Lens Choice

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Durrani

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Hi, i am completely new to photography. I have recently bought a Nikon D3200 and have fiddled around with the kit lens. I now want to buy a wide angle lens fro my D3200. Sorry about this but so far whatever i have read online about lenses what they are good at is quite confusing. can anyone please recommend me a wide angle lens for my camera, keeping in mind that i like taking landscapes as well as people's photography. i was thinking of a 50mm f1.8, G AF lens. Is that a good option? Am confused because today i read that anything 50mm is not considered as a wide angle and is not very good at bokeh.. Plz help.
 
The 50mm range is considered best for portraits. You could use it for landscapes but you'll find something wider, from 17mm better suited to capture those scenes.
 
50mm is fantastic at Bokeh
But i recommend you look at maybe a 17-50mm f2.8.
its a fast lens with lots of versitality.
You can buy the best - which is nikon but a secondhand one will set you back £500
or Sigma or Tamron which you'll pick up for around £279 new
 
I've just bought the Tamron 17-270 as a cover all sort of lens. Write ups seem to think its a good lens for travelling etc where you dont have room for more than one lens. I've not used it a great deal at the moment but 1st shots seem promising :thumbs:
 
thanks both for the input. can i ask if 17-50mm comes with f1.8. Also, will 17mm do justice to both landscape and portrait photography? Making the right choice now, means more because buying lenses over and over again means more money and hassle.
 
Do you mean wide angle, or ultra wide angle?

If you're looking to take ultra wide angle landscape shots you'll need something like the 12-24 nikon lens or sigma/ tokina equivelant. However a mid range zoom will have better day to day practicality and will take better portraits.

Best advice I can give is pick out some lens choices and type the into flickr search box and see how the pictures look taken with those same lenses.

Best of luck
Matt
 
Durrani said:
thanks both for the input. can i ask if 17-50mm comes with f1.8. Also, will 17mm do justice to both landscape and portrait photography? Making the right choice now, means more because buying lenses over and over again means more money and hassle.
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No best aperture on a zoom is 2.8. The 17-50 gives you good quality iamges, good low light usage and a good range for portraits and landscapes to start off with.
If you really want to get into landscapes then Tokina 11-16 is a super lens, but not really for portraits as it can make the person look a little wide.
 
thank you Norfolkbloke and gr8shot, both of your comments are useful. Ideally, at this stage i would like to opt for wide angle lens, so it gives me a different feel to the kit lens (considering ultra-wide angle may be for later stages as it makes the person look too wide). Also, what particular mid range zoom best serves my options of being able to take reasonably wide angle landscape/buildings and bokeh portraits as well, if that makes sense?
 
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I'll never grow tired of recommending the Nikkor 16-85mm. Loved it, and it looks really well on a D3x00! :thumbs:
 
ok guys, after some research and keeping my budget into account, i have chosen nikkor 35mm f1.8 G. again my preferences are being able to take nice portraits and landscape at the same time. Need comments plz!
 
its a nice walk around lens, i enjoy using mine a lot. Its a fast to focus lens and it has some nice bokeh on it too. You cant really go wrong with having it in your collection. It becomes a 50mm on a 1.5 crop, so you might get some landscape people saying it doesn't have the big enough field of view. But for £150 brand new, you can't go wrong, be best bang for buck lens Nikon do.
 
Jan K. said:
I'll never grow tired of recommending the Nikkor 16-85mm. Loved it, and it looks really well on a D3x00! :thumbs:
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+ 1 for the 16-85mm. I also do landscape and portraits and it just covers everything I need. Not the fastest lens but having got used to my D7000 I seem to be able to get almost every shot I want.
 
I have a 50mm and a sigma 10-20 and really cant fault any of them. both great pieces of equipment

try out the sigma 10-20 if you haven't already, you wont be disappointed
 
Another plus for the Nikon 16-85, around £300 secondhand from the likes of MPB.
 
thank u all for your replies, very informative though. i will now go ahead with arranging a meeting with any knowledgeable sales person, who can allow me to use the nikkor 35mm on my cropped frame. Anybody having information about a good shop in either Leeds or Manchester?
 
I bought a sigma 50mm 1.4, loved the picture it could take but just didn't find it very practical for indoor use as its more like a 75mm on a DX sensor. After 12 months I decided to buy the Nikon 35mm 1.8 and loved it, small, light weight and great as a walk around lens. I now own a Tamron 17-55 2.8 and this has basically replaced my 35mm but have to admit its bigger, heavier and I find myself leaving the camera in its bag more than I did with the 35.
 
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