what camera & lens?

conair01

I an amateur photographer who want to purchase a new camera I’ve been thinking of a Nikon d40. My main interests are in sports and wildlife, what lens would be suitable for my interests??

pete4130

it depends on your budget. For something cheap, reliable and tested would be something like a Sigma 70-300 APO lens. They sell for about €200 new and would give you an effective focal length of 450mm on a D40. The other end of the scale would be a Nikon 70-200 2.8 VR which would be creeping up near the €2000 mark I think !:eek:

Thirdfox

The sigma does not autofocus on the D40 (unless it has HSM which I'm pretty sure it doesn't).

A really nice lens available for the D40 is the Nikon 55-200VR - a budget telephoto with stabilisation built in. The Nikon 70-300VRII for those who need longer reach... These all autofocus.

These are "slow" lenses though - like the poster above me said you could get a 70-200 f2.8 which would cost a few thousand euro.

I use a D40 with kit lens and 55-200VR



see more pictures taken with the two lenses on my flickr page (in signature).

edit:
the 55-200VR cost me E230 new in China a few months ago - it'll probably cost around E200 in China... over here maybe up to E330 for a new one right now.

nilhg

conair01 wrote: »

My main interests are in sports and wildlife, what lens would be suitable for my interests??

To do sports and wildlife reasonably well in this country (especially in winter) you really do need a fast, long lens and those are expensive from any of the brands. VR or IS or inbody stabilisation are often little help because the subject is moving. Good high ISO performance in your camera body will take you some of the way but you will still need a decent lens.

Give a little more detail about your requirements (what sport, how far will you be from the wildlife?) and someone will steer you in the right direction.

conair01

i bought a Nikon D40, 6.1 Megapixel, SLR, Digital Camera Kit with Nikon 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Autofocus Lens. great camera and great price from www.bhphotovideo.com

Thirdfox

Hopefully you won't get stung for customs tax!

crookesa

guys, i'm fairly new to it all also but bought a 400D with standard lens kit which people are telling me now is crap.

I was recommended the following one:
http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/EF_Lenses/Zoom_Lenses/EF_2470mm_f28L_USM/index.asp
but it's fairly dear.

Can anyone recommend another more afforable lense to go for to better the standard kit?

Thirdfox

See here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055149335

"Argos Ireland have the Canon EF 28-135 IS USM Lens on their website (www.argos.ie) for €289.99.

This is a total bargain, the cheapest I saw it on cam-ireland website was €449. Don't know if it's a mistake or not but I bought one last week from Argos in Tallaght and that's what I paid for it.

It's a great lens, quite light, and the Image Stabilisation makes a great difference when using slower shutter speeds. Very useful lens for all sensor sizes.

But don't tell Argos they made a mistake!

Cheers"

EDIT: Who are these people that are telling you the kit lens is "crap"? I use Nikon myself and have heard of the softness issues with the Canon kit lenses but that lens is still superior to a P&S I would hope.

I would personally recommend you to use the kit lens for a while and if you find it limiting then to look at other options. I probably will not upgrade from my 18-55 nikkor (having bought a telephoto lens and speedlight) as I do not have the money. Then again that 28-135 lens offer may be gone soon so it's up to you.

Stephen

The kit lenses aren't crap. Sure they're not high-end but they're perfectly adequate for beginners.

rymus

what stephen said.. Odd that people would say a kit lens is crap when you can get a 17-85mm IS lens as part of a kit. Sure the standard 18-55mm kit lens isn't exactly the most earth shattering piece of equipment I have in my posession, but it's more than enough for anyone that's new to a DSLR. It gives a good beginner all rounder and gives people an idea of where they want to go from there (i.e. long / wide)

ike

Indeed the old Canon 18-55 kit lens tends to get a bit of an unfair bashing I've been using it for a while now and find it absolutely fine, a better lens won't improve a fundamentally bad photo! Like everyone is saying practice the art of taking photos first.

I just got my DSLR about two months ago and have made a conscious decision to stick with the kit lens for about a year. I want to get more confident with using the camera get my compositions right and get my images sharp.