Switching to Nikon, Need Advice

[NinjaMonkey]

I'm making the move to Nikon from Olympus and I'm trying to piece out a decent kit. Here are my choices:

D90 Body Only + Nikon 18-200mm

or

D90 Kit with 18-105mm + Sigma 10-20mm

If I got the D90 with the 18-200mm I'd like to eventually get the Sigma 10-20mm. If I went with the kit plus Sigma I'd get the 70-300mm later on down the line to handle the telephoto end.

I thought I had this figured out until I saw that if I order the D90 plus a Sigma lens from Amazon I get 20% off the Sigma lens. Right now I'm leaning to the kit plus Sigma especially since I've never had a lens that shot that wide before.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[RainCityMacFan]

It depends on what you'll be shooting, in my opinion. A landscape would really benefit from the Sigma 10-20mm. However, the convenience of the Nikon 18-200mm is very tempting.
I'd go with the latter for the 20% and use the left overs for the 18-200mm.

But not to start the whole Canon vs Nikon argument, I'm just wondering why are you switching to Nikon?

 

[NinjaMonkey]

But not to start the whole Canon vs Nikon argument, I'm just wondering why are you switching to Nikon?

The only Canon that interests me is the 5D mark II which I cannot afford right now. I hate the feel of the XT/XS line and the 50D that I tried in the store just didn't seem that much more compelling over the D90.

 

[ChrisA]

I'm making the move to Nikon from Olympus and I'm trying to piece out a decent kit. Here are my choices:

D90 Body Only + Nikon 18-200mm
or
D90 Kit with 18-105mm + Sigma 10-20mm

The lenses are neither good nor bad. They are either matched or not to the subject and your style of photography.

But do think about your shooting locations and the light there. All the lenses you lists are all f/5.6 Is this what you want? Maybe you don't really like f/5.6 but are just going with it because of budget? But then, if you have the money to buy a bag of lenses maybe you'd be best off with fewer better lenses, even if you have to buy a used one. For example the Nikon 80-200 f/2.8 sells for as low as $650. But if you subjects are cooperative and in bright light and you like to look of a wider DOF then a 200mm f/5.6 lens could work for you. Depends on what you like.

If you are buying the lenses you want, then fine but if budget is driving the decision, I think it's best to buy few lenses or slow down and put off getting that third lens or move to a lower priced body

 

[jaduffy108]

I would suggest the D90 kit with 18-105mm + Sigma 10-20mm...then getting the 70-300 you mentioned later. Look at the 80-200 2.8 too...my preference in a good value lens.

I'm not a fan of the 18-200, so keep that bias in mind. For me, it's too expensive for the IQ...but no doubt, the convenience / IQ ratio is impressive...just not the trade off *I* would choose.

The D90 is an awesome value. My girlfriend has one...very sweet cam.

Welcome to the Nikon family...you won't regret it.

 

[termina3]

Have you considered a D80? Perhaps even used from a reputable dealer?

That'd give you more leeway on the glass.

 

[NinjaMonkey]

Okay, honestly budget isn't an issue, my wife is. She would flip out if I bought everything at once. So I figured I'd start off slow with one or two lenses and build from there. I am getting the 50mm f1.8 for Christmas along with the SB600.

I'm leaning to the kit plus Sigma. The 80-200 f2.8 is an option later on as well. I'm also looking at the Sigma 105 f2.8 macro.

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[OreoCookie]

I recommend you replace the first lens with a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 or, even better, a Tokina 16-50 f/2.8. The first one is relatively cheap and a lot better than any of the (standard zoom range) lenses you've mentioned.

 

[compuwar]

I'm making the move to Nikon from Olympus and I'm trying to piece out a decent kit. Here are my choices:

D90 Body Only + Nikon 18-200mm

or

D90 Kit with 18-105mm + Sigma 10-20mm

If I got the D90 with the 18-200mm I'd like to eventually get the Sigma 10-20mm. If I went with the kit plus Sigma I'd get the 70-300mm later on down the line to handle the telephoto end.

I thought I had this figured out until I saw that if I order the D90 plus a Sigma lens from Amazon I get 20% off the Sigma lens. Right now I'm leaning to the kit plus Sigma especially since I've never had a lens that shot that wide before.

Any advice would be appreciated.

20% off is appealing, but if you've never shot in the 10-17mm range before it may be a waste of 80%. I have the 10-20mm, and I love what it does when I need it- however I find myself more in the 20-35mm range most of the time- the first few months everything was an excuse to go wiiiiide, but I found that I invariably either wanted to stitch panos together or I needed to crop out lots of uninteresting sky- so it may well depend on where you shoot as to how much value there is in 10-17mms. I'd go with the 18-105 for a month or three and see if 18mm is wide enough.

The only time I find the 10-20mm invaluable is buildings where there's limited sidewalk space, but I don't tend to shoot those often.

Have you converted your past photos into 35mm AOVs and seen where the sweet spot was and where you'd want wider/longer? That may answer the lens question better than anything else.

[I'm assuming in the quest for wide you've evaluated and discarded the 5D mk 1]

 

[NinjaMonkey]

I went ahead and got the D90 kit + Sigma 10-20mm. I could not pass up the 20% off deal especially since this is a lens I would have bought eventually anyway. I also picked up the battery grip.

Thanks for the recommendation on the Tamron I'll consider this after the holidays. I have a friend who said he'd buy my 18-105 if I didn't like it.

This leaves me with about $600 for future purchases plus whatever money/giftcards I get for Christmas. I'll probably wind up not buying anything until aroud Feb after income tax returns start coming in.

So next up is either a faster standard zoom (the Tamron), a tele zoom (the 70-300 or 80-200), or the Sigma 105 macro. Decisions, decisions...

Thanks again everyone for your help and advice. I'm going to miss Oly glass (can't beat the 14-54 + 50-200 combo) but I'm looking forward to the Nikon which should be here tomorrow.