Upgrade from kit lens?

I

ian-83

Messages
1,556
Edit My Images
Yes
I know this question probably gets asked about a million times. Have used the search function but still can't decide!

Want a lens to replace my kit lens on my Nikon D3000 with something with better optics. Been having a look about and the Nikon options seem limited to 16-85mm or a second hand 18-70. A0lso had a look at Tamron and Sigma offerings. But not sure where is best to spend my money?

Want the lens for general walk about, shooting landscape and also used at car shows (mostly outside).
 
Would depend on budget and how wide you want to go I would say.

You could spend anywhere from £100 for a second hand Nikon 18-70 to £950 for a good 2nd hand 24-70 f2.8.
 
Budget is about £400 not sure I want to spend more than that but I do realise quality doesn't come cheap
 
The 18-70 wll not give you much over the 18-55 IMO , having owned both.

I would suggest that you would be best keeping that and getting something a bit different to go along with it.

A wide angle is good if you shoot cars at shows, the problem you have here is that some of the cheaper brands make lenses which will not autofocus on your camera which is a real shame as the Tokina 11-16 f2.8 is a fantastic lens and is right in your budget but you need a higher up model of Nikon for it to autofocus. Sigma do a 10-20mm which will autofocus on your camera and you should be able to get one of those 2nd hand for about £265- some of these can be a bit soft so you need to make sure you get a good copy. Failing that you can get a Nikon 10-24 but this will cost you closer to £500 2nd hand.

Just my opinion but for what it is worth I get far more use out of my 70-200 that I ever have with my wide angle lens; all depends on what you want to take pictures of.
 
I changed from the kit 18-55 to the Sigma 18-50 2.8. I find the constant F2.8 option a big improvement. IQ is very good and it can also focus at 1:3 which is quite handy at times. Used ones are under £200 but make sure you get the HSM version so it auto focusses on your camera.

I'd also be tempted to take a look at the Sigma 17-50 OS. Doesn't get mentioned on here much but is meant to be superb.

The Tamron 17-50 2.8 (non VC) is the other lens that gets rave reviews and should give you plenty of change from £400 if you buy used.
 
gad-westy said:
I changed from the kit 18-55 to the Sigma 18-50 2.8. I find the constant F2.8 option a big improvement. IQ is very good and it can also focus at 1:3 which is quite handy at times. Used ones are under £200 but make sure you get the HSM version so it auto focusses on your camera.

I'd also be tempted to take a look at the Sigma 17-50 OS. Doesn't get mentioned on here much but is meant to be superb.

The Tamron 17-50 2.8 (non VC) is the other lens that gets rave reviews and should give you plenty of change from £400 if you buy used.
Click to expand...

£400 for a used Tamron 17-50 non VC? Try £270 brand new!
 
what's wrong with your current pictures to make you think a different lens of similar focal length will improve things ? You might find adding a different maybe wider lens or decent flash would help more.

one thing to note is that the kit lens do sit nicely on the small nikons, I recently used my 18-70 on my D40 and it did seem somewhat oversized - it normally resides on my D7000.
 
The picture taken are ok to me but I want to do some landscape photograph and looked into using filter system on the front but the front lens rotates on the Nikon 18-55mm kit lens. Which means focusing then having the straighten up the filter system every time which seems a bit of a pain specially when using grad ND filters.
 
gad-westy said:
Errr, yes hence the plenty of change comment.
Click to expand...

Yes but why buy used when a new on is still way under budget?
 
odd jim said:
Yes but why buy used when a new on is still way under budget?
Click to expand...

Fair point, the Tamron is a decent price new and does seem to hold it's value, I think due to demand which is a good sign.

It's up to the OP of course. Some always prefer to buy new but if it were me with a £400 budget, I'd be thinking that I could pick up a used 17-50 Tamron and possibly have enough cash left over to stretch to a used Sigma 10-20, a 35mm prime, a proper macro lens or maybe a telephoto. I just think it's always more interesting to cover the bases as it were.

Of course, if the OP already has a few lenses then my advice is useless :)
 
Possibly an interest at the car show - samyang 8mm - manual focus but is meant to get pretty much all in focus all the time. Ebay has them listed around 200ukp

35mm f1.8g nikon - 170 from jessops online (poss used for 130-150?)

I have a tokina 11-16 - but as has been posted, it would be manual focus (hence the bit about the samyang above). Think there is mention of a 12-24 that may be of interest. Not sure if this will af tho.


I dunno zooms, so can't comment on the better ones. Colleague here has a tamron 17-50 on the d7000 and it looks like very crisp results.


If you can go to a london camera exchange or used photographic store and see what they have on offer. Usually they will let you put them on the camera so you can see the field of view and check that it would work for you. Might give you more of an idea how wide you want to go.
 
Cheers for the reply's. Sometimes if there was only one choice it would be so much easier! I all ready have a 35mm f1.8 and a 55-200mm Nikon zoom too.

I have been looking at UWA lens but not 100% sure I would use it to it's maximum use but then sometimes car shows have some cars indoors where light is low and also space is tight. Also find these shots on the 35mm have background/side clutter and I get in people way trying to get a good shot.

Also been thinking about upgrading to either a D90 or D7000 so that would solve the zoom issue with lens that won't auto-focus on my D3000
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top