Lense Recommendations?

conjon

Hi,

My better half bought me a Nikon D60 for my birthday which I'm still trying to find my feet with. The camera came with the standard 18-55mm lense, which is ok. I wanted to buy a second lense and I'm not too sure what to look for. I am off to Thailand this summer and want a lense that will cover everything. What would you recommend? I would prefer to not to have to sell a kidney to cover the cost of the lense!!

As this is all kinda new to me, would you recommend that I buy a filter for the lense? I would assume that I should be looking at filters that are the exact same size as the lense ie) 55mm filter for a 55mm lense?

Thanks in advance,
Conor.

Thecageyone

For filters, yup, get ones that match th thread on your lens.

Lenses, well, really depends on what you plan to shoot. You want one that you can stick on and not have to change? You'll probably want a mid-range zoom that's good for close in shots but has a little range too. trouble is, if you wanted one with a contant aperture you'd have to shell out a fair amount.

I'd suggest a 50mm f/1.8 - as they are cheap, and a brilliant little lens. No zoom, you do that with your feet but the quality is there and they are great in low light because if the wide aperture. You can get them used for as little as €60 if you look hard enough.

PopeBuckfastXVI

Well you could go for the 18-200mm VR if you want a single lens to cover a good range, from wide to telephoto?

If I was reccommending any lens to go for after the 18-55 kit I'd have to say a 50mm f/1.8 or f/1.4 for the DoF control and low light ability, they're sharp as a tack and cheap as chips.

Probably not what you're looking for for travelling though.

Thecageyone

50mm rarely comes off my cam, poor ol' kit lens hardly ever gets a look in unless I need a wider shot what or what little zoom it can muster [18-70mm]


I really need a telephoto, but I'd really love one with a constant ap, and I'm ... poor

[edit] Thanks very much for putting our link in your sig Pope

PopeBuckfastXVI

conjon wrote: »

As this is all kinda new to me, would you recommend that I buy a filter for the lense? I would assume that I should be looking at filters that are the exact same size as the lense ie) 55mm filter for a 55mm lense?

No that's not true, the filter size is based on the diameter of the lens, not the max focal length, you'll often see lenses described in terms of 'filter size'

The filter size on the 18-55 is 52mm

And yes do buy a UV filter, should be about a tenner or a little more at 52mm, and certainly better to crack that than the front element of your lens if it takes a knock.

Also I'd recommend a circular polariser for blue skies.

Thecageyone

ooops, you're right, I mis-read OP's first message and though he said the lens diameter was 55mm. It usually says on the front of the lens what diameter it is. My kit lens is 55mm, whereas the 50mm is 49mm

conjon

Guys,

Thanks to everyone for their responses. It looks like the 50mm f/1.8 seems to be the general recommendation, and I see I can pick one up through Amazon for £95 or so.

Thanks again,
Conor.

.Longshanks.

conjon wrote: »

Guys,

Thanks to everyone for their responses. It looks like the 50mm f/1.8 seems to be the general recommendation, and I see I can pick one up through Amazon for £95 or so.

Thanks again,
Conor.

Ebay seller called Kerso based in scotland will sell you a (canon version) it for around £70 + shipping

Slidinginfinity

Looks like you are really only looking for a single lens to handle all your general photo needs.

If that is the case, and as you say, you don't know much about photography, Just pick up the 18-200mm VR, as PopeBuckfast has already recommended.

If you want a lens for low light with no zoom the 50 f/1.8 if a great low cost lenes.

Thecageyone

I love my f/1.7 [no difference to 1.8 just sounds better :P ]

rowanh

Hi, best bet would be to get out and take as many photos as you can, try and figure out what kind of stuff you want to be taking photos of and see what you would want your lens to do that it cant.

The 50mm lens recommended is great and only 100euro but it wont auto focus on your camera. Only lenses with Af-s in the name will auto focus on your camera. There is a 35mm f1.8 afs lens that would be a good buy, its about 200 euro, a bit less if you get a used one on ebay.

I wouldn't go for the 18-200 lens, its big, expensive and slow.

conjon

rowanh wrote: »

Hi, best bet would be to get out and take as many photos as you can, try and figure out what kind of stuff you want to be taking photos of and see what you would want your lens to do that it cant.

The 50mm lens recommended is great and only 100euro but it wont auto focus on your camera. Only lenses with Af-s in the name will auto focus on your camera. There is a 35mm f1.8 afs lens that would be a good buy, its about 200 euro, a bit less if you get a used one on ebay.

I wouldn't go for the 18-200 lens, its big, expensive and slow.

Rowanh, many thanks for your help. Is the only difference between the F1.8 afs and the F1.8 autofocus? I could stretch to about 200 for the lense if I needed...

Thanks again to everyone,
Conor.

rowanh

Hey, no the main difference is the focal length, one is 35mm the other is 50mm. They are both f1.8 which means the lens iris open to f1.8 which is big, it lets in a lot of light. The 50mm f1.8 is not made as an afs, there is a 50mm f1.4 (lets in more light) but its about 350 euro i think. The 35mm only comes in afs, there is a 35mm f2 but its more expensive, its better for more expensive/older cameras.

One other thing, you should get a book on camera exposure, like understanding exposure, if you search for it here you will find people talking about it. That will probably do a lot more in terms of you getting better photos than buying another lens. If you use your camera in P (automatic) mode you have much less control and will end up with lots of badly exposed photos. Imo you should use the camera in M mode all the time unless you want to capture some moment quickly and then use A.


the 35mm lens is a good buy, get one 2nd hand on ebay and when you decide to sell it you might even make some profit on it.