Nikon Best walkabout lens

[shelomoh]

18-200 VR for daylight conditions. 17-55 for night or low-light conditions.

 

[pokiemon]

u using a DX or FX body??

i am on fx. 24-70 is a very versatile lens.

i will walkabout with 2 cameras.
d700 + 24-70mm and d300 + 85mm 1.4

 

[wmayeo]

At this moment, I think 16-85VR & 35/1.8G makes good walkabout lens for me. Anyway I find the term walkabout is very subjective/personal.

I have not tried the rest so can't give you an accurate assessment which one will suit you.

Some users would mind the weight of a 17-55/2.8, so do you shoot low light often?

 

[jeff7id]

NIKKOR AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR is the best walkabout lens.
As such you want to have light traveling, this lens is very good for your companion

 

[felixkcsin]

i agree that walkabout is subjective, it depends on the person's style, preference and objectives, the lesson i learnt after a year of exploring photography

i used to have a tamron 17-50mm for walkabout. however, i realized that after i got a 50mm f1.4G, i have been using the latter lens most of the time for portraits and indoor low light shoots.

appreciate the beauty of prime lens, and found that i was using 20-40mm most of the time with tamron, i decided to sell my tamron and i will get 35mm f1.8G or sigma 30mm f1.4 as my general walkabout for street and portraits, and pair up with 50mm f1.4G as standard-mid telephoto combination

as told by a friend of mine, he felt that i made a loss here as tamron 17-50 is a better choice (to him). but to me, it's not my general walkabout anymore. similarly, a person's walkabout lens may not suit others.

IMO, there is no nikon's best walkabout lens, but best walkabout lens of oneself.

 

[efreedom2001]

for me, a "walkabout" lens (again, depending on how you define it) should be the lens that you have no qualms lugging it around on your camera for the best part of the day when you are walking about. this should mean that it is light enough to be comfortable on your neck (if you're using a neck strap).

but more importantly, it should enable you to shoot whatever you fancy along the way. as long as it allows you to capture the images you had envisaged at that moment just before you released the shutter, that to me is the best "walkabout" lens.

for me, when i was still using the d200, my "walkabout" lens was the able 18-70mm. the images are sharp and the distortion is "acceptable" for a lens of that price range. besides, you wouldn't feel its weight even if you had to walk around the whole day with it.

if i didn't mind the hassle or have the time to change lenses, i'd pack a couple more lenses. but that would depend on what i'm shooting. generally, my af 50/f1.4d and af 85/f1.8d would be in my bag while the af 35/f2.0d would be at the ready on my d200.

but now that i've sold my d200 and shooting with d700, my af 135/f2.0dc has suddenly found its way into my shooting arsenal again. again, the af 50/f1.4d is sitting ready on the fx body. i'm also rediscovering the joy of my 24/f2.8 ais.

but your preference may vary.

 

[Akatsuki]

i believe for a walkabout, the premier consideration should be versatility and weight, which I believe the Nikkor 28-300mm is pretty suited for (FF only) :thumbsup:

but of cox, some pple prefer to walk around and shoot with a prime, e.g. me

 

[COBALT]

I second what you said my walkabout lens is an old and under-rated nikkor-O 35mm f2. It has 8 elements in 6 groups vs the current AF-D version 6 elements n 5 groups. Very sharp wide open and beautiful bokeh.

for me, a "walkabout" lens (again, depending on how you define it) should be the lens that you have no qualms lugging it around on your camera for the best part of the day when you are walking about. this should mean that it is light enough to be comfortable on your neck (if you're using a neck strap).

but more importantly, it should enable you to shoot whatever you fancy along the way. as long as it allows you to capture the images you had envisaged at that moment just before you released the shutter, that to me is the best "walkabout" lens.

for me, when i was still using the d200, my "walkabout" lens was the able 18-70mm. the images are sharp and the distortion is "acceptable" for a lens of that price range. besides, you wouldn't feel its weight even if you had to walk around the whole day with it.

if i didn't mind the hassle or have the time to change lenses, i'd pack a couple more lenses. but that would depend on what i'm shooting. generally, my af 50/f1.4d and af 85/f1.8d would be in my bag while the af 35/f2.0d would be at the ready on my d200.

but now that i've sold my d200 and shooting with d700, my af 135/f2.0dc has suddenly found its way into my shooting arsenal again. again, the af 50/f1.4d is sitting ready on the fx body. i'm also rediscovering the joy of my 24/f2.8 ais.

but your preference may vary.

 

[victorlee10]

I nominate 24-120 VR for FX and 16-85 for DX.

 

[gnohz]

For me, I ues 16-85 most of the time if I'm out for a general shoot.
But on other occasions, I think about my subject before selecting the lens to bring.

 

[kentwong81]

I have a question. If you shoot with a prime and you have different focal length prime in your bag, how often do you change your prime lens?
Let's say when you reach MBS, you use the 24mm to shoot the landscape for the 3 towers, one minute later your gf ask u to shoot portrait for her and you change the lens to 85mm, then 5 minutes later you want shoot the landscape for Merlion and change the lens to 24mm, do you do that? Or you will finish all the landscape shooting first b4 turn to shoot portraits?
If keep changing lens, the dust will go into the camera body more easily right?

i believe for a walkabout, the premier consideration should be versatility and weight, which I believe the Nikkor 28-300mm is pretty suited for (FF only) :thumbsup:

but of cox, some pple prefer to walk around and shoot with a prime, e.g. me

 

[homan]

There has no best walkabout lens.You like good PQ,your best lens will be heavy.You want convenience,your best lens will be light. :bsmilie:

 

[Dynam0]

I have a question. If you shoot with a prime and you have different focal length prime in your bag, how often do you change your prime lens?
Let's say when you reach MBS, you use the 24mm to shoot the landscape for the 3 towers, one minute later your gf ask u to shoot portrait for her and you change the lens to 85mm, then 5 minutes later you want shoot the landscape for Merlion and change the lens to 24mm, do you do that? Or you will finish all the landscape shooting first b4 turn to shoot portraits?
If keep changing lens, the dust will go into the camera body more easily right?

Then get a in-between prime for 24mm and 85mm -> 50mm. Walk few steps backward, hopefully can achieve 24mm, walk few steps forward can achieve 85mm. Ofcourse, if you are really in a bad situation you can't even move, hopefully you have a 24-70 or 24-120 in your bag:sweat: