Is a 50mm and 10-20mm enough?

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I'm planing on purchasing a dslr in the near future and am trying to decide how best to spend on a limited budget. I've decided on the Nikon d90. Now my next decision is lenses. Body is about $900 or $1150 w/ kit lens. I'm just a hobbyist but most of my shooting is landscape - hence the need for a wide-angle which I plan on going with the sigma 10-20mm (good performace for the price from what I've read. And as an aside does anyone know when the sigma 10-20mm 3.5 version will go on sale?). And since the 50mm 1.8 is so cheap I figure I'll get one of those as well for the rare portrait shot I might want to take.

So the question is this - will I regret not having a "mid-range" lens if I decide to skip the kit lens and go with just the 10-20mm and 50mm? I know the kit lens isn't the best of lenses but I'm also not willing to spend a ton of money on a quality mid-range that I (think I) won't use often.

Opinions appreciated :D
 
If you never need to take photos in that range. Then you will be fine.

If you planning to take any indoor family type photos, you may find that 50mm in a cropped sensor body is too long. But 10-20mm is too short.
 
I'd vote for Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 and Sigma 10-20, that way you can hit wide shots, 50mm shots, and everything in between. Both lenses are very sharp, have beautiful colors, and are around $400-$450 each.
 
If you never need to take photos in that range. Then you will be fine.

If you planning to take any indoor family type photos, you may find that 50mm in a cropped sensor body is too long. But 10-20mm is too short.

Quoted for truth. Pretty much anything indoors will require a slightly longer focal length - even 50mm feels a little long on my film body after I've had my 24mm on there for some time.

Invest in primes! (only other thing I had to say)
 
For wide angle I'd suggest either the Sigma 10-20mm you already mentioned or the Tokina 11-16mm F2.8. If you're on budget, the 50mm F1.8 is a good lens to have. As somebody already mentioned, a 17-50mm F2.8 (Sigma or Tamron) standard zoom will give you more options, but it does cost more than double the 50mm F1.8. A used Nikon 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 goes for about 50USD here - it might be a cheap alternative if you really feel like you need the focal lenght in between, but don't have money to afford the alternatives.

Dao said:
If you planning to take any indoor family type photos, you may find that 50mm in a cropped sensor body is too long. But 10-20mm is too short.

+1
 
I'd vote for Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 and Sigma 10-20, that way you can hit wide shots, 50mm shots, and everything in between. Both lenses are very sharp, have beautiful colors, and are around $400-$450 each.

In this case, I think you have some things reversed. Though the Sigma 10-20 does produce wonderful results, it is a little slower than the Tamron which does come with a F/2.8 variant and offers nice UWA results... however in the 18-50 range, the Sigma DC EX HSM Macro is definitely the superior lens. At least that is what 3 independent magazines said last year when they did shoot-outs of the Nikkor 17-55, Tamron 17-50 and Sigma 18-50.

Sigma won in all aspects against the competitors in the 17-55 range.
 
the 50mm 1.8 is the best lens you can buy for that price
 
In this case, I think you have some things reversed. Though the Sigma 10-20 does produce wonderful results, it is a little slower than the Tamron which does come with a F/2.8 variant and offers nice UWA results... however in the 18-50 range, the Sigma DC EX HSM Macro is definitely the superior lens. At least that is what 3 independent magazines said last year when they did shoot-outs of the Nikkor 17-55, Tamron 17-50 and Sigma 18-50.

Sigma won in all aspects against the competitors in the 17-55 range.

Hmm, Interesting. I had thought that the Tamron had a slight edge(different reviews). I have never heard of anyone disappointed, in either the sigma or Tamron version though. I think that each have its own slight advantages. The Tamron is a bit wider, and a bit more resistant to flare, but it has low magnification, and the Sigma offers a 3:1 macro and closer focusing distance. The focus speed of each is about the same, but the sigma is quiet, and the tamron is pretty loud.

I think that you cant really go wrong either way.

anyway, Back to the OP, 17/18-50 is really the perfect range indoors, so for general shooting its nice to have.

If you don't think you'll be using it very much, and don't want to spend that kind of money on a lens you may not use much, you could try to find a used Kit lens on craigslist or somwhere.
 
the 50mm 1.8 is the best lens you can buy for that price

But that doesn't make it useful. I use a 50mm f/1.2 exclusively on my film camera. I think I've mounted it on my digital APS camera once. That will change when I upgrade to full frame.
 

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