D7000 Lenses?

[tevo]

Looking to buy a telephoto lens / macro lens for my D7000. Don't know whats good, and don't want to spend that much money. I see lenses on amazon for around 200 dollars, they LOOK good, but I can't tell.


Suggestions / Links?

 

[tirediron]

What lens(es) do you have now? And, define "that much". Most of my lenses are in the $1500+ range; to me a $500 lens is cheap, to you, maybe not so much. Telephoto and macro lenses are totally different animals. Nikon has just released a nice little 40mm macro which seems to get decent reviews, but with such a short focal length your working distance will be short. I'm assuming you want a telephoto zoom. The 55-200, despite being a relatively cheap, kit lens, seems to get fairly good reviews. At the end of the day, anything from Nikon will be at least decent, and the main third party makers (Sigma, Tamron, Tokina), all produce at least "okay" glass as well.

 

[tevo]

What lens(es) do you have now? And, define "that much". Most of my lenses are in the $1500+ range; to me a $500 lens is cheap, to you, maybe not so much. Telephoto and macro lenses are totally different animals. Nikon has just released a nice little 40mm macro which seems to get decent reviews, but with such a short focal length your working distance will be short. I'm assuming you want a telephoto zoom. The 55-200, despite being a relatively cheap, kit lens, seems to get fairly good reviews. At the end of the day, anything from Nikon will be at least decent, and the main third party makers (Sigma, Tamron, Tokina), all produce at least "okay" glass as well.

well, I have the 18-105 CPU AF VR that came in the kit with the camera itself, and am looking to get a Telephoto and a macro. I see lenses on amazon.com in the 2-300 dollar range, and for me that is acceptable. I just don't understand the value of the "f/#" associated with the model, and what is worth getting and what isn't. For instance, I saw a Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF -S DX VR zoom lens for 135 dollars. To me, that reads Nikon blablablablablablabla autofocus blablablabla Vibration Reduction zoom lens. catch my drift?

 

[kundalini]

...... I see lenses on amazon.com in the 2-300 dollar range, and for me that is acceptable. I just don't understand the value of the "f/#" associated with the model, and what is worth getting and what isn't. For instance, I saw a Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF -S DX VR zoom lens for 135 dollars. To me, that reads Nikon blablablablablablabla autofocus blablablabla Vibration Reduction zoom lens. catch my drift?

Perhaps it's not time to make a purchase then. If you can't see the difference, then chances are there is no difference. If it all reads blablablablablablabla to you, then you already have your answer.

 

[tevo]

...... I see lenses on amazon.com in the 2-300 dollar range, and for me that is acceptable. I just don't understand the value of the "f/#" associated with the model, and what is worth getting and what isn't. For instance, I saw a Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF -S DX VR zoom lens for 135 dollars. To me, that reads Nikon blablablablablablabla autofocus blablablabla Vibration Reduction zoom lens. catch my drift?

Perhaps it's not time to make a purchase then. If you can't see the difference, then chances are there is no difference. If it all reads blablablablablablabla to you, then you already have your answer.

what i mean by that is i can't tell what i want/need, b/c i don't know. what i DO know, is that i want a lens that will enable me to do close up photography, which my current lens does not accommodate well, and i also know that i want a lens that will enable me to zoom in further than my current lens and take sharp photos. with that being said, that is what i want in a lens, and i am asking for recommendations.

 

[kundalini]

I didn't see a budget either. What's in your wallet sailor? A $200 lens will not get you an image quality that a $2000 lense will get you. You have to decide what you're willing to compromise on.

A good site for independent lens reviews is photozone.de.

 

[tevo]

I didn't see a budget either. What's in your wallet sailor? A $200 lens will not get you an image quality that a $2000 lense will get you. You have to decide what you're willing to compromise on.

A good site for independent lens reviews is photozone.de.

Ideally, I don't want to go over 500 dollars on a lens. Even more so, I don't want to go over 600 dollars for both lenses, as I am going to try to get them soon-ish.

 

[kundalini]

3Ideally, I don't want to go over 500 dollars on a lens. Even more so, I don't want to go over 600 dollars for both lenses, as I am going to try to get them soon-ish.

I shall bow out then. Chances are that someone else with your budget in mind can offer better advice. Good luck, I'm sure there is an option out there for you.

 

[tevo]

3Ideally, I don't want to go over 500 dollars on a lens. Even more so, I don't want to go over 600 dollars for both lenses, as I am going to try to get them soon-ish.

I shall bow out then. Chances are that someone else with your budget in mind can offer better advice. Good luck, I'm sure there is an option out there for you.

for right now, im looking to get a lens that works, in order to broaden my range of photography. once i get a solid enough job to be able to finance a thousand dollar lens, i will look into that.

 

[tevo]

@kundalini, set aside budget, would you be able to suggest both a zoom and macro lens that is decent quality, and moderately priced? if for no other purpose than education.

 

[480sparky44 44]

Try looking into Sigma, Tokina and Tamron. 3-rd party lenses are generally cheaper.

 

[kundalini]

Zoom: 70-200mm f/2.8 (I got version one before the price rise and before the extra $$$ of v.II)

Macro (Micro for Nikkor speak): 105mm f/2.8

Both well exceed your budget, but both are exceedingly good.

Never fear, there are other options available to you. However, I also don't consider those options to equal the Nikkor range. That is just an opinion though.

 

[tevo]

Zoom: 70-200mm f/2.8 (I got version one before the price rise and before the extra $$$ of v.II)

Macro (Micro for Nikkor speak): 105mm f/2.8

Both well exceed your budget, but both are exceedingly good.

Never fear, there are other options available to you. However, I also don't consider those options to equal the Nikkor range. That is just an opinion though.

so the f/# is the min/max aperture of the lens? and beyond that, it just gets down to the quality of the glass and other features (AF, VR, etc.) ?

 

[BJF]

Nikon prime lenses

Nikon zoom lenses

 

[480sparky44 44]

Stop by a local camera store and see what they have for sale in the used lens department. Also check Craigslist. Join a local camera club. Root around down in the For Sale section here.