Good first lens for D90?

[ZerocoolAstra]

18-70 is one of the better kit lenses in the Nikkor range. Better construction too, with a metal mount.
However, I don't think it's cheaper than the 18-105, especially new vs new, and the fact that the 18-105 comes with the D90 kit at quite an attractive price.

50mm/1.8 is a great prime lens, and at such an affordable price too! However, on a cropped body of a Dx0 series camera, the field of view is too narrow for gen. purpose use.
I can't take group photos of my friends, for example. Only can fit in 3 ppl into the frame, from about 3m away.

 

[bruggink]

The 50mm will work like a 75mm on your Dx0 system. Wait for the new 35mm f/1.8D. That will make the 35mm works more like a 50mm on your system.

 

[tkbonz]

18-70 is one of the better kit lenses in the Nikkor range. Better construction too, with a metal mount.
However, I don't think it's cheaper than the 18-105, especially new vs new, and the fact that the 18-105 comes with the D90 kit at quite an attractive price.

50mm/1.8 is a great prime lens, and at such an affordable price too! However, on a cropped body of a Dx0 series camera, the field of view is too narrow for gen. purpose use.
I can't take group photos of my friends, for example. Only can fit in 3 ppl into the frame, from about 3m away.

It is...you can get a 2nd hand 18-70 for only 200+

 

[Guiii]

For a beginner, this kit lens is good enough for you to explore your shooting styles and needs. I'm a D40 + 18-200VR user. upgraded from 18-135 non-VR(D80 kit lens is the first lens that i've bought online with D40 body). 18-135 is priced at $350 then, and i've forked out 1k for 18-200, reason being the VR really helps alot in low light for shooting stationary objects.

Range for me is fine with 18-135. There is not much difference between 135 and 200. Its only a 1.5X zoom from 135-200, and 2X at 105-200. Does a 2X zoom give you alot of difference? Most of the time i'm using the wider range of the lens, once in a while i want to capture candid expressions, or closeup on flowers or smaller objects, this is where 200mm comes into picture.

Most of the time i'm using only 3MP. I dun do prints, but only view the pics on a 19" LCD monitor using 1280x1024 res. 3MP is more than enough to cover my whole screen. Seldom use 6MP which takes up alot of memory card space and slower to transfer, edit and view. using 6MP provides me with lots of space to crop. In the future, screens may be bigger and res higher, thats what we have to take note. A question to yourself is, do you need to use 12MP all the time? Else you can just crop your photos to get the desired zoom (digital zoom), as a temporary need. Bearing in mind that this is only the first lens that you are using, and if it is satisfactory to you, this may be the only lens that you need before you discover the kind of lens that you truly need for your shots. 18-105 is definitely good enough for travelling and walk-abouts.

you may develop interest in portrait shots in the future? or landscape or food, event or sports, macro, or wildlife? Different lenses are needed to get the best results for these purposes, D90 kit definitely flexible enough for all these at this point of time.

 

[pooQy]

hi, i'm most probably going to get the nikon d90 as my first dslr, could someone pls recommend a good versatile lens to go with it?

thanks!

hi TS... I just bought my D90 (18-105mm lens kit) a few days back. Gotta say i never regretted on this decision as I was initially aiming the D60 due to budget constraints.

Was quite clueless on deciding single or dual lens kit. But since D90 offered a 18-105mm, that pretty much covered the dual lens kit range of the D60.

Not sure about your previous experience in handling SLRs, but IMO 18-105mm can pretty much cover a good variety of different type of shoots. (I've got previous exp in handling MF SLRs, but that was like >5yrs ago)

Personally, I would say to stick with the default lens kit. Don't get too caught up with the lens/body chase... We, beginners, always tend to fall into this 'trap'. Cos you've got a solid foundation, you can actually make the lens work for you.

And when your photog level goes up and need to get another lens, I think we can source around CS forum for good buys.

Probably I'll attach a shot I did with the default lens kit so you can see how it performs?
(pls pardon the quality of the pics, all taken in MF)

Close shot:


Long shot:

 

[pooQy]

Most of the time i'm using only 3MP. I dun do prints, but only view the pics on a 19" LCD monitor using 1280x1024 res. 3MP is more than enough to cover my whole screen. Seldom use 6MP which takes up alot of memory card space and slower to transfer, edit and view. using 6MP provides me with lots of space to crop. In the future, screens may be bigger and res higher, thats what we have to take note. A question to yourself is, do you need to use 12MP all the time?

totally agree on this.
Even if doing prints, 3MP is actually more than enuff. I do not see any big diff between a 3MP and 10MP print pic. (thru the naked eye of course) :bsmilie:

 

[ch130176]

Aha...i think its probably that you don't know what you want thats why ppl will settle for a zoom lens. When i first started, the idea of using prime lens is daunting. Upon buying my first, the 50mm f1.8, its half the time on my cam body...encourages you to compose and improve the usage of your zooms.

Try it and you'll know wat i mean.

sorry i don't understand what do u mean. since u have 2 lenses, when half of the time the 50mm is on the body, the other half is for the zoom, right?

 

[yjoshua]

Get the Nikon 17-55 AFS, you'll love it It never leaves my cam body :bsmilie::bsmilie:

 

[steven68]

Give the 18-105mm VR kit lens a try, not a bad lens u know. Not even zoom, then save up & get the 70-300mm VR.

 

[chanzdad]

i just join in the bangwagon. i purchased my d90 w 18-105mm lens kit. i also got the 50mm f1.8. with basic skillset, this len has worked out pretty ok. I can take reasonably good shot of my subjects, ie baby gal and wife mostly. Still learning.

If it turns out good, its the camera's effort,
If it is screwed up, then its my fault.