Nikon D7000. What glass?

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Keith
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Hi everyone:wave:, I am new to this forum and could do with a little advice please. I am looking to upgrade my camera next year in spring. I have already spent months researching which camera to buy and it will be the Nikon D7000. This camera comes with a kit lens of 18 - 105. My problem is deciding what lenses to purchase to go with it. To summarise what photographs I like to take pretty much covers it all. I like close macro stuff of insects, Portraits Landscapes, Wildlife and Weddings. I think I would like to have a range from 14mm up to 400mm or 500mm telephoto. I am not on an unlimited budget but don't mind spending a few quid. I also don't want to have to carry all my gear around on a fork lift truck:lol: Basically its a case of covering all bases with minimum glass. I would be grateful for any advice you could give me. Keith
 
Basically what you want isn't possible - if it were we would all have it... To get those focal lengths with Nikon glass you'd be looking at near £10k and WOULD need a forklift to carry it all around.

What are you upgrading from? if it is to be your first DSLR I would recommend first getting used to your camera and lens for a while and then seeing where you feel it is lacking.
 
i find my 18-200mm is good enough for most things. then i also carry a 12-24mm for wide angles and a 35mm prime for low light.

you could consider the 18-300mm super zoom. then a 50mm prime for wedding portraits. unfortunately you can't get a super zoom with anything wider than 18mm, if you want wide angle, you'll have to get a wide angle lens like 10-24mm or Sigma 10-20mm.
 
Hi Ned and thanks for your prompt reply. I currently have a Panasonic Lumix G1 but rather than spending any money on new glass I am looking for a better camera. I think I might need a macro prime of say 60mm, a good walk around of what I'm not sure, and maybe a decent telephoto, would this seem right to you.
I take your point about the £10,000, I am just trying to get the most for my quids. Thanks
 
Got the 18-300 now, seems to have ok reviews (?)
Not fast or anything, just saying.....
Personally, not the way i would do it either, but might get you some of what you want (you'll never get it all!) think it goes for about 800 quid....i wouldnt pay that, not for something that slow, regardless of flexibility (just my view)... If it was fast that would be a funny thing to look at though :)
 
i find my 18-200mm is good enough for most things. then i also carry a 12-24mm for wide angles and a 35mm prime for low light.

you could consider the 18-300mm super zoom. then a 50mm prime for wedding portraits. unfortunately you can't get a super zoom with anything wider than 18mm, if you want wide angle, you'll have to get a wide angle lens like 10-24mm or Sigma 10-20mm.

Would you be saying then that the 18-200 is your walkaround
 
Would you be saying then that the 18-200 is your walkaround
oh yes definitely, my walk about and my tele lens. it's on my camera all the time.

well, except when i want ultra wide angle shots, or when lighting is poor. as mentioned, it's not a fast lens, great for going on holiday with non-photographers, for specialised things like sports/birds photography i will need to bump up the ISO.
 
Do it have to be all nikon glass?

You getting the Nikon D7000 with 18-105VR lens.

I say you can buy the following:

Wide Angle: Sigma 10-20mm or Tokin 11-16mm
Prime: 35mm f1.8 AFS and 50mm f1.8/85mm f1.8
Zoom: Sigma 70-200 f2.8 or Nikon 80-200 f2.8
Above 300mm: Sigma 150-500 OS or Nikon 300mm f4 with TC.

Thats just my suggestion to look at but everyone is different.
 
Cheers BadBoy 84, that sounds very much like a plan to me. I will take the info onboard and maybe hit Ebay this weekend and see what they have. Thanks again for the info. Keith:notworthy:
 
The above i mention may not be the best and highest quality lens but is certainly can get the job done and give good performance as well.

The Sigma 150-500 and the nikon 300mm probably the most expensive one. The rest used is pretty recentable price.
 
I thank you for your imput. As I said earlier I am new to this photography thing and I am the kind of person who dousn't mind spending money but I hate wasting it. If the lenses that you mentioned will give me a good all round range then thats good enough for me. Many Thanks. Oh by the way I will post something when I work out how to do so. I am not exactly computor literate either but I am learning. It only took me two hours to figure out how to post a thread on here:lol::lol:
 
Yeah, I was being hyperbolic to make a point that "I want everything without spending too much" is not something that is easily satisfied, especially if you want to get the most out of the D7000 sensor which can out resolve the 18-105 kit lens fairly easily (god knows how a Sigma 150-500 would fare?).

Rather than spreading it widely, my money would go on a few good quality lenses. My personal choice would be a Nikon 12-24, 35mm and 70-300VR. That covers pretty much everything and of course you'll have the 18-105 for walk around but I think when you see how much better the other lenses are you'll use the kit lens less.
 
As you've already done your research this may be irrelevant but, as you are going for your first DSLR so don't have any lenses that could influence your choice, have you looked at the Pentax K5?

A similar camera to the D7000 and at a well known camera retailer in Watford the K5 body is £90 cheaper than than that the D7000.

