What Lens with D50

[nhamze]

I am going to get a D50 tomarrow from my Harolds. They told me they would take the lens that comes with it and I could trade it for a different lens I would just have to pay the difference. Is the stock one ok or would it make sense to get a little better one and if so which one/ones should I look for. I do mainly daytime outdoor shots. The one they include is the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor

Thanks
Nick

 

[Abstract]

The kit lens isn't optically bad. It'll give you nice outdoor shots. However, there's obviously better lenses out there. If you like the 18-55 mm range, then why not go for a Sigma or Tamron 17-55 or 18-55 f/2.8 or whatever. They both offer lenses in this range that are relatively cheap. Otherwise, Nikon makes a lens of slightly better optical quality, but it's like 3x more expensive.

Personally, I have the Sigma 24-70 mm f/2.8 Macro lens, and I'd buy this lens again if I was starting out. It's sharp even at f/2.8, which is fantastic.

 

[ChrisA]

I am going to get a D50 tomarrow from my Harolds. They told me they would take the lens that comes with it and I could trade it for a different lens I would just have to pay the difference. Is the stock one ok or would it make sense to get a little better one and if so which one/ones should I look for. I do mainly daytime outdoor shots. The one they include is the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor

Thanks
Nick

The kit lens is actually very good for what it is. It's an 18-55 f/5.6. If you like those number keep it. However you might want to go longr on the long end. Nikon makes an 18-70 f/4.5 that is the kit lens for the D70. It is longer and slightly faster, has full time manual focus over ride and (I like the one) the filter ring does not rotate when the lens focuses. good if you use Pol. filtrs.

But maybe you don't like the f/4.5 they make a constant aperture f/2.8 17-55 lns but it is huge, heavy and very expensive. But if you want f/2.8 it's got f/2.8

There are some third party lenses but buy these only if you are seriuly strapped for cash.

The 18-55 is such a good deal that you may just want to buy it and them spend any extra money on a second lens. Which to get depends on your needs

 

[serpent]

I'd also opt for the 18-70 kit lens from the d70(if short on funds). but if you want to go the route of better glass splurge on the 28-70mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S Zoom-Nikkor. then for the wider end of things save up for a 17-35mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S Zoom-Nikkor, they're both huge lenses but you can't buy anything finer.

Serpent

 

[pdxflint]

a few shots w/ 18-55 kit lens...

I faced the same issues when I recently bought my D50 refurb, but it came only as a kit, so I thought I'd just hang onto the 18-55, and perhaps get the 18-70 Nikkor for approx. $300 more sometime later. Now, I'm not sure I'd duplicate the 18-55 range, but rather keep the kit lens and buy another lens, either wide angle (12-24) or longer, plus the 50mm f/1.8 for portraits.

I posted several photos in a gallery which I took just messing around, but should give you some idea of what you can expect. Hope the link works....

http://picasaweb.google.com/pdxflint/D50

cheers.

 

[bossass]

The Nikon DX 18-70 is very very nice. I vote this.