few specialty lenses, we have three normal lenses: 12-24mm DX f/4, 24-120 f/3.5-5.6 VR, 80-200 f/2.8VR. Note that with 3 lenses, I cover the entire range of 12-200 (18-300mm eq) at pretty wide apertures.

When deciding whether to buy the kit, ask yourself if you're likely to buy more lenses to complement it. If so, which lens combinations work best for you? Try to minimize overlap (e.g. buying a kit 17-55mm and then buying a 24-120mm).

The 24-120 is the one I tend to walk around with most. The aperture is wide enough to capture most any shot and its only about $500. Its not the greatest lens out there, but its very good at most things. And it doesn't weigh a ton or make me look like a Japanese tourist. Apologies to Asians who love to travel.
 
Westside guy

Westside guy

macrumors 603
Oct 15, 2003
6,400
4,266
The soggy side of the Pacific NW
pubb said:
Aside from a few specialty lenses, we have three normal lenses: 12-24mm DX f/4, 24-120 f/3.5-5.6 VR, 80-200 f/2.8VR. Note that with 3 lenses, I cover the entire range of 12-200 (18-300mm eq) at pretty wide apertures.
Click to expand...

As far as I can tell, there is no 80-200VR. So is that the non-VR 80-200, or the 70-200 VR? That's the $1000 question. :p
 
RevToTheRedline

RevToTheRedline

macrumors 6502a
Sep 27, 2007
581
154
Also don't limited yourself to Nikon glass. Tokina, Tamron, Sigma all great lens makers.

Tamron makes good zooms, I haven't looked at lenses in a while, I prefer a lot of Tokinas stuff.

And there is no beating the Sigma 80-400mm OS (optical stabilization, Sigma's name for what Nikon calls VR) lens for $950. This is the top lens on my list of future lenses. Other than it being a little slow at F4.5-5.6 there isn't a single thing wrong with it, awesome build, amazing sharpness from center to corner, extremely low vignetting, barrel distortion and CA.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom