What Lens?

MelvinWaldon1959 · Feb 23, 2014

Hello everyone. I need some advice. I have a Nikon D5100. What 3 lenses should I have in my bag for different photo's? We'll let me rephrase . Along with the original lens. I ordered a nikon 70-300Mm . What other lens should I have since I like to take different shots? Thank you in advance.

480sparky · Feb 23, 2014

So you have the 18-55/18-105/18-140 and the 70-300 now.

What do you want them to do that they can't?

snowbear · Feb 23, 2014

How about this one?

Seriously, what do you want to photograph?

480sparky · Feb 23, 2014

snowbear said:
How about this one?

Seriously, what do you want to photograph?

Pffffft. Rookie! Go big or go home!

robbins.photo · Feb 23, 2014

MelvinWaldon1959 said:
Hello everyone. I need some advice. I have a Nikon D5100. What 3 lenses should I have in my bag for different photo's? We'll let me rephrase . Along with the original lens. I ordered a nikon 70-300Mm . What other lens should I have since I like to take different shots? Thank you in advance.

Well there are a ton of lenses out there to suit a wide variety of needs. At the moment I carry two, a 50 mm 1.8 G and a 70-200 mm F/2.8. I also have two teleconverters, a 1.4 x and a 2 x so that I can extend the range of the 70-200 mm to 280 mm at F/4 or 400 mm at F/5.6

The advantage is I have a lot of versatility in just one lens, if I need the lowlight I've got 2.8 at 200 mm, or if I need more reach I can add the teleconverter and get all the way out to 400 mm at 5.6. Gives me a ton of options without having to carry around a bunch of different lenses.

I also plan on adding a couple more primes and a wide angle at some point, but for now the basic two lenses are meeting most of my needs pretty well. Overall when it comes to lenses your best bet is to figure out what need you have that your current lenses are not fulfilling and then find something that will, hopefully in a price range your willing to pay for that capability. As for me I prefer wide aperture lenses whenever possible, I like having the ability to shoot in lower light as needed. For zoom lenses that means they will be bigger and heavier than their smaller aperture cousins, but for me the versatility is worth it. It also means that they are generally more expensive, but again for me that's a tradeoff I'm willing to make.

Hope that helps.

Designer · Feb 23, 2014

Melvin, you're going to get a different answer from every responder. First; what "original lens"? I am guessing the AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 G.

Second; what kind of photography do you like/want to do?

What budget are we to consider?

Anything else?

MelvinWaldon1959 · Feb 23, 2014

Thank you for the response. I will be doing a lot of pic of cheerleading competition coming up in Virginia beach twice in March. My daughter is on the team. Also my son baseball team. But mostly all the sites here in Dc. So any suggestion would be helpful. And to your first question, yes my original lens.

480sparky · Feb 23, 2014

MelvinWaldon1959 said:
Thank you for the response. I will be doing a lot of pic of cheerleading competition coming up in Virginia beach twice in March. My daughter is on the team. Also my son baseball team. But mostly all the sites here in Dc. So any suggestion would be helpful. And to your first question, yes my original lens.

What you have will serve you well for those purposes.

robbins.photo · Feb 23, 2014

MelvinWaldon1959 said:
Thank you for the response. I will be doing a lot of pic of cheerleading competition coming up in Virginia beach twice in March. My daughter is on the team. Also my son baseball team. But mostly all the sites here in Dc. So any suggestion would be helpful. And to your first question, yes my original lens.

As long as you've got pretty good lighting you should be all set.

Derrel · Feb 23, 2014

Two good additions to an 18-55 kit and 70-300 lens would be:

1) Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-S G, currently on rebate, right at $199 final cost. SHARP, fast, light, makes a short telephoto lens that can shoot in poor light. Focuses fast enough for action/sports. I own one. It is one of the best 50mm lenses I've ever owned, from multiple brands. This lens ought to be good for the next 20 years or so.

2) 85mm f/1.8 AF-S G Nikon, currently about $396 final price ($100 rebate drops it to below 4 bills for the first time I am aware of). The 85mm lens has blazing focus speed, light weight, small barrel, small presence, and allows you to get FAST shutter speeds indoors in poor lighting, and is one of THE absolute sharpest lenses made by any maker for under about $4,000. NOT kidding--this lens is extremely high-performing in terms of sharpness, and it allows you to shoot at speeds that will FREEZE motion when the ISO is elevated a little bit; this is the difference-maker in bad light, or when you need a realllllllly high-resolution shot to crop into, and need both fine optical performance AND a fast shutter speed AND critically accurate focus. I own one, and it is one of the best 85's I have owned out of six different examples of five models made from the early 70's to 2012. This lens out-performs $1500 Zeiss 85mm's, and would be good for cheer and sports events indoors from the stands. This can be considered a lifetime lens.

robbins.photo · Feb 24, 2014

I'm pulling the trigger on an 85mm 1.8 myself as soon as I get paid. The current rebate made it just to good to pass up.

I have the 50mm 1.8 already and I can concur with Derrel on that one as well, it is a fantastic lens.

Sent from my LG-LG730 using Tapatalk

goodguy · Feb 24, 2014

The D5100 is a very good beginners camera so you are already on a good start.
I always said the first 3 lenses for such a camera should be
1.Kit lens Nikon 18-105mm VR for everyday use
2.Nikon 70-300mm VR for telezoom
3.Nikon 50mm 1.8G for portaits and night photography

The first 2 lenses cover you from 18-300mm x 1.5 (crop factor) and 50mm supplement for portrait and night photography, for a novice this cover all bases, from here you can upgrade these lenses or add other lenses like a Macro lens or very wide lens, the sky is the limit and so is your pocket.

Good luck.