Going to New York - What Lens for my D80?

run_Forrest_run

I'm lucky to be visiting New York in few weeks time and I am going to pay B&H a visit. I want to buy a good lens but am not sure what lens to get.

I have a D80 with the 18-135 kit lens.
I have a general interest in photography, I like to take pics of my little 2 year old in addition to just general photography, I have yet to develop a specific interest in any area but I would like a lens that would produce nice sharp shots. After looking around a bit I am looking at the Nikon 18-200mm. Now I know Ken Rockwell can be a bit extreme but is he justified in this case?

Can anyone recommend a non-Nikkor lens of equal (or better) quality of the lens above?

I think I will pick up a cheap nifty fifty 1.8 anyway but in addition to that I am at a loss!

Any help greatly appreciated!

quilmore

get the 50 f/1.8, cracking lens
18-200 is a fantastic lens, I have it and it's on the camera most of the time, very sharp and I have to say I agree with Ken on this one

if you have a kid the best you can do is getting a 2.8 zoom lens
something like an 80-200 or if you can afford it a 70-200 vr
don't mind about those two lenses overlapping, they are for different uses

mind you, even with vr, unless you have a bright lens (2.8 or under) if you take a picture of your kid playing you'll probably end up with very sharp grass and a blury kid

remember to get quality filters (they aren't all the same), I've paid about 1/10th of the value of the lenses in filters
pro1digital have worked for me, they reduce internal reflections dramatically when compared with HMC or other filters

run_Forrest_run

quilmore wrote: »

get the 50 f/1.8, cracking lens
18-200 is a fantastic lens, I have it and it's on the camera most of the time, very sharp and I have to say I agree with Ken on this one

if you have a kid the best you can do is getting a 2.8 zoom lens
something like an 80-200 or if you can afford it a 70-200 vr
don't mind about those two lenses overlapping, they are for different uses

mind you, even with vr, unless you have a bright lens (2.8 or under) if you take a picture of your kid playing you'll probably end up with very sharp grass and a blury kid

remember to get quality filters (they aren't all the same), I've paid about 1/10th of the value of the lenses in filters
pro1digital have worked for me, they reduce internal reflections dramatically when compared with HMC or other filters

cool, great advice there, thanks.
I totally forgot about filters I will read up on those next before I go.

sweet mama, those 2.8 70-200 & 80-200 are some monsters! Serious looking glass there. Not sure if my budget goes to such heights but yes, after reading reviews I would love to use it for portraits and sports stuff...looks sweet!

run_Forrest_run

actually now that filters have been mentioned, can anyone recommend a few??

quilmore

I wouldn't go less than Hoya Pro1 Digital
http://www.hoyafilter.com/products/hoya/pro1d-01.html
they are coated on both sides of the glass and reduces internal reflection specially on digital cameras