Lens Upgrade HELP!!!!

[vintagephoto]

Okay. I know absolutely nothing about photography. It is a passion for my boyfriend. Recently he broke his Nikon 55-200MM lens. He has attempted to fix it, but with no success.

I want to buy him a new lens for Christmas, yet as stated previously I have very little knowledge. Okay, I was looking at the Nikon Nikkor 70-300mm lens. I know it is comparable with his broken lens, but I wanted educated opinions and thoughts.

Can you help me?

 

[TheBiles]

What's your budget?


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Sent from my Droid Bionic.

 

[CCericola]

Do you know what model camera he has? With the model name we can see what kind of sensor it has and give you a recommendation. Also, what is your budget?

 

[vintagephoto]

No more than $1000 is what I was thinking.

 

[vintagephoto]

Sorry. he has a Nikon D-40.

 

[CCericola]

I vote for this one:

Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 II EX DG APO Macro HSM AF Lens 579-306 B&H

 

[KmH]

What does he take photos of? The lens he broke is a $250 lens, if he had the newest version of it Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR [Vibration Reduction] Nikkor Zoom Lens.

One of Nikon's best values is the Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S VR Nikkor Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras and would be a big improvement over the now toasted 55-200 mm lens he had.

The Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM II Macro Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras is a pretty good upgrade too, because it is a constant aperture lens and can open up to f/2.8, a bonus if your boyfriend wants to shoot in a bit dimmer light.

 

[vintagephoto]

What does he take photos of?

He really likes nature photography; however, he has been experimenting with different types of strobe (?) flash techniques with portraits and such as of late.

Thank you for your input and suggestions. It really helps -this is too complex for me

 

[KmH]

OK, so get him the 70-300 VR so he has a lttle more 'reach' (100 mm more focal length) for his nature shots, and for strobed light (flash) portraits get him:

Impact Digital Flash Umbrella Mount Kit

Yongnuo YN-560 Speedlight Flash for Canon and Nikon

And to trigger the strobes (flash units) while on the light stands (called 'off camera flash' or OCF); StudioHut 4 channel Wireless Radio Hot Shoe Flash Trigger Kit for Canon EOS, Nikon, Olympus & Pentax Flashes with 2 Receivers

Tell him to visit www.strobist.com.