I am new to photography and just got a Nikon D70 and don't have a lens. I got this camera primarily for a trip I am doing this summer. It is a 50 day canoe trip in northern canada. I will be taking pictures of vistas, sunsets, portraits around a fire, flowers, wildlife, and general happenings of the trip. I am looking for one lens to bring. Under $500, but I will use this for my photography future so I'm willing to invest. Something that is compact, hardy (I don't want a delicate lens), and able to cover what I want to take. Zoom or prime would be acceptable. Maybe a wide angle prime that I could crop later (Are there enough pixels on the D70 to do this?), or a standard 18-70 zoom?. If you would please give a suggestion and tell me why I would a appreciate it.
I have the 18-70 and it is usefull for about 80% of what I need. 18mm is wide enough for what you will be shooting. 70mmis not quite a strong telepoto, not long enough for close ups of wildlife. I'm sure people will recommend the 18-200 VR that might be a good compromise lens for people who can only have one lens. But is 18-70 is good and has some nice features like a non-rotating filter ring (for your pol. filters) and is slightly fater then the f/5.6 lenses. Also look at the 18-135 it has more "reach" 135mmis quite long in a DX body.
I've done a fair amount of canoe and kayak trips including the Bowron loop trip in Canada but mostly California white water rivers. Some advice: Buy a Pelican case. keep the equipment in the case. The new eletronic cameras
really do not like to be near water. Shoting from a boat is hard and I never get great shots that way. Best to pull over and take time to set up. That said, I used to keep a Nikonos (a film camera designed for scuba diving) clipped to my PFD or loose but tethered in the boat. You might take a whaterproof P&S with you in addition to the SLR. Waterproof camera are great, when they get dirty you can just swish the around in lake water to rince the mud off.
Sigma 18-50 f2.8 Macro is very useful and a top quality lens.
Nikon makes a lens like this too but at 3X the price. If you need low light abilty you can always go with buying a 50mm prime to compliment your 18-70 zoom The primes are even faster then the f/2.8 zooms by two stops, which is a lot. But if you are space limited maybe takig two lenses is not an option.
You can get good shots with any lens, if you have only a wide angle prime yu will find 200 good wide angle shots. if yu take a zoom you will good 200 other kinds of shots. The reason is that very quickly you learn to choose subject that match your equipment's abiliies.
As for cropping. It depends on the final output media. if it is 8x10 prints. No. You can't crop much. If it is 4x5 prints then up to a 50% crop. If the images are going on the web you can crop to maybe 4X I have a D50 which is very much like your D70
