BlueMoon525 Loc: Palm Bay, Florida

Hello! I’m a newbie here...this is my first post! Most of my experience behind the camera has been with point and shoots. While I’ve enjoyed those I would rather have a better quality camera for better pics. I’m going to stretch my budget a bit and get a Nikon D500. My dilemma is should I go with a bundle that the retailer is selling? If I were to get the body and just one lens to begin with what would you recommend as a good ‘all occasion’ type of lens? I guess that’s enough to start...i talk ... a lot so I’ll apologize in advance! :-). Thank you everyone! Looking forward to chatting with all of you!

BebuLamar

If you like the lens in the bundle and the price is less than buying separately then go for it.

tdekany Loc: Oregon

It all depends on what you shoot. If the lens is designed as an all around lens for walking around type of shooting, but you want to shoot tiny birds far away, it will not cut it. On the other hand, if you just do general type of photography, the lens that comes with the camera is a good one to start out with.

Figure out if there is something specialized you are interested in or not. Most of us like to shoot a bit of everything.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Be careful! Many bundles contain useless, plastic junk. Some are half useful/half junk. Others are worthy, all around.

Manufacturer bundles are usually balanced well. Retailer bundles? Buyer beware...

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Good morning and welcome to UHH. Lots of good folks here.

The D500 is probably the best crop sensor (APSC) camera available today. But given it’s intent, you need to consider what kind of photography you want to use it for. It is well-suited to wildlife and action photography, and for that, you’ll need a lens or lenses that will work for that. If general photography—kids, pets, landscapes, etc., a good lens to start with is the Nikkor 18-140 lens. It’s wide enough for most situations and has plenty of reach for all but distant objects. However, if your budget can support it, there are two very good lenses that will cover most everything. The Nikon 24-70 VR and 70-200 VRii. They’re VERRRY expensive, but are amazingly good lenses. For wide angle, landscape and astro photography, the Nikkor 14-24 is a good one. These are designed for full frame Nikons, but work just as well on crop sensor cameras. With these three you will likely not need anything else. Just be prepared to drop about $5k on the set. Otherwise, for a broad spectrum lens, a good, non-Nikon lens is the new Tamron 18-400 zoom lens. It’ll cover just about everything for you, and is priced at $649.00 at B&H right now. It’s received good reviews from folks on UHH. That about covers the extremes, and the middle. And as a final thought, if you think you need a prime lens, on that is a fixed focal length, consider the Nikon 35mm f/2.8. Figuring the crop factor of 1.5, that will give you the rough equivalent of a 50mm lens on a full frame camera. Same applies to all of these lenses.

Joe Blow

My suggestion would be for a bundle. You say you know very little about DSLRs and that is OK. Here is a good way to learn.

Most avid photographers buy in pieces. We get a new lens when the need arises. We upgrade our body (camera) every few years to stay up on the latest. The down side is most of us get locked into one brand of camera. I have lenses from the 1990s that fit my current cameras.

So if you buy a Nikon D500 you can always upgrade your lenses when you find a need. But even the base (kit) lenses are a good start. I would aim for a wide angle to near normal (ex. the 16-80mm) and a normal to telephoto(70-200mm). Those two kit lenses should cover 98% of anything you might want to shoot. With one lens, the 16-80 should cover most of your needs.

Hank Radt

Do your research on the lenses that are being offered, vs. other options. But as tdekany said, it will help a lot to know what you want to shoot. Might be hard to narrow down at first, but think about it and prioritize a bit: birds, sports, landscapes, street photography, portraits, family gatherings, etc. Post your priorities, along with the lens bundle, and ask, again, here - you'll get a lot of opinions, which is good - you'll have some better ideas of what to research, and you'll probably get some links as well from knowledgeable Nikonites (can't help you much on specifics, I'm a Sonyite...).

digit-up Loc: Flushing, Michigan

I've posted this very statement to new folks before..."more often than NOT, a Kit lens is often-times, about as GOOD as a standard lens-cap. Generally just something that covers the hole in the front of your camera.. Most often a chinsey 18 to 55mm something or other. I say' Buy the camera brand you are infatuated with, and get the best lens or lenses you can afford.

Bar Loc: da 'YouPee', eh!

It would help if we knew what lens' were included in the bundle so we could offer a bit more specific in our advice. Some of what was included was a bunch of plastic and the screw on lens' were of dubious quality. My macro works ok but the' 'zoom' one is useless junk, as are several of the filters.

Bill_de Loc: US

The kits that include a bunch of accessories are pretty much a waste. The camera manufacturers set up bundles or 'kits" with a body and 1-3 lenses. These can be a good deal but you still need to be diligent. On example is a Nikon kit where the tele-zoom did not have VR (vibration reduction). They photographed the lens so you couldn't see the area where the VR would be printed. The shorter lens had VR, but of course it would be needed more on the longer of the two. Shame on Nikon for that one.

So, do your homework, read carefully, and when you have made your decision either have somebody else read it or post the details here ... before you plunk your money down.

--

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

The D500 is currently offered with the 16-80 kit lens. I don’t know anything about this lens. I still say the 18-140 is a decent lens for starters. It’s what I hac on my D7200 and was never disappointed with it.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Personally, I'd build my own.

digit-up Loc: Flushing, Michigan

Yup,Yup,AND YUP!! RJM

Hank Radt

You might want to scan some of the threads on Nikon SLR lenses at dpreview: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/1030

Another place to check is dxomark (https://www.dxomark.com/category/lens-reviews/), which has a lot of information, but make sure read and understand their methodology.

Key thing is don't just depend on one source; do your research - lenses aren't cheap, but the wrong lens (i.e., one you're not going to use or not be happy with) is going to be a VERY expensive paperweight...

BlueMoon525 Loc: Palm Bay, Florida

Hey everyone - thank you so much for your thoughts, suggestions and feedback! I am in complete agreement with the suggestion that I need to think about what I want to shoot, and organize my questions around that. I am going to do exactly that. Undoubtedly, I will be back with more questions. And with all the great ideas and suggestions that you all have given me I have no doubt my questions will be more specific next time around. My Thanks again to all of you! I'll be back....either with more questions or a new camera...hopefully both!

Later,
Tracey