Buying a D90, recommendations on these lenses?

[Mbnmac]

I tried bringing up and reading through some older threads to get my bearings on this.
I've settled on a D90 (and even, Nikon) simply due to comfort and layout, I played with the Cannons, D7 specifically and liked it but I think the D90 really hit the mark for comfort and price etc.

So I have this shopping list; (based on Amazon UK prices, as my parents are coming over soon and it's so much cheaper than buying in NZ)

Lowepro SlingShot 202AW Photo Sling Pack - Lowepro £60

Nikon AF-S DX 35mm f1.8G - Nikon £190

Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6 AF-S VR DX NIKKOR (3.6X) - Nikon £152

Nikon 18-55mm VR f3.5-5.6 AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens - Nikon £108

Nikon D90 Body Only - Nikon £605

SanDisk Extreme III SDHC 4GB Card - SanDisk X2 £11 each


This is pretty much my upper limit on spending, but wanted some opinions on lens combos.
We're (my wife is a part of this) interested in a whole range of things right now picture wise, so we figured going for a bit of a spread in the focal lengths would give us something to decide where we want to upgrade in the future.

I do wonder if the 18-55 is worth it if we have the 35 prime, after a lot of people here stating that once they had the prime, the zoom never got used, and would it be worth dropping it and getting a better telephoto?

Thanks for any input, we'll be making the buy within the week

 

[farmerj]

I'd suggest looking at the 16-85 VR and the 70-300 VR if the price isn't much different.

The 3.5 f/1.8 is a good one for a prime/

 

[phifer8390]

Lowepro SlingShot 202AW Photo Sling Pack - Lowepro £60

Good Choice IMO... I have the 200AW and I am thinking about getting the 202, but I love my 200 and the 202 just has a few improvements

Nikon AF-S DX 35mm f1.8G - Nikon £190

Great very fast and sharp lens. I have this and the 50mm fixed. Both are great and relatively cheap

Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6 AF-S VR DX NIKKOR (3.6X) - Nikon £152

I had this lens and I sold it right after buying the camera because I love my kit lens the 18-105mm. I would recommend the kit over the body only. You get the lens cheap and it is a great walk around lens.

Nikon 18-55mm VR f3.5-5.6 AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens - Nikon £108

The kit lens would keep you from needing this lens. The kit lens is also 3.5-5.6 so even when longer it is as good as the best your 18-55mm is going to be.

Nikon D90 Body Only - Nikon £605

Great camera but I would recommend the kit

SanDisk Extreme III SDHC 4GB Card - SanDisk X2 £11 each

Great card and fast. I have 4 of the 8gb versions

Some other things to look at when you get the money or whenever.
-70-300mm lens, This is going to be my next purchase.

-A good Tripod, Not a cheap one you want a nice and stable one to prevent shake.

-External Flash, Depending on what you will be shooting may or may not be needed.

-18-200mm lens, This is not really a must but something I would like because I don't always have time to swap lenses but sometimes i need a little more length.

 

[Vinny]

The kit lens in the US is the 18-105 VR, based on what I've read it's a decent lens. I would assume the image quality is about the same as the 18-85. The 70-300 was a buy with camera get $200 off for a while, not sure if it is still on. It's nice to have the extra reach the 300 mm would give you.

As far as the prime, if you do get it I would venture to say that it probably would replace a 18-55 and it would be a better lens. You could save some money by buying the 35 mm and you're on your way to have a better lens available to you. All you would need to do is take a few steps forward or backward to compensate.

 

[creisinger]

Why the Nikon AF-S DX 35mm f1.8G?

If you are really a pixel peeper I understand but I think your wide angle zoom will provide enough quality for the same focal length. Sure you get a much faster lens but then ask yourself what is the purpose for that lens?

Personally, I enjoy having a super fast lens for portraits and because its superior sharpness. In the portraits you get wonderful (I'm saying it, look away if you had enough) bokeh (there I said it) but I wouldn't try using a 35mm as a portrait lens. You get major distortion in close-up portraits.

I have the 50mm f.1.8 and I don't like the look of a close-up. I will get either the 85mm or 105mm prime later to get a more natural look.

I would be hesitant about the prime. Don't buy a prime just to have a prime. If you have to have one, get it but since you get a wide angle zoom anyway, there is no imminent use for it.

Anyway you can use your telezoom at 100-150mm at f5.6 and still get very shallow depth of field which will work for portraits. You won't get the the nice bokeh but still a good alternative. On the D90 you can easily shoot at higher ISO without compromising image quality too much.

Additionally think about if you really want all 3 lenses to be DX lenses. Remember, your camera body will change, your glass shouldn't. Lenses are the one part you (should) never have to change. Those things last forever if you treat them well. If you will buy a full frame camera one day your DX lenses are useless.

