D70 Lenses?

luckydog · Mar 8, 2005

Hey gang,
Looking in the near future at buying a D70 and know that kit lenses are usually crap. I have a limited budget of about AUD$900 for the lenses if i buy the body only but need advice as i want to go up to 300mm for aviation shots. (yeah i know the digital conversion will bump up the lens mm)

This is a few combos etc i have been looking at but all the letters after the lenses means squat to me. This will be my first step into the SLR world BTW (hence my confusion)

Prices in Aussie dollars.....

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5 - 6.3 LD Aspherical IF XR $688
or
Tamron AF 28-200MM f/3.8-5.6 XR Macro $389
Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical [IF] Macro $562
(either of the 2 above with)
Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 LD (with lens hood) $245
or
Tamron AF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 (with lens hood) $171
Nikon AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 ED + HB15 $673

Any help would be fantabuloso

Rob · Mar 8, 2005

I wouldn't recommend any of them from personal experience - the majority of those Tamrons won't even be as good as the lens you get with the camera.

The AF-S 200-400mm f4G VR IF-ED Nikkor or the 400/2.8D AF-S IF-ED II Nikkor are both excellent at the long end. Hmm, the second one is a bit pricey at AU$ 14,500! You also wouldn't fit it in a cockpit!

If you don't want to spend that much, then the AF-S 28-70/2.8D ED and the AF-S 70-200/2.8G VR IF-ED are a great combination. You could get both for less than AU$ 5,500. Get the standard kit and then start saving I reckon.

If that's still over budget, then the only alternative is the 70-300/4-5.6D ED Nikkor which is about AU$ 660, but it's dark and plasticky and a bit nasty.

For aeroplanes, you could always try one of the mirror lenses like the Nikkor 500 Reflex, but I'm not sure they'll work with the digital.

Good luck!

Daniel · Mar 8, 2005

robhesketh said:
I wouldn't recommend any of them from personal experience - the majority of those Tamrons won't even be as good as the lens you get with the camera.

Are you talking from the experience of using them? The Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 is a very good lense, check out http://www.fredmiranda.com/ for some user reviews. I strongly recommend this lense, I'm using it myself with a 20d and it is awesome.

Rogue Monk · Mar 8, 2005

I have the D70 with kit lens and find it to be very good.

Its a faily solid lens and doesn't have the cheap feel of the nikkor g series lenses (ie. stupid plastic mount point on most g lenses...whoever came up with that idea deserves a bullet).

It also has ED glass. Aside from the fact that its designed for Nikon sized sensors and isn't reliable on a film camera, I'd recommend it.

kfoster · Mar 8, 2005

The 18-70mm kit lens is not your average kit lens. Unlike the 28-80mm lens that comes with many of Nikons film cameras, this lens is top shelf. Just look on the internet for reviews. This lens cost over $300 if you bought it seperate. Most kit lenses are around $100.

You must also relize that you may need that extra wide angle that this lens offers compared to the ones you listed. With the digital lens multiplier of 1.5x all those 28mm zooms you listed are gonna act like 42mm (no wide angle for you). The 18mm will act like 27mm (not super wide angle but not bad).

My recommedation: Don't sell the 18-70mm lens short. Its a really nice lens even though its a kit lens.

K

AIRIC · Mar 8, 2005

robhesketh said:
If that's still over budget, then the only alternative is the 70-300/4-5.6D ED Nikkor which is about AU$ 660, but it's dark and plasticky and a bit nasty.

What???

There is no need to scare people away who just want to have fun with photography. I have used the Nikkor 70-300ED lens for several years and have many magazine covers and two page spreads to it's credit. Photos don't get printed on covers or two page spreads if they are not sharp and brilliant. It is a worthy lens at a great price.

Aviation Canada, one of Canada's leading aviation magazines with an image shot with the lens.

What gets me going is every time someone wants to get a lens several of the TPF posters only recommend lens that are far over priced for what the person is looking for. Keep it real. If this lens was really "nasty" you would not see me using it and editors would not be buying my images for their aviation magazines.

Sorry, rant over

Eric