Newbie starting up: I had post a few weeks back about thoughts on which brand to go with and after getting feedback from here and the many hours of research I have done I feel like I...

RConrad06 Loc: Mansfiled, Ohio

I had post a few weeks back about thoughts on which brand to go with and after getting feedback from here and the many hours of research I have done I feel like I would like to go with the Nikon D7200 DSLR with the 18-135mm lens. My question for you guys is I was looking at possibly getting one or two more lenses and wanted a few opinions as to which ones would be a good recommendation. I was looking at the following:

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR Lens
Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G Lens

Are these 3 lenses a good set to work with or is there one that I should look at over one of these or maybe one that I don't even need right away. (PS the 55-300mm I will get for half if I place it in a bundle with the camera when I order it here in the next couple weeks.) just trying to get everything lined up and worked out before I make my investment. Thanks for the responses!

Bill_de Loc: US

I would hold off on the 35mm. Since that length is already covered by the 18 - 135, even though slower than the 35mm prime.

Once you shoot with the zoom for a month or two, go through your pictures and select the ones you like the best. After they are selected, look at the embedded EXIF data and see if there is a particular length that stands out. If there is, get a prime lens in that range. You may decide you would be happier with a 20 or a 50.

You may wind up like many of us, and eventually get them all. But for now, take your time and see what develops.

Oh yeah ... grab the 55 - 300 if the price is right. It's a good start for that range.

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Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

You need a prime--the 35mm 1.8 DX.

BebuLamar

Use what you have for a year or two! There is no need to add equipment so soon unless you know exactly what equipment you will want/need even before buying a camera. But since you don't know I would say wait a year or two.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

I agree with Bebu. Get comfortable with the kit lens on the D7200. If you have to, personally, Sigma lenses are a great value and work beautifully with the Nikon, like the 18-35 Art lens or the 28-300 zoom.

Have you considered a Sony mirrorless and lenses?

Gitzo Loc: Indiana

RConrad06 wrote:

I had post a few weeks back about thoughts on whic... (show quote)

Here's some "food for thought"; there's only one way to Ever really know what lens to buy.....and you'll only know it AFTER you know exactly what you want to photograph with it! The whole trick to consistently producing great photographs is to keep increasing your knowledge of the whole photography process, and your photographic skills will follow. Lenses are prohibitively expensive, yet many people have a whole closet full of very expensive lenses and still continue to make amateurish and terrible pictures!

This is NOT to say you shouldn't have a number of lenses, it's only to say that you should never buy any lens until you have a very good idea of exactly why you need it.

Before you buy ANY lens, ask yourself......"what, if anything, am I going to gain from having this lens"? What lens features will be "useful" to me, and which one's won't be?

Very few of the great pictures you see in outdoor and fashion magazines are a result of the photographer having a whole bag full of lenses to choose from when he/she decided to take that picture......about 99.999% of the great pictures you see in magazines are a result of an extremely knowledgeable and experienced photographer who knew exactly what he/she wanted to photograph in the first place, and had the experience and skill to do it properly!

My best advice? Don't buy ANY new lens "just yet"; spend a few $$ on a subscription to "Shutterbug" or "Outdoor Photography", and spend a lot of time reading what the people writing all of those articles have to say; Your picture taking skills will increase a lot faster than they will if you merely buy a few new lenses; after a short time, you'll have a much better idea which lenses will do more for you and which ones won't.

And an ever better idea since you want to buy a Nikon D-SLR........regardless of what model of Nikon you get, the absolutely LEAST "useful" information you'll ever find for that particular camera, is the little owner's manual that came with it! A lot camera makers make great cameras, but NONE of them include decent, useful manuals with their cameras. Of all the manuals ever written for Nikon Cameras, (and I have read most of them ), the one's written by David Busch are light years ahead of all the rest! THAT, I can guarantee! The $20 or $25 you spend on a David Busch Manual for your Nikon model will do far more to increase your camera skills than any lens that you can buy for it, and you'll find it will be far more useful in helping you "learn" that particular camera than any other manual will. (And with it, you'll have a lot better understanding of Nikon lenses than you'll ever get from this forum.)

