Replacement Kit Lens

Greendots · Sep 16, 2008

My D50's 18-55mm Kit lens has died and with the money it would cost to repair it, I'd be better off just buying a new lens (it was refurb when bought).

Any ideas of an el-cheapo standard zoom to get? No need to stick to kit lenses.

Dao · Sep 16, 2008

I think the good cheap lens is the kit lens from Nikon and the range of 18-55mm is pretty good. Unless you like to spend more and go with a faster lens or long range one.

JustAnEngineer · Sep 16, 2008

Is the $420 Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 out of the question?

Tiberius47 · Sep 16, 2008

I agree wit that, get the Tammy 17-50 f2.8 if you can, it is an awesome lens.

tirediron · Sep 16, 2008

First of all, try to avoid 'El Cheapo' when you're talking about lenses. These are the single most important part of capturing your image. I understand budget constraints of course and you can get decent lenses for not a lot of $$. The above mentioned Tamron is a good suggestion, however, have a look at Nikon's 18-70 f3.5. This was the kit lens that shipped with the D70 and is an excellent lens for the $$. Despite having some pretty nice glass in my bag, I still get a LOT of use out of this lens because of the decent optical quality and ideal day-to-day zoom range. It's a little slower than the Tamron, but it's also cheaper (esp if you buy used) and a lot lighter and smaller.

epp_b · Sep 16, 2008

The current Nikon 18-55 AF-S VR (no, not real AF-S, but still decently fast AF-I), while relatively cheap, is of good optical quality for the price you pay.

What is your price range?

rubbertree · Sep 17, 2008

the nikon lens have a 5 year warranty... does that not apply?

Greendots · Sep 17, 2008

I wasn't looking to break £100

I recognise I'll get a lot more for my money if I buy pre-owned, but I didn't like the idea of any potential issues cropping up. My kit lens was nikon-refurb and died not long after I got it. (warranty has expired now, I bagged the lens since I was looking to get something a bit faster, but now I've moved house I wont be able to afford much better.)

epp_b · Sep 17, 2008

^ Possibly not with a refurb.

BTW, you didn't actually tell us. What "died"? The metering? AF? Chances are, you can still use it in M mode.

Greendots · Sep 17, 2008

The AF died. Its nice enough to use in M, but some pictures I thought were going to be good turned out to be not as pin-sharp as I thought. I'm getting right in to photography now, and dont want to have a cracking day of shooting somewhere nice only to be dissapointed when I review my shots.