avemal Loc: BALTIMORE

I am using Nikon D500 and interested in a walk around lens. Any suggestions? Thanking you advance.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Define your expectations when you say "walk around" lens. Do you mean a super zoom like an 18-300mm from Nikon, Tamron or Sigma? Do you mean a better quality shorter focal range zoom like the moderately fast Nikkor 16-80 that JPL mentions in the next post after this, do you mean a faster lens that will be also be more usable in lower light like a Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 or a Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8, or do you mean a general purpose fast prime lens, like a Sigma 35mm f/1.4? They all can serve as "walk around" solutions.

JPL

The 16-80 lens should be a good walkaround.

avemal Loc: BALTIMORE

Like to get 300mm zoom light weight

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Super zooms are an IQ compromise at best. Even though the D500 is capable of very high ISO, super zooms are not great low light lenses. They tend to have much more distortion then shorter focal range zoom lenses, tend to be softer at the long end and while they are reasonably sharp in the center they are often much softer at the edge of the image. If this is to be used as only an occasional lens for convenience purposes I understand, but if you are intended to use a super zoom as the primary lens for this camera, than choosing the superb D500 was not a cost effective choice.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

First off, You are going to get 10,000 opinions with this question. Forget the prime crap. A true walk around lens will be a zoom. An 18-300mm would be great. There are some lightweight ones out there. Just use google and also go to the Nikon site. See what they have to offer vs. your budget. Also, do not worry about the lowest aperture. A 3.5 or a 4.5 is just fine even in low light for the average photograph. Nothing wrong with an 18-250mm lens either. You are going to want more than an 80mm maximum reach.

Walk around means that you will be shooting anything from closeups of bees to a bird way out there. This also includes average people shots, obliques of a cool looking automobile, even portraiture and landscapes. If you know what you are doing, you can even do nighttime shots without too much trouble and a lot of excessive gear.

I will give you a good example: I am using an average, run of the mill Sigma 18-250mm F4.3 lens as my walk around. I only paid a couple of hundred bucks for it. I shoot anything and everything with and without flash. Do you want to see how well it works? Just check out my last 100 posts or so on UHH. My posts run the full gamut. I have portraiture, critters, flowers, people photography, kids birthday parties indoors and out. Also included are festivals, fairs, landscapes, birds buried in trees, you name it. I even have low light posts shot without flash that I brought up in post with no noticeable noise. And this, all done with a crop sensor. On your D500, you will do much better, especially in low light conditions. I have no problems with chromatic aberration either. Sometimes I may have a little distortion here and there, but all lenses will do that under certain settings and conditions. No big deal. I also have a 70-300mm lens that does a super job, but I like the 18-250 better because I can use it close in such as indoors in small rooms.

So, do your homework starting out by looking at my stupid posts, use google, and the Nikon site as I have mentioned. Look and see if there is a Sigma or Tamron that will fit you needs if budget is a problem. If you have the money, Check out the Nikkor lenses. They are excellent and they don't way a ton either.

avemal Loc: BALTIMORE

Many thanks.

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

A really good one is the Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR. I have the 18-140 that I use all the time as a walk around and it's an exceptional all around lens. The only thing I'm missing is the extra reach.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

Here is some "prime crap".
I use a super zoom for travel, and a 35mm 1.4 prime for a street photography walk-around lens.
Completely a personal choice.

avemal Loc: BALTIMORE

Thanks. May go with Tamron 16-300mm. Light & takes good photos.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

If you're satisfied with the compromises and results of a superzoom that's fine. They certainly are convenient and don't require you to change a lens in most circumstances. But even on the best of them, the IQ is flawed and some of us don't find the results acceptable, even as a walk around lens. I use a variety of short focal range zooms for that purpose, depending on my general plans for the day, and for street photography I often walk around with a fast 35mm prime, which is perfect for that purpose. Additionally, contrary to what you suggest, superzooms are a poor low light choice. If you think they are acceptable in low light, then you dont shoot extensively in low light. I've owned and used two superzooms over the years. But I've moved on to better lenses and have never looked back.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

It's one of the better superzooms, but I hope you also have other better quality lenses to get the best from this terrific camera.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

avemal, I use the AF-S 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G VR Nikkor on a D7200 and it works well in many scenarios...
However for action (daylight sports/BIF) the AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4D IF-ED while a more vintage lens out resolves the 18-300mm by an order of magnitude... at 1,440g it is hand-holdable and if shooting action the lack VR is irrelevant since you'll be at 1/1000 second or better... The new PF version of the 300mm nikkor has some perplexing issues with it's VR in the 1/60 to 1/200 second range... Nikon is still endeavoring to find a permanent firmware fix here... So might hold off on this feather light puppy...

If the weight/comfort component of the mix is of major concern would suggest you look into the BlackRapid RS7 sling... I'm able to comfortably use the 200-500mm f/5.6 Nikkor as a walk-around with the aforementioned... mount the sling to the tripod foot and the world is your oyster...

Hope this helps...

avemal Loc: BALTIMORE

l Many thanks for your input

Jim Bob

Sigma 17-50.