Focal distance, zoom, and which lens to buy?

[hjf]

Hi,
I got a D3000 a few months ago, and I've been using the 18-55 lens that came with it, with nice results.
Recently I was looking for other lenses and I saw there are some not-so-expensive lenses (where I live we get 2x to 3x the USA price because of taxes and well... elitism from pro photo shops).

So, I was looking at the 55-200 from Nikon. Will that lens be a substantial upgrade from my 18-55? How much "closer" will that lens "bring" my subject? I ask this because the only lens I ever used was the 18-55 so I have no idea how these two compare.

Second question, and this is even more newbieish:

Let's say I have a 18-200 and a 55-200. When both lenses are at 200, do they show the same picture? I dont know if i'm explaining myself. Does the 200/18 or 200/55 relation have anythig to do with how close objects will appear when looking through the lens?

Thanks

 

[KmH]

So, I was looking at the 55-200 from Nikon. Will that lens be a substantial upgrade from my 18-55? How much "closer" will that lens "bring" my subject?

A little research, and a little math, will answer your question. You need the minimum field-of-view (FOV) specs of the 18-55 lens and the minimum FOV specs of the 55-200. You can get those number off of Nikon's USA web site. They are listed in the specifications list for each lens. How much closer depends how far away the subject is from the lens.
www.nikonusa.com

Does the 200/18 or 200/55 relation have anythig to do with how close objects will appear when looking through the lens?

They will not be exactly the same at 200 mm, but they will be close.

BE AWARE - Superzoom (10x+ zoom range, 18-200 = 11.1x zoom range) lenses like an 18-200 mm zoom, are by necessity designed using a multiple series of optical design compromises to accommodate that extreme a zoom range. Image quality suffers as a result. Nikons's 18-200 has issues from 18 to 35 mm (varying degrees of barrel distortion and soft focus) and from 180 mm or so to 200 mm (soft focus)

 

[hjf]

Thanks, I think I got it, I saw the sample images at Angle of view - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and the first and last photos in the photos in the set of 4 roughly match the angles of the lenses I'm comparing.

 

[KmH]

Great! For those that like to delve a little deeper, the minimum angle of view for the 18-55 mm lens is 28° 50', and the minimum angle of view for the 55-200 is 8° even.