Nikon lens question

[Spoogen_1]

Im sure my question can work for other brands too but im getting nikon so ill be specific.

2 months ill be getting a D60 Nikon. Im gunna be getting Nikkor lenses. I take pics normally of cars, scenery, and people. I wasnt sure between a zoom lens and a wide angle. Which lens do you guys think would be best for all these different types of shots? Im not a pro of anything so i cant afford 304 different lenses.

 

[archer379]

i am no expert by any means but the 50mm i find works well for people and cars

 

[Flash Harry]

I find the 18-70 is a pretty decent, reasonably priced all rounder for what you say you'll be shooting, obviously there are better lens in the nikon range but price and quality wise I think you'll be happy with this. H

 

[Big Mike]

I wasnt sure between a zoom lens and a wide angle

Do you mean 'between a telephoto and a wide angle lens? A lens can be a 'wide angle zoom'...like the new Nikon 10-24mm F3.5-4.5 for example. It 'zooms' from 10 to 24mm.

 

[Patrice]

If money is tight go for either of 35mm f1.8G, or 18-55mm AFS, or 18-70mm AFS. All will work very well as a first lens. Some might even suggest an 18-200 as a walk around lens. If you want a really good lens 17-55 f2.8 is an excellent mid zoom.

 

[nickisonfire]

a prime is definitely the way to go, 50mm is probably your best bet

 

[kundalini]

An excerpt from Thom Hogan's review of the D60.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Final Comments[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The D60 is a nice camera that will appeal to most entry level DSLR users. However, I'm going to suggest that there's another group who will like it more: FM2 afficionados. Am I crazy? No. With the right lenses, the D60 is the small, light digital FM that everyone wants, with one addition: a Katz Eye screen (you can use the focus confirmation indicator, but there's a bit of tolerance in it that a true FM user would want to get rid of). Because you can mount pretty much any Nikkor lens ever made on the D60 it makes for a nice manual focus camera. However, those lenses don't set exposure. No fear, I have the perfect lens kit for you:[/FONT]

• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Voigtländer 20mm f/3.5. Gives you the equivalent of 28mm in the old film days, and this manual focus lens will meter on the D60 due to the CPU chip Cosina adds to it.[/FONT]
• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G DX. Nikon has now introduced the perfect "normal" lens for this camera. No DOF scale, though, so you might want to consider the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 instead. [/FONT]
• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Voightlander 40mm f/2 or Voightlander 58mm f/1.8. Again, both manual focus lenses and chipped to support exposure. The latter is a good equivalent for the 85mm on film.[/FONT]
• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]If you need macro or more telephoto, the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 and the Voightlander 180mm f/4 could round out your kit.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]It's remarkable how small and convenient the combination is (D60, Katz Eye, 20mm, 30mm, 58mm). FM users will find it the equivalent to, say, carrying an FM2n, a 28mm, 50mm, and 85mm lens. All these lenses are optically quite good[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Not in that league and want all automatic? Then I'd say the optimal D60 kit is this: D60, 18-55mm VR, 55-200mm VR, and the 35mm f/1.8G DX. Again, remarkably small and convenient, and all these lenses are also optically quite good. [/FONT]

Good luck.

 

[Spoogen_1]

Do you mean 'between a telephoto and a wide angle lens? A lens can be a 'wide angle zoom'...like the new Nikon 10-24mm F3.5-4.5 for example. It 'zooms' from 10 to 24mm.

ya, telephoto i mean.

 

[Flash Harry]

Not for what you say you'll be shooting, but if you want an all rounder wide to tele then I'd also go with 18-200vr, it'll cover the lot. Oh, and before I get all the wanabee togs here slagging it off I've heard all the arguments, no its not a prime but not everyone has prime cash, its good enough and better than many. H

 

[andrew99]

The 50mm prime will not autofocus on that camera, so be aware of that. There is a new version of the 35mm which will (the AF-S version), which would be a good option, and I think 35mm is more useful than 50mm on a crop sensor camera.

That said, I think for a first lens, a zoom will be much for fun for learning. The 18-55 kit lens is very cheap and quite good, and is a very useful range for what the OP said he will be shooting.

 

[itznfb]

go with the 18-55 VR. you'll get much more use out of it than a prime. and you won't utilize the benefits of a prime anyway. if you get a 35 or 50 prime right off the bat, and it's your only lens you're going to be frustrated.

also, the 50mm does come in AF-S flavor in the AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G. more expensive, but it will auto focus on the D60/40

 

[djacobox372]

Cheap way = 18-200mm VR, and never take it off the camera.

Other then that you have to buy multiple lenses.