I'm crunching my head over lenses. Someone with more experience please help!

[Vicelord John]

Hi all,

I currently have a D90 with a Nikkor 50mm f1.8, Nikkor 18-55VR, and Sigma 70-300 f4.

I have some various gift cards for a local camera shop, as well as a few dollars saved up. I am probably in the market for a lens up to $500 and was toying around with a few ideas but I have no idea what to do.

I like to shoot architecture, skylines, and portraits. I use the crap out of my 18-55 and I use the 70-300 a lot in the 200-300 range. I use the 50 for portraits and anything darker like concerts and such.

1. I was thinking about getting a 11-16 Tokina or the like to add to the bunch as a fourth lens.

2. Possibly upgrading the Sigma to something ED Nikkor. Will the FX 70-300 work on my body? I don't want the 200 because I use that 200-300 range a lot on top of mountains and such. If I sold the Sigma, I could easily get 150-200 out of it on craigslist and get a decent upgrade.

3. Open to any other ideas that you have. I am not closed to changing the whole lineup, as long as I stay within that $500 range (could include trade in and selling gear) as long as it bettered my kit.

Please help me!

 

[Overread]

On the wide angle front with the Tokina you mght the following article helpfull
Juza Nature Photography

On the 70-300mm front I can't give you any real input save to ask if your sigma is the APO edition of the lens or not (it has a red ring around the end of the barrel if it is - and it should be marked on the box). It is the slightly superior edition of that lens and might affect others input if they know which you have.
Though for the budget you have I don't know what options there will be which will give you a significant image quality boost in the 200-300mm range (partly because I don't know the prices of stuff in the US)

As for other ideas with your interests in landscape and buildings what kind of tripod setup do you use? The money could go well into a good set of tripod legs (always worth getting) as well as have enough for a decent head. If you already have a good set of legs what tripod head do you use with them?
In the portrait area have you considered adding a flash to your setup?

 

[KmH]

Hi all,

I currently have a D90 with a Nikkor 50mm f1.8, Nikkor 18-55VR, and Sigma 70-300 f4.

I have some various gift cards for a local camera shop, as well as a few dollars saved up. I am probably in the market for a lens up to $500 and was toying around with a few ideas but I have no idea what to do.

I like to shoot architecture, skylines, and portraits. I use the crap out of my 18-55 and I use the 70-300 a lot in the 200-300 range. I use the 50 for portraits and anything darker like concerts and such.

1. I was thinking about getting a 11-16 Tokina or the like to add to the bunch as a fourth lens.

2. Possibly upgrading the Sigma to something ED Nikkor. Will the FX 70-300 work on my body? I don't want the 200 because I use that 200-300 range a lot on top of mountains and such. If I sold the Sigma, I could easily get 150-200 out of it on craigslist and get a decent upgrade.

3. Open to any other ideas that you have. I am not closed to changing the whole lineup, as long as I stay within that $500 range (could include trade in and selling gear) as long as it bettered my kit.

Please help me!

Virtually any any Nikon lens made since 1959 will work on your D90. Investing in FX glass is smart if you think you'll ever move up to an FX body. The FX will work just fine on your D90. Nikon's AF-S 12-24mm f/4 is pretty nice. It's DX but you can find them used for about $700.

I'm a big believer in using glass designed by the camera maker, to prevent upwards compatability issues because they are reverse engineered. Sometimes, when you upgrade your camera body, some of your 3rd party lenses start acting up and have to be sent in to be "re-chipped".