Maybe drop the prime and get at least one lens that can be used for full frame cameras as well and get a tripod if you don't already have one. Tripod is a must! I'd rather have no camera bag than no tripod!

Maybe you let us know what your main purpose of this outfit is? Professional, hobby, just for fun?

 

[gpardo64]

You are almost looking at the same package that is being sold in the US by costco. The price here is $US 1394.

Nikon D90 Digital SLR Camera Body
18-55mm VR Zoom-NIKKOR Lens
70-300mm VR Zoom-NIKKOR Lens
Carrying Case
4GB SD Memory Card

Good selection of camera. Good luck.

 

[jdag]

Not sure if the sale/rebate is still on...but I bought my son the D90 plus 70-300 VR lens last week for $1,110. I even was able to get about $35 back via Bing. That is a steal. The 70-300 VR is about $500, so it was like getting the new D90 for $600.

 

[gpardo64]

Yea the promotion is still on either online and in the store:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Produc..._Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&topnav=

Uhmmm....it may not necessary be the VR version of the zoom and could be the simple 55-300 which is not that expensive; although if you see the online add they specify the VR lens.

I may need to stop by the store and verify because if so it is an interesting deal.

 

[Mbnmac]

I'm including a tri-pod in a purchase here in NZ, so that's not part of the amazon buy.

The kit lens adds £150 to the camera, the 18-55 is only £107, but I have had a thought about the 70-300mm NON-VR, which would be a good zoom.

As for the prime, I'd like the fast glass for lower lighting in door shots, as we're having a baby in July, and I was thinking last night that maybe I'd drop the smaller zoom altogether.

I'll come back and edit this post later, thanks for all the input guys, I might just change my shopping basket yet...

edit;

Remember that I'm buying from the UK, but it's being brought to NZ as I don't know anybody well enough in the US to ship it to me, so a lot of the prices change for the more expensive, the 16-85mm for example is about 4x more than the 18-55 or that would have been my choice.

The kit lens in the US is the 18-105 VR, based on what I've read it's a decent lens. I would assume the image quality is about the same as the 18-85. The 70-300 was a buy with camera get $200 off for a while, not sure if it is still on. It's nice to have the extra reach the 300 mm would give you.

As far as the prime, if you do get it I would venture to say that it probably would replace a 18-55 and it would be a better lens. You could save some money by buying the 35 mm and you're on your way to have a better lens available to you. All you would need to do is take a few steps forward or backward to compensate.

I began thinking this last night, why bother with the smaller zoom, when I could just crop the image anyway if I needed to zoom in that badly, and I could get a more dedicated wide-angle zoom instead/later on, or do I drop the Prime and stick to just the short zoom, and get the 70-300 VR... If I'm only going to use it on a tri-pod anyway would I really need the VR? I could just get the non-VR 70-300 and have a much cheaper and useful lens...

I'm sure whatever I get I'll be happy, but when you're dropping a whole lot at once, it's easy to try to get more stuff instead of good stuff...

 

[Vinny]

Sorry, when you listed prices in pounds I thought the travel was to the US - didn't see the reference to the UK and NZ.

Years ago, VR wasn't available and we used long focal length lenses. VR helps with getting better shots at slower shutte speeds. Some (most?) people don't travel with a tripod so VR comes in handy. Can you afford at the 50mm (75mm equivilent) lens? I would look at that as a prime vs 35mm and stick with the 70-300mm lens. I do have the 18-105 kit lens and it is handy but for such a short focal length - the 35 or 50 is probably the way to go.

 

[gpardo64]

Not sure if the sale/rebate is still on...but I bought my son the D90 plus 70-300 VR lens last week for $1,110. I even was able to get about $35 back via Bing. That is a steal. The 70-300 VR is about $500, so it was like getting the new D90 for $600.

Well, I stopped by costco and I confirmed that is the VR version included in the promotion. Look at the pic taken with my cell:

 

[Mbnmac]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

After much deliberation and budget checking we've decided to sick with my original list for now, just to get a whole cover of ranges, I will however be looking to pick up the 50mm prime by years end, and will probably get the 70-300 VR later if we find we need a little more reach.

Just due to the budget being as tight as it is, I can't change one of the lenses to be a whole lot better without going way over (even if I remove the prime)
On the flip side, if we find that we don't need one at all and want to sell it, I'll probably make money selling it here in the long run.

 

[Metric]

I have a D3000 and stick with two lenses and two lenses only:

55-200VR and 35mm f/1.8. It's all I ever need. The 55-200 is a great zoom lens and the 35mm is perfect for portraits, landscapes, low-light, (faking) macro... and everything else really (minus zoom).

Yeah. Hope that helped.