Which Lens?

Azile · Jan 4, 2015

I am going to upgrade my Nikon D80 to a Nikon D5300. I was considering the D7100 but my main issue was the weight of the camera. I wanted a lighter less chunky body than my D80. I loved my D80 for what it did for me. I like the flexibility of the D5300 and its weight. I'd have considered the D7100 more if it weren't for the weight and that it would give me the same limitations as the D80 (other than great image quality regardless of whether I can take a good picture).

So, along with this decision on what camera to get, I have also decided to sell my lenses and get a new one. I have one redundant pair of zoom lenses that I have decided to sell. I'll keep one, but which one should I keep? I have the Nikkor 55-300mm VR af-s zoom lens which is a lighter lens and seems to take good pictures. I also have the Nikkor 70-300mm VR af-s zoom lens which is a much heavier body and the pictures it takes seem to be the better quality images than my other zoom lens. My concern is the weight for the D5300 body. The body is very light weight. The 70-300mm lens is very heavy. If I choose to keep that lens, would that be a problem for the camera? Which lens would you sell?

I'm also selling my Nikkor 18-135mm which was bundled with my D80 originally and my Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens (I'd need an af-s to work with the D5300 anyhow and will likely purchase another one in the future). I'm looking to replace the 18-135mm with a better lens and am interested in purchasing a wide angle lens. I'm an amateur photographer, but I want to experiment more and get different kind of shots. The lenses I have seem to take all the same sort of pictures. I'd like the ability to try a different view...such as wide angle and get some different effects than what my other lenses can give me. Don't get me wrong. I love the zoom lenses. I like working with the prime lens too, but I want more.

So which zoom lens should I keep?

goodguy · Jan 4, 2015

Absolutly keep the 70-300mm VR, dont worry about the size and weight.
When I got my 70-300mm VR I thought its huge and heavy but actually its small and light.
I found that out after I bought the lens that replaced it the Tamron 70-200mm 2.8 VR which is probably more then double its weight and a fair bigger.
What always interest me is image quality and I am less worried about weight or size.
The D5300 is designed to take lenses like the 70-300mm VR and much bigger and heavier too, I mounted the Tamron 70-200mm on my second body the Nikon D60 and it felt right at home, the D60 didnt seem like it has any problem with the big bulky lens.
Not sure about wide lenses, don't use them so I am sure others can help you with recommendation on that.

greybeard · Jan 5, 2015

They don't make many prime DX wide angle lenses. Your best bet would be a zoom in the 10-20mm range. Be sure to get lenses with a built in focusing motor (Nikon lenses will have the "AF-S" prefix as apposed to AF or AF-D) as the D5300 does not have an in camera body focusing motor.
NIKON 12-24MM F/4 G ASPHERICAL ED IF DX SWM AF-S AUTOFOCUS LENS FOR APS-C SENSOR DSLRS {77} - KEH Camera

ruifo · Jan 5, 2015

Keep the 70-300. I use a 70-200 2.8 (1.5kg) with my D5200 (0.5kg) and weight has never been any problem at all.

The new Nikkor 18mm f/1.8G afs is a solid prime. I have a very good 8mm f/3.5 manual focus fisheye that I really like. The Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 is the best DX wide zoom nowadays.