A up and coming photographer in need of some lens advice!

[Benjgf]

Well you definitely got a good camera for low light situations! I saved up and started using a canon 10-18mm wide angle lens for nightlife and it changed my life forever. If you want shots like that without a flash though, you're gonna have to drop a good amount of money on at least ab f2.8... 1.8 if possible. I use a flash for all my nightlife but a lot of concert venues don't allow it, and the photos definitely don't come out as pretty as the examples you posted.

 

[Benjgf]

But definitely try to get a zoom like that 10-22 tokina or whatever it was. A 35mm prime just won't do it for you.

 

[gckless]

I think you need to figure out which focal length you want, on a DX camera. You may be seeing shots taken with those 24-70mms as being wide enough, but remember most people using those have them mounted on a FF body, so 24mm on FF is right around the same view as a 16-17mm lens on your D7200. I have the Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 OS, and I like it. The 17mm end is fairly wide, you can get some good wide shots, but it's a far cry from 10mm. If you want a cheap fisheye, I just got a Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, which is garbage wide open, but pretty sharp once you get up to f/8 or so. Not really useful in low light I guess, not really sure why I mentioned that.

Do you have a local camera store? Stop by and bring your body, throw some lenses on it and see what you like.