I think your decision to "go with" the Nikon D 7200 is a great decision, as the 7200 truly is a very capable camera. My advice.....buy the body without the lens, and then only buy ONE lens to start with, and don't worry about another lens until you really master that camera; and again....(and I'm told that Dave Busch has taken a break from doing any more manuals for a while), but I'm guessing that he's already done one for the D-7200, and if so.....get it! Trust me, you'll be glad you did!

At the risk of making this post way too long, here's something about cameras in general that any beginner needs to know; Camera makers all want to sell you a camera/lens "combo", especially on "non professional" and mid-range cameras; because of this, most beginners buy a new camera body with a "kit lens"; about 90% of the time, after they gain some skill, they begin to realize their pictures aren't quite as "sharp" as they would like, so they start shopping around for a "sharper lens"; Pros don't do this; they buy the right body and the "right lens" up front! What no camera maker will ever tell you.......any digital camera body you buy (up to and including the very highest price one they make ), will become OUT DATED in maybe two years or so; with lenses, it's not the same; lenses tend to last a MUCH longer than camera bodies do; very few kit lenses are ever "very satisfactory" for very long, actually, most of them are not very "satisfactory" when they first come out! Therefore, it's much better to buy the body you want, then shop around for the lens, and you'll find that you can ALWAYS get a far better lens, (quality wise), for the same or even much less money than you can when you buy the lens WITH the camera body. So many things influence the relative value of any camera OR lens; any thing that "just came out" will ALWAYS cost more, (and many times won't "do any more"! The key thing to remember is that lenses retain their relative value FAR LONGER that camera bodies do.

Bill_de Loc: US

Gitzo wrote:

This is NOT to say you shouldn't have a number of lenses, it's only to say that you should never buy any lens until you have a very good idea of exactly why you need it.

I think the reason for having a couple of kit lenses is because it gives you a chance to see what various focal lengths, for example, will produce when you press the shutter. It's hard to say I shot with an 18 to 135 for six months, so now I know I need a 200. If you never shot something at 200, you know it will magnify your image from the same distance as shooting with the 135, but that's all you know. So how do you know if it is exactly what you need?

In the days of film where every click of the shutter cost fifty cents, and when you finally got to see the image you might not be in a position to shoot the same thing again to make it better, a lot of study and research was required. Today, with instant feed back, and no additional cost per shot, I think a little less research and a lot more shooting is a better way to start. Plus the notion that you can't get a tack sharp image with a kit lens doesn't necessarily hold true in the real world, although it might be in an optics lab.

Finally, if someone is getting into photography to have some fun, it's more fun if you have toys to play with. :)

We have different views on the subject. I hope the OP takes what ever road is best for him. No way to know for sure what that is.

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Macronaut Loc: Redondo Beach,Ca.

The 7200 is an excellent choice, though there are many excellent choices out there.

I might also suggest holding off in adding any more lenses for a little while until grow a bit in this endeavor. There will come a time you will have a better idea of what you want to shoot and what is better for what you want to achieve. You may find you are satisfied with lesser quality zooms or you may fine you want the best from primes for example, maybe something in between. Get some time on the camera and in the meantime, do your homework and research what you may be considering.

This has been said before but, I just figured I would register my vote for the similar/same course of action.

Happy shooting :-)

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

Gitzo wrote:

Here's some "food for thought"; there's only one way to Ever really know what lens to buy.....and you'll only know it AFTER you know exactly what you want to photograph with it! The whole trick to consistently producing great photographs is to keep increasing your knowledge of the whole photography process, and your photographic skills will follow. Lenses are prohibitively expensive, yet many people have a whole closet full of very expensive lenses and still continue to make amateurish and terrible pictures!

This is NOT to say you shouldn't have a number of lenses, it's only to say that you should never buy any lens until you have a very good idea of exactly why you need it.

Before you buy ANY lens, ask yourself......"what, if anything, am I going to gain from having this lens"? What lens features will be "useful" to me, and which one's won't be?

Very few of the great pictures you see in outdoor and fashion magazines are a result of the photographer having a whole bag full of lenses to choose from when he/she decided to take that picture......about 99.999% of the great pictures you see in magazines are a result of an extremely knowledgeable and experienced photographer who knew exactly what he/she wanted to photograph in the first place, and had the experience and skill to do it properly!