Dave
 
I had the following lenses for my D7000 - 16-85vr, 75-300vr, 35/1.8 and tamron 90 macro. I found this covered all of my needs until I started to really enjoy landscape photography at which point I added th Tokina 12-24
 
Do it have to be all nikon glass?

You getting the Nikon D7000 with 18-105VR lens.

I say you can buy the following:

Wide Angle: Sigma 10-20mm or Tokin 11-16mm
Prime: 35mm f1.8 AFS and 50mm f1.8/85mm f1.8
Zoom: Sigma 70-200 f2.8 or Nikon 80-200 f2.8
Above 300mm: Sigma 150-500 OS or Nikon 300mm f4 with TC.

Thats just my suggestion to look at but everyone is different.

looks perfect, i would ditch the telephoto zoom, just get one high power tele, as there is a lot of overlap in focal length. as said, he doesn't want a forklift to carry those things. :nono:
:)

Nikon 12-24, 35mm and 70-300VR is also a great combination.

basically, i think a 4 lens setup is more than enough: wide angle, fast prime, telephoto plus the 18-105mm kit lens. perhaps even try to get a telephoto that can do macro.
 
Personally if budget is decent but not unlimited then i would pick the following:

Nikone 12 - 24
Nikon 24 - 70 or the older 28 - 70 f2.8
Nikon 70 - 200 f2.8 VR2 or VR1 (with TC 1.4 and 2.0)
Nikon 35mm f1.8, 50mm f1.8 and 85mm f1.8
 
:plusone: for tokina 11-16
:plusone: for nikon 35 f1.8
I don't have the zoom (telephoto) anymore, but my kit lens was 18-200 vr mki.

Was ok for a beginner, but I found the picture quality to be soft.
For a long telephoto zoom, have a look at the sigma 50-500 (ot 150-500) as I think that would probably do the job. However, good glass isn't cheap nor light (especially on telephotos) so you'll be looking around a 1kg for the lens. Perhaps worth getting the camera and hiring the lenses before purchasing. I think Lens For hire post on here and may have the lenses that you can borrow for a week to see whether you'd use them/like them.

I've heard the tamron 17-55 (i think its this one) is very sharp.

Good luck finding the lenses you like! :)
 
The Tamron is 17-50 f2.8 and their is a non vc and vc version.

Indeed the Tamron is very sharp even wide open. Optic with pixel peep is similar to my Nikon 28-70 f2.8. Altho my Tamron is non vc so i can't comment on the vc without getting bash by others .......
 
wuyanxu said:
i find my 18-200mm is good enough for most things. then i also carry a 12-24mm for wide angles and a 35mm prime for low light.

you could consider the 18-300mm super zoom. then a 50mm prime for wedding portraits. unfortunately you can't get a super zoom with anything wider than 18mm, if you want wide angle, you'll have to get a wide angle lens like 10-24mm or Sigma 10-20mm.

I'd.get the 18-200 (from 2-300mm there's not that much difference, you can just step forward a few steps) as you can at 18mm which in most circumstances is quite wide enough.

I agree with a low light lens.

I'd get some auto extension rings to take you into the 1:1 macro.

All that should come to about £800 or less if buying used.

Incidently, I'm surprised you are trying to make up your mind more than half a year before you actually upgrade?
 
I'd.get the 18-200 (from 2-300mm there's not that much difference, you can just step forward a few steps) as you can at 18mm which in most circumstances is quite wide enough.

I agree with a low light lens.

I'd get some auto extension rings to take you into the 1:1 macro.

All that should come to about £800 or less if buying used.

Incidently, I'm surprised you are trying to make up your mind more than half a year before you actually upgrade?

I am what some might say a guy who likes to do his homework and plan ahead. For me its all part of the shopping experience. Since I cant afford it until March 2013 I can at least think, chat and plan my strategy. All very sad I know:lol:
 
I thank you all very much for you imput and it has really given me a lot to chew on.:clap:
 
If on a budget i would personally go with body only and get a tamron 17-50mm non vc which i found to be as sharp as the 35mm prime making it not essential leaving you money to buy a tamron 90mm macro which you could use for portraits too. Then a 70-300mm tamron or nikon.
 
not read all the above, so my apologies if I'm repeating! I have the same body... my lens bag is:
sigma 17-50 2.8 EX HSM - fantastic all round lens and very sharp. This is my walkabout lens and very versatile
sigma 10-20 4.5 EX - I've found it to be sharper than the wider aperture, and can be had at about £250 2nd hand - bargain lens, and again very sharp!
sigma 50mm 1.4 EX - beautiful lens, I got this to replace a totally useless copy of the nikon 50mm 1.4 which went back to nikon 3 times before the dealer agreed to refund. The bokeh looks smoother than what I've got with the Nikon.
nikon 55-200 VR DX a real cheapie at about £150 new, but really performs well and again very sharp. I use this most for action shots (mainly dogs running & playing)
nikon 70-300 VR not great at full extension, but still good on the D7000!

hope this helps, and please look at my flickr for examples :)
 
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