Choices for lens and where to get one cheap...

SushiWarrior · Dec 30, 2009

Currently I have a D40X with a 50mm F/1.8. I have 3 basic choices:

1. 18-55 kit lens (only for the wide angle zoom)
2. 55-200/70-300 lens - Telephoto is nice. This would be a basic lens, F/3-5.6 or whatever the cheapest ones are. Possibly a Sigma 70-300 APO-DG
3. Some sort of a macro lens (used, for a good price). Any suggestions? Would an extension tube work as well?

I am leaning towards the 18-55 and an extension tube, because those are cheapest. I would like to keep it under $200. Does anyone have any good sites for used lenses? I can't seem to find any with a quick search. I am located in Canada but I can buy from the US.

Darkhunter139 · Dec 30, 2009

I just got a 55-200mm af-s vr with a canon 500d close up lens and they work very well together. I guess it depends on if you want a wider lens or telephoto. I got the 55-200 vr for 150 refurbished from adorama.

SushiWarrior · Dec 30, 2009

I guess a better question would be what's the best lens for each category. What's limiting me the most is the lack of ANY range with a prime. I need to get closer AND farther away, and macro would be excellent. I rented an 18-200 and loved it, but those are pretty expensive.

TJ K · Dec 30, 2009

Do you feel like you need to get wider than your 50 allows or closer? That should answer your question and you'll be all set.
TJ

SushiWarrior · Dec 30, 2009

Are there any other options for a cheap wide angle? What about a telephoto for under $200? Is the Nikon 55-200 or the Sigma 70-300APO better? I'll decide based off of which one is more cost effective.

Darkhunter139 · Dec 30, 2009

Well do you want it to autofocus with you're D40?

SushiWarrior · Dec 31, 2009

I find manual focus fine, but AF would be a bonus. Not worth more than $40 to me though.

PatrickHMS · Dec 31, 2009

You keep saying cheap lenses, what about looking at Promaster, Quantaray, Vivitar, Sears, Tokinon, etc?

Nikon, Nikkor, Sigma, Tamron generally are not cheap (especially if you want a lens that will AF on your D40X).

...but neither is photography in general, even as a hobby.

photograham · Dec 31, 2009

Adorama has some of the best prices, stick with them

PatrickHMS · Dec 31, 2009

photograham said:
Adorama has some of the best prices, stick with them

No matter how much we recommend Aadorama, B&H, or KEH, someone still ignores (or never reads enough to ever see one before they just post and ask) the suggestion and asks for something cheap.

Like there is anything cheap about photography.

Get a p&s, there are some cheap ones out there, both new and used.

SushiWarrior · Dec 31, 2009

I think you're misunderstanding me, I'm not asking for a $10 lens but I don't want a $700 one. I am only a teenager without a job at the moment

Another question, how good are 18-200mm lenses? I used a Nikon 18-200 AF-S VRII and I found it great to use. I would consider buying a $500 18-200 if I could eliminate having to buy a wide angle or similar.

Darkhunter139 · Dec 31, 2009

Well was it wide enough for you when you used it?

iBats · Dec 31, 2009

anyone got any info on an inexpensive lens, ideally 18-105mm or 24-105mm (im not sure if this is 24 or 28-105) i dont care whether its new/used/refurbished

SushiWarrior · Dec 31, 2009

It was plenty fine, 18 was what I was aiming for. However, once you get to 24-70 or something similar, after factoring the sensor crop, it's not really worth it.

KmH · Dec 31, 2009

SushiWarrior said:
I think you're misunderstanding me, I'm not asking for a $10 lens but I don't want a $700 one. I am only a teenager without a job at the moment

Another question, how good are 18-200mm lenses? I used a Nikon 18-200 AF-S VRII and I found it great to use. I would consider buying a $500 18-200 if I could eliminate having to buy a wide angle or similar.

Though the Nikon 18-200 has a wide focal length range it comes at a performance cost.

It's a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none lens. It has severe and wickedly complex barrel distortion at the 18 mm end, that changes to pincushion distortion at 35 mm and up, and soft focus at the long end, 200 mm.

I look at the way a lens performs very differently from the way you probably look at the performance of a lens.

Frankly, I think the Nikon 18-200 is one of their worst values for the dollar. But, they sell a lot of them to people that place a lot of value on not having to change lenses, rather than use two different lenses with better overall performance.