Standard zoom for Nikon

[rmh159]

Hey everyone... I've been looking at telephotos for awhile and now that I'm pretty set on which one I want I'm starting to consider a new standard zoom. I currently use the kit 18 - 55 3.5 Nikon and figured if this is the lens that gets the most game time it only makes sense that this is where I'd put more of my money.

I'm thinking to get something starting around 18mm and preferably an F2.8 or faster. Anyone have recommendations or links? I'd think around $500 would be a good a balance for price / quality but feel free to suggest anything that you know works.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Sw1tchFX]

I was going to say the 17-55 f/2.8, but once you said $500, that idea was basicly out the window.

for a $500 Nikkor f/2.8 standard zoom, the only thing you can get is the 35-70 f/2.8. I have one and I absolutly love it. Anyone else here that has it will tell you it's a classic.

 

[dinodan]

If you're willing to forsake the Nikon nameplate, the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 is an excellent choice. It's 2.8 throughout the range, has good build quality, and can be bought for well under 400 bucks. I love it. Here's a photo sample:

 

[Sw1tchFX]

Unless the example above is part of a 100% blow up, it means nothing. It's impossible to see true sharpness on resized, smaller images.

 

[fmw]

True but it isn't hard to improve the sharpness of this particular image.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

exactly, it means NOTHING.

 

[dinodan]

True but it isn't hard to improve the sharpness of this particular image.

So, how did you do that? That's pretty much the way it looks when I print the 4.85MB original right off my computer.

 

[dinodan]

exactly, it means NOTHING.

Sorry!