Nikon D40

APB · 9th June 2009, 08:12 PM

Got me one of these with a standard 18-55mm lens, i'm looking for a new lens with better zoom on it. I've seen a review of the Sigma 55-200mm f4 5.6 which looks like a pretty budget lens but with a good write up. £139 in Jessops.

I know there are one or two on here into photography, any suggestions??

Price is really the deciding factor unfortunately

Blame Me · 9th June 2009, 09:06 PM

You might want to check this guy out http://www.kenrockwell.com/

He should be able to give you and idea on what is best.

Just bought a D60 and well happy with it, got a package with two lenses.

APB · 10th June 2009, 09:12 AM

Ha'way man SMB dayshift.... help me out here

Mercia Blackcat · 10th June 2009, 10:24 AM

I'm not sure what you're saying. I have a D60 with the same lens. I'm not a photographer but have shot in RAW mode and had the results examined at high zoom by an established photographer friend that uses Nikon lens and he said it was impossible to find significant fault with the results.

That's a very good lens you've got that will be an excellent range for most general photography and is equivalent to the angle of view achieved with a 27-82mm lens on a 35mm SLR. I doubt if you'll find a better lens for your camera in that class of mid zoom.

So you must mean a longer range zoom than "better", right?

The Nikon is about £100 more I think and if you can afford it get one as most other Nikon lens will be very expensive.

It is recommended that for each zoom that you have, to purchase a fixed lens from within that range. The 18-55mm lens has an aperture range of 3.5 to 5.6, but the fixed 50mm Nikon lens has an aperture of 1.8 (or 1.4 if you want to spend a lot more money). This lens is around 2 stops faster and so very handy if intend to do much work in low light. It costs around £80 but can probably be obtained cheaper online.

But...........and there is some debate regarding this issue.

The first thing I do with a new lens is also purchase a UV filter that is immediately placed on the front of the lens. This will protect the lens from any atmospheric effects like acid rain, but also it will be cheaper to repeatedly clean a lens filter that can be replaced for about £15 than cleaning the front element of ethe lens which will cost a great deal more to replace. A lens with a filter on will retain quality over a longer time but the downside is another sheet of glass between the image and the sensor.

Why do you want a telephoto zoom? I bet the lens you have will get used more.

A good general rule of thumb is to buy lens for the type of photography uou find yourself actually doing rather than because you think you might be doing that type of photography.

If you are new to photography, what if you find yourself using the 18mm end of the zoom more than the 55mm end?

You could find yourself pining for a wide angle lens while you have a telephoto zoom sat on a shelf in the wardrobe.

APB · 10th June 2009, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mercia Blackcat

I'm not sure what you're saying. I have a D60 with the same lens. I'm not a photographer but have shot in RAW mode and had the results examined at high zoom by an established photographer friend that uses Nikon lens and he said it was impossible to find significant fault with the results.

That's a very good lens you've got that will be an excellent range for most general photography and is equivalent to the angle of view achieved with a 27-82mm lens on a 35mm SLR. I doubt if you'll find a better lens for your camera in that class of mid zoom.

So you must mean a longer range zoom than "better", right?

The Nikon is about £100 more I think and if you can afford it get one as most other Nikon lens will be very expensive.

It is recommended that for each zoom that you have, to purchase a fixed lens from within that range. The 18-55mm lens has an aperture range of 3.5 to 5.6, but the fixed 50mm Nikon lens has an aperture of 1.8 (or 1.4 if you want to spend a lot more money). This lens is around 2 stops faster and so very handy if intend to do much work in low light. It costs around £80 but can probably be obtained cheaper online.

But...........and there is some debate regarding this issue.

The first thing I do with a new lens is also purchase a UV filter that is immediately placed on the front of the lens. This will protect the lens from any atmospheric effects like acid rain, but also it will be cheaper to repeatedly clean a lens filter that can be replaced for about £15 than cleaning the front element of ethe lens which will cost a great deal more to replace. A lens with a filter on will retain quality over a longer time but the downside is another sheet of glass between the image and the sensor.

Why do you want a telephoto zoom? I bet the lens you have will get used more.

A good general rule of thumb is to buy lens for the type of photography uou find yourself actually doing rather than because you think you might be doing that type of photography.

If you are new to photography, what if you find yourself using the 18mm end of the zoom more than the 55mm end?

You could find yourself pining for a wide angle lens while you have a telephoto zoom sat on a shelf in the wardrobe.

Yeah sorry I do mean with a greater zoom range.

I’ve just found the lens for £89 on Warehouse Express.

Surely it will give me a different option at a reasonable price?

Some times I don’t bother with the picture I want to take as I can’t get close enough.

littlened · 10th June 2009, 01:45 PM

IIRC one of this things to remember with the d40, the focus motor is built into the lense, so if you want to keep the auto focus feature you need to buy a lense which has the motor in it...and from what I remember, makes the lenses more expensive.

I have a d40 myself and never bothered with another lense, simply because of the cost

Mercia Blackcat · 10th June 2009, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by APB

Yeah sorry I do mean with a greater zoom range.

I’ve just found the lens for £89 on Warehouse Express.

Surely it will give me a different option at a reasonable price?

Some times I don’t bother with the picture I want to take as I can’t get close enough.

Certainly give you a different option at a very reasonable price.

Not sure when you say that you can't get close enough to the subject to take the picture. Depends what resolution you want to maintain depending on the pics usage but you can crop pics to make the subject more prominant.

Unless you mean close to small objects like flowers or insects in which case you need a macro lens. A reasonable alternative is a macro filter, which is a single element lens like a magnifying glass that fits on the front of a normal lens.