Jumping In!

[Glimmerman]

Hi everyone! I am new to TPF, and just getting into photography.
I found my point and shoot digital was just too limiting for me.

After extensive research I went out and bought:

Nikon D80
Sigma 17-70 2.8-4.5 Macro lense
Remote
72mm UV filter
Eclipse cleaning solution


Now that I have spent my life savings on the above equipment, the wife is going to be pretty stingy about letting me spend more on lenses.

So I will be primarily looking at the used market for deals. I know I am going to get a 50mm prime, those are easy to find inexpensively.

Any suggestions? The type of lenses I want are:

70-300mm zoom (or similar range)
50 or 100mm Macro

I would also consider old manual lenses too, any gems out there to watch for?

 

[niccig]

For a 50mm, I recommend the Nikkor 50mm 1.8D. It's a fantastic lens and you can get it brand new for around $110. It isn't a macro, but you can get a reverse ring adapter that will give you macro functionality (though I kind of doubt metering/autofocus work with the lens reversed). For the 70-300 I'd check out third-party lenses. I've used the Tamron 28-300 3-4.5D and it was very sharp and light. I'd expect their 70-300 to be as good or better.

 

[Glimmerman]

I plan on getting the 50mm 1.8.

I will have to look into these reverse ring adapters, thanks.

If I can get approval from my better half, I would like to try out the new Nikon 70-300 VR when it comes out in a couple weeks.