Another help me choose a lens thread

[budsk]

Hi there,
As you can see, I'm a newbie... my current equipment are Nikon D80 with Nikkor 50 f/1.8, old Sigma 28 - 80 and old Tamron 100 - 300 lens, and SB600. And now I have about $1000 to spend, I'm thinking about the following lenses:
> Nikkor 105 f/2.8 G IF-ED micro
> Nikkor 105 f/2 D DC
> Nikkor 80 - 200 f/2.8 D ED, or
> Nikkor 10 - 24 f/3.5 - 4.5 DX G ED

All about the same price, and I believe there are all good quality lenses. All of the above lenses have their different function, and I know that it's all up to what will I use the lens for, but as a beginner everything is interesting. So which lens you guys think I should get now, that will give me more potential to learn photography?

Thanks,

 

[blash]

You already cover a pretty wide focal range - do you like the kind of distance you get with that 100-300 of yours (even if you don't like the resulting quality)? You should know from the stuff you own if you like to shoot telephoto or portrait stuff or macro stuff (i.e. do you think you'd like to take really close pictures of flowers? then pick up the macro lens).

Otherwise pick up the 10-24 and do some ultra-wide and wide-angle stuff, again if you think you might be interested in landscapes or the more interesting perspectives you get from shooting ultra-wide up close.

 

[budsk]

Thanks for the input blash. Actually I'm a bit leaning toward the 10 - 24, since I already cover the other focal range with the sigma and tamron, although I dont like their quality. How difficult it is to master ultra wide angle? is it a joy to learn to shoot ultra wide angle?

 

[Canosonic]

Wide angle will probably give you great capabilities to shoot landscapes, but you've gotta pack yourself with filters! Polarizers and Grads. Very important.
But don't go for that Nikon lens. Get the Sigma 10-20 instead. Its better and cheaper. And that 4mm difference isn't important, because most shots are made at 10mm .
I am currently thinking of getting that lens.
Hope i helped

 

[icassell]

Wide angle will probably give you great capabilities to shoot landscapes, but you've gotta pack yourself with filters! Polarizers and Grads. Very important.
But don't go for that Nikon lens. Get the Sigma 10-20 instead. Its better and cheaper. And that 4mm difference isn't important, because most shots are made at 10mm .
I am currently thinking of getting that lens.
Hope i helped

Actually, circular polarizers are very tricky with ultrawides. The wide field-of-view makes them polarize the sky in wierd ways and you can get bands of color change that make it look odd. I have a CP for my Sigma 10-20 (you need a thin filter for the ultrawide to avoid vignetting), but it is not as useful as I thought it would be.