Help me buy a zoomy-zoom lens!

Crispex · 09 Jul 2015, 4:09 pm

So, time for another lens!
Keen to hear if you lot have had experience with any below with some insight to add

My current gear consists of:
- Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM
- Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f1.8G
- Nikon AF 35-70mm f/3.3-4.5 (old & shitty, non IF)
- Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6G VR II

(Why the f*** is the table bbcode disabled?

)

Here is what I currently have in my sights:

Tamron AF 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2 Lens
$168 online @ CameraSky, $239.00 in store @ digitalcamerawarehouse
+Makes my 18-55mm lens relevant
+300mm reach

Nikkor AF-S DX Zoom 55-200 F4-5.6G ED VR II
$192 online @ CameraSky, $237.00 in store @ digitalcamerawarehouse
+Makes my 18-55mm lens relevant
-Not 300mm

Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR Lens
$281 online @ CameraSky, $349.00 in store @ digitalcamerawarehouse
+Makes my 18-55mm lens relevent
+Lots of reach

Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Lens
$297 online @ CameraSky, $369.00 in store @ digitalcamerawarehouse
+Next step in my lens progression
-Not a lot of reach

Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di II Lens
$197 online @ CameraSky, $415.00 in store @ digitalcamerawarehouse
+Lots of zoomyness
-Pricey?

Not sure what the huge price disparity is all about with the last one...

dodger · 09 Jul 2015, 4:40 pm

What would you use the lens for? I haven't personally used any of them but they all have relatively small maximum apertures so you will struggle indoors/in low light.

Crispex · 09 Jul 2015, 4:42 pm

d0dg3r wrote:What would you use the lens for? I haven't personally used any of them but they all have relatively small maximum apertures so you will struggle indoors/in low light.

Indoors I haven't come across a situation where I would need to zoom in so far so not too stressed about that, I mainly had ideas about outdoor tripod long exposures.

Aydun · 09 Jul 2015, 6:44 pm

Crispex wrote:(Why the f*** is the table bbcode disabled? )

Quite possibly because phpBB doesn't come with a table bbcode.

Crispex · 09 Jul 2015, 7:36 pm

aydun wrote:
Crispex wrote:(Why the f*** is the table bbcode disabled? )
Quite possibly because phpBB doesn't come with a table bbcode.

Oh really?

Light Knight · 10 Jul 2015, 10:38 am

What do you want out of the new lens (e.g, more zoom, wider, faster, flower macros)? That would help with providing a recommendation.

Crispex · 10 Jul 2015, 10:41 am

Light Knight wrote:What do you want out of the new lens (e.g, more zoom, wider, faster, flower macros)? That would help with providing a recommendation.

Less macro, more zoom.
I often find (especially up high) I'm cropping more and more due to lack of zoom.

Light Knight · 10 Jul 2015, 12:59 pm

Crispex wrote:
Light Knight wrote:What do you want out of the new lens (e.g, more zoom, wider, faster, flower macros)? That would help with providing a recommendation.
Less macro, more zoom.
I often find (especially up high) I'm cropping more and more due to lack of zoom.

If that is the case, I'd probably go for an 18-whatever zoom to avoid lens changes in precarious locations.
dxomark.com has comparisons of the lenses that might help you.
Also what DSLR body do you use? I found since upgrading from the D60 to D3300 I can crop a lot more due to the high res 24MP sensor with no anti-aliasing filter, as long as I use f/8 (for optimal sharpness).

Crispex · 10 Jul 2015, 1:33 pm

Light Knight wrote:
Crispex wrote:
Light Knight wrote:What do you want out of the new lens (e.g, more zoom, wider, faster, flower macros)? That would help with providing a recommendation.
Less macro, more zoom.
I often find (especially up high) I'm cropping more and more due to lack of zoom.
If that is the case, I'd probably go for an 18-whatever zoom to avoid lens changes in precarious locations.
dxomark.com has comparisons of the lenses that might help you.
Also what DSLR body do you use? I found since upgrading from the D60 to D3300 I can crop a lot more due to the high res 24MP sensor with no anti-aliasing filter, as long as I use f/8 (for optimal sharpness).

Yeah I'm on a D3200 too.
Guess the Tamron 18-200mm seems like a good choice - I'll see if I can convince a brick-and-mortar store to sell it to me near an online price.

Edit: Well, I got them down to $100 off sticker price... To CameraSky I go!

Light Knight · 10 Jul 2015, 9:12 pm

Those CameraSky prices are very cheap. Almost too good to be true!

Crispex · 10 Jul 2015, 9:35 pm

Light Knight wrote:Those CameraSky prices are very cheap. Almost too good to be true!

Well, I'll let ya know

Crispex · 15 Jul 2015, 9:24 pm

15 Jul 15
18:34
HONG KONG
Collection

Yay the lens its on its way!

Explorer_J · 15 Jul 2015, 9:28 pm

What are your thoughts on the sigma 10-20mm I was thinking of selling my 8mm Samyang to purchase the sigma

Crispex · 15 Jul 2015, 10:49 pm

Explorer_J wrote:What are your thoughts on the sigma 10-20mm I was thinking of selling my 8mm Samyang to purchase the sigma

Its definitely my favorite to shoot with at the moment, even if it gives me a sore wrist after a while.
Ill have a whole stack of new photos up in a few days that I shot with it.

Crispex · 20 Jul 2015, 11:03 am

Crispex wrote:Ill have a whole stack of new photos up in a few days that I shot with it.

I'm such a liar.

Well, the new lens and flash are in!

Makes my D3200 look a bit tiny.

Midget · 20 Jul 2015, 2:25 pm

200mm? Mmm, compression. <3