Lens Recommendation Help

[panthro]

Hi there, currently using my D90 with the 18-105 kit lens. I want to purchase some additional lenses because I will be doing plenty of travelling and picture taking this year. The sort of pictures I will be taking are as follows:

• Wildlife and motorsport - reasonable zoom required, currently top of the list is the 70-300 VR 4.5-5.6
• Macro - no ideas what to go for!
• Wide angle for landscapes - again, no idea!
• Portrait and general photographing - Nikon 50mm f1.8

Is there a lens that combines wide angle with macro? Im not snob or anything so all makes are considered!

Im not looking at spending huge sums of money for several reason, mainly im an amateur with not much experience and a limited budget

Any recommendations would be really helpful. Thanks

 

[Lazlo Woodbine]

I have a 24mm 'Macro' lens but really that just means it's close focusing in this instance. If you want to take good Macro shots on a budget your best bet is something like the Tamron 90mm or the Sigma 105mm 2.8. The longer the focal length, the greater the working distance from the subject which makes wide angle lenses pretty impractical for proper Macro work.

The focal length of those lenses is also well suited to portraiture, though the 50 1.8 you mention is probaby more useful indoors for snaps of friends etc.

For wildlife and motorsport the 70-300VR is a great budget option. Also take a look at something like the Sigma 150-500 OS if you want to spend a little more.

For wide angle, the Tokina 11-16 f2.8 is very highly rated but there are plenty of other options around. Try checking sites like this one for some user reviews.

 

[Strangways]

I think 300mm is a bit short for wildlife, but I found my 70-300mm good for motorsport. It is small and light enough to carry around for the day. I bought a Sigma 120-400mm for wildlife which I am very happy with.

For wide angle I use a Sigma 10-20mm and for macro and portraits I find the Sigma 70mm f2.8 ideal, it is a really sharp lens even wide open.

But what I have found is that my 18-200mm is my most used lens because of the convenience.

 

[sbrown]

Not sure if this helps at all but I went the D90 route this year after upgrading from a d70.
My current lenses include an 18-200mm VR as my main walk around / travelling lens.
My newest purchase - