First lens purchase - pulling my hair out! Help please!

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Valkaaydn

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Hi everyone

I’m looking to get a new lens but my research is making me pull my hair out more than it’s helping me pick a lens! So I hope someone here can help me please!!!

I have a Nikon D3200 (DX format), budget of around £400 - £500 (although I would consider going slightly above this if I’m paying for significantly better quality) and I’m still unsure as to which type of lens (looking at primes and telephoto zooms) to go for first. So I’ve been researching both but I’m having the same problems: I’ll find a lens, think it seems great and then read bad reviews... mainly in relation to chromatic aberration and nervous bokeh.

Regarding primes, I’m considering the Nikon AF-S 50mm f1.4G, or the AF-S 85mm f1.8G (both FX format). Is the latter better for portraiture on a DX body? Does anyone have any experience with these lenses and how they fare in terms of chromatic aberration? Can anyone recommend a different wide-aperture lens which is great for portraits/bokeh? I also read that the f1.4G can have unsteady bokeh - does anyone have experience with this?

For telephotos, I was was pretty much settled on the Nikon AF-S VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED (FX format) but again I read a couple of quite bad reviews so I’ve gone off it now! The other zoomers I’m considering are the Nikon AF-S 28-300mm f3.5-5.6 G ED VR (FX format) and the Nikon AF-S DX 18-300 f/3.5-5.6 ED VR (DX format). In general, will a telephoto lens be better quality if it has a smaller range of focal lengths?

Can anyone also advise me on whether it’s better to go for a lens with DX or FX formatting, considering it will be used on a DX body? I know about the crop factor on a DX camera and compatibility with FX cameras, but in terms of image quality is there any major difference between FX and DX lenses on a DX body? I may upgrade to an FX camera in future but I reckon that won’t be for quite a long time.

Am I being too picky and pedantic?! This will be my first lens after the kit lens so my experience is minimal. There’s nothing wrong with the kit lens, but I often find myself wanting to push it further than it can go...

Btw I am open to non-Nikon lenses but I haven’t looked into these... through fear that my head will explode with information overload.

If you’ve read all of this then thank you for braving the jungle of my decision-making process! And thanks in advance for any advice you can give me :)
 
Just to clarify, the links that the site has given to the lenses I have specified might not be right...
 
Hi & Welcome :wave:

Are you after just 1 lens from the above ?

What do you want your new lens to do ? Where do you want to go with your photography ?

Obviously the couple of lenses you've suggested are very different and will be great for that purpose - The 50mm F1.4 is going to be very good for relatively close shots, good bokeh etc, but not so good if you are wanting to shoot something a distance away - then the 70-300 comes into it's own...

If you've got the 18-55 kit lens, then I'd opt for a telephoto lens as my next buy as it opens up a new world for you...
 
How about you explain properly what you actually want to shoot?

If it's for portraits on a cropper 50mm will be better than than the 85mm and even then it will be a bit long indoors, so you may want to have a look at the 35mm f/1.8g. Of the 50mm's I have had all the Nikon variations and personally preferred the 50 1.4g, the 1.8g though is available for silly cheap money and while it does lack a bit of build quality is a very good performer.

In terms of the zoom lenses you mentioned avoid the 28-300 and the 18-300. The 70-300vr is a very decent lens for cheap money, the Tamron 70-300vc is also worth a look. I have had both the Tamron version has a reputation for being sharper at the long end. To be honest I can't say that I found this to be the case, I may of just had a very good copy but the 70-300vr I owned was razor sharp right up to about 280mm and acceptable to 300mm. The Nikon version is also built better and your less likely to get build quality issues with it in terms of a.f issues etc. I don't believe the D3200 has a.f adjustment but I may be wrong.