My best advice? Don't buy ANY new lens "just yet"; spend a few $$ on a subscription to "Shutterbug" or "Outdoor Photography", and spend a lot of time reading what the people writing all of those articles have to say; Your picture taking skills will increase a lot faster than they will if you merely buy a few new lenses; after a short time, you'll have a much better idea which lenses will do more for you and which ones won't.

And an ever better idea since you want to buy a Nikon D-SLR........regardless of what model of Nikon you get, the absolutely LEAST "useful" information you'll ever find for that particular camera, is the little owner's manual that came with it! A lot camera makers make great cameras, but NONE of them include decent, useful manuals with their cameras. Of all the manuals ever written for Nikon Cameras, (and I have read most of them ), the one's written by David Busch are light years ahead of all the rest! THAT, I can guarantee! The $20 or $25 you spend on a David Busch Manual for your Nikon model will do far more to increase your camera skills than any lens that you can buy for it, and you'll find it will be far more useful in helping you "learn" that particular camera than any other manual will. (And with it, you'll have a lot better understanding of Nikon lenses than you'll ever get from this forum.)

I think your decision to "go with" the Nikon D 7200 is a great decision, as the 7200 truly is a very capable camera. My advice.....buy the body without the lens, and then only buy ONE lens to start with, and don't worry about another lens until you really master that camera; and again....(and I'm told that Dave Busch has taken a break from doing any more manuals for a while), but I'm guessing that he's already done one for the D-7200, and if so.....get it! Trust me, you'll be glad you did!

At the risk of making this post way too long, here's something about cameras in general that any beginner needs to know; Camera makers all want to sell you a camera/lens "combo", especially on "non professional" and mid-range cameras; because of this, most beginners buy a new camera body with a "kit lens"; about 90% of the time, after they gain some skill, they begin to realize their pictures aren't quite as "sharp" as they would like, so they start shopping around for a "sharper lens"; Pros don't do this; they buy the right body and the "right lens" up front! What no camera maker will ever tell you.......any digital camera body you buy (up to and including the very highest price one they make ), will become OUT DATED in maybe two years or so; with lenses, it's not the same; lenses tend to last a MUCH longer than camera bodies do; very few kit lenses are ever "very satisfactory" for very long, actually, most of them are not very "satisfactory" when they first come out! Therefore, it's much better to buy the body you want, then shop around for the lens, and you'll find that you can ALWAYS get a far better lens, (quality wise), for the same or even much less money than you can when you buy the lens WITH the camera body. So many things influence the relative value of any camera OR lens; any thing that "just came out" will ALWAYS cost more, (and many times won't "do any more"! The key thing to remember is that lenses retain their relative value FAR LONGER that camera bodies do.

Here's some "food for thought"; there'... (show quote)

What a lot of
"food for thought".

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

BebuLamar wrote:

Use what you have for a year or two! There is no need to add equipment so soon unless you know exactly what equipment you will want/need even before buying a camera. But since you don't know I would say wait a year or two.

This is the answer.

The "gotta get more gear cuz' the hog says so..." hamster-wheel is a loser.

Shoot what you have, learn it inside out, after a year, then if what you have isn't doing some specific thing you need, then look for the piece of gear that will do it.

Trust me, I've wasted the equivalent of a nice late model used car in what I've spent in chasing the gear.

It took me quite a while to figure out what we are telling you now for free.

FiddleMaker Loc: Merrimac, MA

Gitzo wrote:

Here's some "food for thought"; there's only one way to Ever really know what lens to buy.....and you'll only know it AFTER you know exactly what you want to photograph with it! The whole trick to consistently producing great photographs is to keep increasing your knowledge of the whole photography process, and your photographic skills will follow. Lenses are prohibitively expensive, yet many people have a whole closet full of very expensive lenses and still continue to make amateurish and terrible pictures!

This is NOT to say you shouldn't have a number of lenses, it's only to say that you should never buy any lens until you have a very good idea of exactly why you need it.

