I am looking for new lens for my D7000 and i can't quite make up my mind on what to go for. Off to Cuba for 3 weeks later in the year and i would like a lens to take with me.
i already own:
Nikon 35mm 1.8
Tamron 90mm Macro
Nikon 18-55 Kit lens (non vr and quite old)
Nikon 55-200 (again non vr and quite old)
The new lens will ideally replace the 18-55 and be my standard walk about lens. While the 18-55 gives me good results in sharpness and contract its a PITA to use as the barrel tends to collapse when used with a CPL. Size and weight are not really an issue.
The Main Contenders are:
Nikon 16-85mm VR
I am thinking that the extra 2mm will come in particularly handy, Most reviews i could find state the lens is sharp throughout the zoom range and has good contrast. Lens speed and bokeh seem to be the only drawbacks
sigma 17-70 f2.8-4
Faster than the Nikon and with much nicer bokeh by most accounts but from what i could find it gets mixed reviews, Some samples are stated as being sharp across the frame and zoom range while others report a big fall off in sharpness and a lot of softening towards to edges (some say up to 40% of the image) I suppose it varies lens to lens how prevalent these issues are.
Nikon 18-200 VR/VR2
Ive used a 18-200 VR on a d80 before whilst in South Africa and the lens performed magnificently, but the same lens on my d7000 never performed as well. Saying that the appeal of such a range in walkabout lens is hard to ignore
I am leaning towards the 16-85mm Nikon as it seems to get the best results overall, I suppose i am asking if there is anything else to consider lens wise and whether i have missed anything with the lenses above. I am particularly interested to hear from owners of the lenses to see what they think of them.
Many thanks in advance
Zeameth
i already own:
Nikon 35mm 1.8
Tamron 90mm Macro
Nikon 18-55 Kit lens (non vr and quite old)
Nikon 55-200 (again non vr and quite old)
The new lens will ideally replace the 18-55 and be my standard walk about lens. While the 18-55 gives me good results in sharpness and contract its a PITA to use as the barrel tends to collapse when used with a CPL. Size and weight are not really an issue.
The Main Contenders are:
Nikon 16-85mm VR
I am thinking that the extra 2mm will come in particularly handy, Most reviews i could find state the lens is sharp throughout the zoom range and has good contrast. Lens speed and bokeh seem to be the only drawbacks
sigma 17-70 f2.8-4
Faster than the Nikon and with much nicer bokeh by most accounts but from what i could find it gets mixed reviews, Some samples are stated as being sharp across the frame and zoom range while others report a big fall off in sharpness and a lot of softening towards to edges (some say up to 40% of the image) I suppose it varies lens to lens how prevalent these issues are.
Nikon 18-200 VR/VR2
Ive used a 18-200 VR on a d80 before whilst in South Africa and the lens performed magnificently, but the same lens on my d7000 never performed as well. Saying that the appeal of such a range in walkabout lens is hard to ignore
I am leaning towards the 16-85mm Nikon as it seems to get the best results overall, I suppose i am asking if there is anything else to consider lens wise and whether i have missed anything with the lenses above. I am particularly interested to hear from owners of the lenses to see what they think of them.
Many thanks in advance
Zeameth
