Whan 200mm or 300mm lens for D3100 should i get?

lonerunner

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I have been watching for lenses on nikon site and there are many to choose from 200$ to 2000$. There are all explanations about lenses on their website and also there are sample pictures of every lens, but i wanna hear from people who have experienced something with those lenses and what would they recommend.

I don't have money to buy 2000$ lens but i wanna jump to something better than my 18-55mm lens. As what i have seen so far my lens is good only for some closeup shots and portraits. Im not satisfied with sharpens and landscape photos with it.

What i would like to shoot in future is portraits, little bit of wildlife and some macro shoots. What lens would you recommend me?
 
Your D3100 is a 'compact' Nikon so it doesn't have an auto focus motor in the camera and can only auto focus with AF-S lenses.

Nikon still makes many AF lenses like the Nikon AF 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Zoom Nikkor Lens that can be picked up in good conditions used for $700 to $800 USD.
But the AF lenses don't have a focus motor in them and would be manual focus only on your D3100.

The Nikon AF-S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF VR Nikkor Zoom Lens is one of Nikon's best lens values and is .

You might also consider the Nikon AF-S 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR DX Nikkor Zoom Lens but it would be nice if it was f/3.5 at 55 mm.

None of those are macro lenses. Another great Nikon lens value is the Nikon AF 24-85mm f/2.8-4.0D IF Zoom Nikkor Lens because it has a 1:2 macro capability from 35 mm to 85 mm. It too is an AF lens and would be manual focus only on your D3100.
 
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IMO glass is an investment. If I had it to do over again I would have invested in quality glass. It was for me an expensive lesson. In other words, don't go the cheap route. Save your money and buy quality or at least that is what I would do.

Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
The 70-300 VR II that KmH linked is a great value for the $$$.
 
I'd third the suggestion of the 70-300 VR as a decent lens. I own one. Quite decent for the money. AND it balances well on smaller,lighter cameras, and is not so damned big, heavy,. and obnoxious as a 70-200/2.8. A smaller camera body that is balnced with the tele-zoom it has is a nice thing; a big, "pro" lens on a lightweight small body is a PITA to shoot with.
 
Hmm... i was looking at those two lenses( 70-300mm and 50-300mm ) many times and was thinking man i wish i could save money to get this 70-300mm lens. But it's out of budget for me for now. Prices here are different and in euro it's 30%more than in us which is about 900$ lens here. The lens it self cost twice as much as i paid my camera with 18-55mm lens. and 50-300mm is double cheaper and its in my price range for now but i doubt in it's quality and that it will improve that much picture quality. I wish i can find some real photo examples to check. If 70-300mm is that much improvement i will wait 2-3 months more to get it.
 
Hmm... i was looking at those two lenses( 70-300mm and 50-300mm ) many times and was thinking man i wish i could save money to get this 70-300mm lens. But it's out of budget for me for now. Prices here are different and in euro it's 30%more than in us which is about 900$ lens here. The lens it self cost twice as much as i paid my camera with 18-55mm lens. and 50-300mm is double cheaper and its in my price range for now but i doubt in it's quality and that it will improve that much picture quality. I wish i can find some real photo examples to check. If 70-300mm is that much improvement i will wait 2-3 months more to get it.

If it's a matter of waiting just 2-3 months, then maybe you should.
 
I'd recommend the 70-300 as well. I got it for around $450 in Canada. Shop around a little more, hopefully you can find a better price than $900.
 
I'd recommend the 70-300 as well. I got it for around $450 in Canada. Shop around a little more, hopefully you can find a better price than $900.

Nope, maybe 50$ cheaper max, we don't have much choice here, i live in small country in Europe, and don't even have 1 photo store in my city. Everything we order through pc stores and wait to get them from main city. Theres maybe 20 stores in country and they all hold closely same prices.

One thing i would like to add to my question. If i get 70-300 lens what difference would i fell, how much in picture quality?
 
The Nikon 70-300 is what I would would go with out of the ones mentioned. You may also want to check out the Tamron 70-300 SP which some say has better IQ than the Nikon 70-300. I have the Tamron and really like it, its a bit more heavy at 2lbs vs 1.6lbs when compared to the Nikon but totally a great value.
 
It's not uncommon to have more money tied up in lenses than in cameras, particularly if you start getting better than consumer grade lenses.
 
The Tamron 70-300 VC that nmoody mentioned is a great lens. It is faster to focus then the 55-300 and pretty much on par with the Nikon 70-300 VR. The VC on the Tamron is pretty amazing also. I guess it depends on pricing in your country.
 
The Tamron 70-300 VC that nmoody mentioned is a great lens. It is faster to focus then the 55-300 and pretty much on par with the Nikon 70-300 VR. The VC on the Tamron is pretty amazing also. I guess it depends on pricing in your country.

I didn't consider taking other lens than nikon, anyway looking at lenses here, it's only available some 70-300 tamron lens which cost about 300$, i don't think it's the same one you are talking about ?
 
2.8 is the way I would go... otherwise there is a chance you will outgrow that lens when you grow. 10 year old AF 80-200 lenses are still going for $800 because they are quality lenses. I'd wait and buy a great lens rather than hurry and buy a toy.
 
What about the sigma 70-300? It's image quality may not be up there with the nikkor. But I got mine for $150 AUD. It doesn't have the sigma equivalent of nikons VR. But as a budget lens, I've been very happy with it.
 

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