Before you buy ANY lens, ask yourself......"what, if anything, am I going to gain from having this lens"? What lens features will be "useful" to me, and which one's won't be?

Very few of the great pictures you see in outdoor and fashion magazines are a result of the photographer having a whole bag full of lenses to choose from when he/she decided to take that picture......about 99.999% of the great pictures you see in magazines are a result of an extremely knowledgeable and experienced photographer who knew exactly what he/she wanted to photograph in the first place, and had the experience and skill to do it properly!

My best advice? Don't buy ANY new lens "just yet"; spend a few $$ on a subscription to "Shutterbug" or "Outdoor Photography", and spend a lot of time reading what the people writing all of those articles have to say; Your picture taking skills will increase a lot faster than they will if you merely buy a few new lenses; after a short time, you'll have a much better idea which lenses will do more for you and which ones won't.

And an ever better idea since you want to buy a Nikon D-SLR........regardless of what model of Nikon you get, the absolutely LEAST "useful" information you'll ever find for that particular camera, is the little owner's manual that came with it! A lot camera makers make great cameras, but NONE of them include decent, useful manuals with their cameras. Of all the manuals ever written for Nikon Cameras, (and I have read most of them ), the one's written by David Busch are light years ahead of all the rest! THAT, I can guarantee! The $20 or $25 you spend on a David Busch Manual for your Nikon model will do far more to increase your camera skills than any lens that you can buy for it, and you'll find it will be far more useful in helping you "learn" that particular camera than any other manual will. (And with it, you'll have a lot better understanding of Nikon lenses than you'll ever get from this forum.)

I think your decision to "go with" the Nikon D 7200 is a great decision, as the 7200 truly is a very capable camera. My advice.....buy the body without the lens, and then only buy ONE lens to start with, and don't worry about another lens until you really master that camera; and again....(and I'm told that Dave Busch has taken a break from doing any more manuals for a while), but I'm guessing that he's already done one for the D-7200, and if so.....get it! Trust me, you'll be glad you did!

At the risk of making this post way too long, here's something about cameras in general that any beginner needs to know; Camera makers all want to sell you a camera/lens "combo", especially on "non professional" and mid-range cameras; because of this, most beginners buy a new camera body with a "kit lens"; about 90% of the time, after they gain some skill, they begin to realize their pictures aren't quite as "sharp" as they would like, so they start shopping around for a "sharper lens"; Pros don't do this; they buy the right body and the "right lens" up front! What no camera maker will ever tell you.......any digital camera body you buy (up to and including the very highest price one they make ), will become OUT DATED in maybe two years or so; with lenses, it's not the same; lenses tend to last a MUCH longer than camera bodies do; very few kit lenses are ever "very satisfactory" for very long, actually, most of them are not very "satisfactory" when they first come out! Therefore, it's much better to buy the body you want, then shop around for the lens, and you'll find that you can ALWAYS get a far better lens, (quality wise), for the same or even much less money than you can when you buy the lens WITH the camera body. So many things influence the relative value of any camera OR lens; any thing that "just came out" will ALWAYS cost more, (and many times won't "do any more"! The key thing to remember is that lenses retain their relative value FAR LONGER that camera bodies do.

Here's some "food for thought"; there'... (show quote)

Gitzo, I'm glad I read your post as I picked up some very useful tips.
I'll see if David Busch has a manual for a Nikon D750. The Nikon D750 manual sucks. -FiddleMaker

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I would go for the 35mm - good lens and good for low light.

I recently read an article advising an owner of a new camera to wait before buying more lenses. Use what you have and see if you have a specific need for a certain lens. Then do you research and buy something good. Aim for quality and large aperture over price. Used and refurbished are good choices.

http://www.dpreview.com/products/compare/lenses
http://lenshero.com/lens-comparison
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx
http://www.lenstip.com/lenses.html
http://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Compare

MikeMck Loc: Southern Maryland on the Bay

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

queencitysanta Loc: Charlotte, North Carolina

Learn your camera first. When you figure out the direction you want to gp then I would look at the lens that first meet your needs.

Lilli480

I bought the D7000 with the kit lens and the 55-300 in addition and never have regretted it. Covers everything from family photos to soccer games. Good luck.