Thinking of buying and selling some lenses and looking for feedback...

jwbryson1

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My current camera is a Nikon D90. I also have a D40 that I keep "for backpacking and hiking trips" when I don't want to carry the bigger, heavier D90. Truth be told, I never use the D40 any more and always bring the D90...

I also own the 18-55mm kit lens that came with the D40. In addition, I own the 18-200mm lens that I bought for a trip to Maui in 2008.

I am thinking about selling the 18-200mm and am interested in buying the 70-300mm Nikon. I like this lens for its additional reach and because I understand it's very sharp and a good lens to have in the bag.

But I am also not thrilled with the 18-55mm (it was searching for focus last time I used it) and was thinking of selling the D40 / 18-55mm combo and picking up the Nikon 16-85mm. Clearly, I would need to throw some more $$$ into the mix to make these both happen.

In the end, I would have the same coverage that I had before, but with presumably better lenses.

What is the consensus on the 16-85mm and the 70-300mm used with the D90?

Am I nuts to sell the D40 even though it's old technology? It's still a fun little camera to use. I just feel like I'm ready to move on at this point.

Thanks for reading.
 
As always I am sure different people will think differently so what I say is what I think and what I think only.

Chuck the D40 to the side, old camera is old camera, let it go and don't look back.

Getting the 16-85mm VR is an excellent choice for a DX camera if you don't see yourself moving to FX body in the future, if you do I would say think of an FX lens and save the future trouble of selling the lens and buying an FX lens.
The 70-300mm VR is a phenomenal lens, very sharp for its price, LOVE my lens!!!

One thing you need to understand the 70-300mm VR is an FX lens which means its actually 105-450mm on your DX body so you will have a tiny gap between the 16-85mm and 70-300mm I wouldn't worry about that but you might, its your call.

I think the 16-85mm and 70-300mm VR will make a fantastic combination on your D90
 
One thing you need to understand the 70-300mm VR is an FX lens which means its actually 105-450mm on your DX body so you will have a tiny gap between the 16-85mm and 70-300mm I wouldn't worry about that but you might, its your call.


I also own a Tokina 100mm 2.8 which fills that tiny gap. That's not really much of a loss in terms of coverage so I'm not concerned.

Thanks for the post. :mrgreen:
 
70-300 VR is optically pretty decent. It's the best 70-300 Nikon has made yet. I wonder how good the discontinued 18-70mm is versus the 16-85? Thom Hogan's reviews are the ones I usually turn to for field evaluations of various lenses. Not sure, but he 'might' have reviews of several lenses that date specifically to the D90 era, so that the comments and field observation comments are germane to a 12 MP DX body.
 
18-300 VR perhaps?

I hear you, but the 18-200 has some optical quality issues and I'm not sure if the 18-300 is any better. The 70-300 is known for being a really good lens, very sharp and reasonably priced. I think it's lighter than the 18-300 as well which means something to me.

If I buy the 16-85, I assume that I will be able to use it as a carry around lens much of the time except when I'm using my favorite 50mm 1.8.
 
I once owned them both... the 18-200 VR and 18-300 VR. For some reason, my former 18-200 VR felt more sharp and contrasty to me, but I had sold it for the 18-300 VR. Traded that one for the 17-55 F2.8 I've been sworn to F2.8 zooms since.
 
One thing you need to understand the 70-300mm VR is an FX lens which means its actually 105-450mm on your DX body so you will have a tiny gap between the 16-85mm and 70-300mm I wouldn't worry about that but you might, its your call.

The statement above is patently false and such statements can, and often do cause confusion. The issue raised needs to be clarified. A 70-300mm lens is a 70-300mm lens and a 16-85mm lens is a 16-85mm lens, no matter what goodguy or anybody else may say. What does change, when fitting any lens to a crop-sensor (DX) body as opposed to a full-frame (FX) body, is the AMOUNT of the image delivered by the lens that the sensor actually captures. It does NOT extend the reach of the lens and turn it into a different, or longer lens.

Allow me to expand on the above explanation and justify my comment.

Each lens in the Nikon (and Canon) DSLR line-up is defined by, among other specs, its focal length, and the focal length relates to the magnification of the lens. However, a DX Camera can only capture a portion of the image provided by a full-frame lens, by virtue of the fact that the DX sensor is smaller than an FX sensor. This "shortcoming" creates the ILLUSION that an FX lens (or DX lens for that matter) creates more reach when used on a DX body. It is, however, just an illusion. Take the same lens on a both an FX and a DX camera, and from the same position, take a photograph at the same focal length. The photo from the DX camera will be of a narrower view than the photo from the FX camera and create the illusion that more reach has been achieved. Should you then crop the photo from the FX camera to match the photo from the DX camera, you will end up with exactly the same image.

Cropping an image from an FX camera to match an image from a DX camera does NOT constitute extra reach. What it does do is allow for the ILLUSION of extra reach. The 16-85mm lens is a DX lens, which means that the circle of light that the lens projects is sufficient to fully cover the sensor in a DX camera, but not necessarily big enough to fully cover the sensor in an FX camera. On a DX camera, it has the same reach as an 16-85mm FX lens. The 16-85mm lens is and will always remain a 16-85mm lens.

Similarly for the 70-300mm lens. Whether a DX or FX lens, it remains a 70-300mm lens. So no, there is no "gap" between these two lenses, but rather an overlap in the 70-85 focal length range.

Have a look at http://photographylife.com/equivalent-focal-length-and-field-of-view for a better and more professional explanation...
 
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