You may also want to consider if a prime lens is going to suit your style of shooting. You could for example set your kit lens too 50mm leave it there for a few days and shoot nothing else and see how you get on to see how you manage with that sort of field of view. Personally with the £500 budget you have I would be looking at going used and picking up a 17-50 f/2.8 Tamron and a Nikon 70-300vr, both of these go for around the £200 mark so would leave you enough budget to pick up say a 35mm f/1.8g used as well.
 
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Valkaaydn said:
Am I being too picky and pedantic?! This will be my first lens after the kit lens so my experience is minimal. There’s nothing wrong with the kit lens, but I often find myself wanting to push it further than it can go...
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Which direction are you pushing when you find that the kit lens is holding you back?

You've kind of thrown the kitchen sink into your opening post, leaving me wondering if you're wanting to buy a lens for the sake of buying a lens. Which is a rationale that rarely leads to a happy conclusion!

You don't suggest any subjects you would be using a tele-zoom for, but you do mention portraiture. For portraits the generally accepted position is to look at the 60-100mm-ish focal length range with a crop-sensor camera (something longer than 50mm). 85mm is a good prime length for portraits. For every day walkabout the 30/35mm-ish focal length is the midpoint to work around with a crop-sensor - you could use a fast prime at either of these focal lengths, or a zoom that straddles either side of this point.

But.. lens choice is a personal decision that should be influenced by your style (or intended style) as the choice of lens will heavily influence the results you achieve. Take advice, read reviews,but remember that your mileage may vary. Reviews are prone to using very subjective comments (what is "nervous bokeh"?) or bench-test results (sharpness charts) that have very little direct relevance to in-use experience.

Once you settle on a short list of lenses, go find people using these lenses on Flickr (you should be able to find examples using the lens with the same model of camera you have). Look at the images they produce and decide if that's the style and quality you want - pay very close attention to the shooting conditions the lens is used under (check the EXIF) because pretty much any lens will give a good result in good light at f/8.
 
Ulfric M Douglas said:
Advice is meaningless before you've told us what lenses you already have!
Click to expand...

I suspect most people are assuming the OP only has the standard kit lens (18-55mm VR), the phrases "first lens purchase" and "This will be my first lens after the kit lens" tending to support the conclusion that it's the only lens he has. But the OP could be (slightly) clearer on this point and confirm it's the standard kit lens.
 
You know that with lenses, you've got to decide which to take with you everytime you go out, then decide which you want on the camera at any given moment ... the more lenses you have the more confused you might become.

If you have just the kit zoom, maybe a 18-55 of limited aperture? then I'd be tempted first to add an 85 f1.8 or something like that ... but bear the above in mind.
 
Sorry, I have the standard kit lens that came with the D3200 which is the AF-S DX 18-55mm f3.5-5.6G VR
 
Forgive my ignorance, but if you just have an entry-level kit zoom, why jump to a full-frame F1.4 Prime?
Surely your next step would be more like a crop-frame 50mmF1.8, or the 35mm ?
A friend of mine loves his 50mmF1.8 (or is it F1.7?) on D7000 and it wasn't expensive.
 
As someone who pondered similar to you a few years ago, I'd get a 50mm f1.8 (I believe the 'D' version used goes for about £60 nowadays). It was the best thing I ever did, using a prime lens really makes you think about your composition and you start to move to get the best shot rather than just zoom for it. So I'd get one for certain at that price & then look at what else you can get depending on your taste & what you want to use it for.
 
All I can say is that of all the lenses I've had to date, the 85mm 1.8G remains one of my favourites still. It's a beauty on FX, bit tight for indoor work maybe on DX. It'll be almost like a short tele-prime. But if you have a 35mm or so besides, you'll cherish both.
 
Budget = £500
£250ish = 2nd hand Nikon AF-S 85mm 1.8
£250ish = 2nd hand Nikon AF-S 18-200mm vr1

This gives you a 'fast' lens (great for portraits) & a multi purpose / travel lens
 
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Oh - You will require the AF-S versions... If it doesn't say it then it isn't.
 
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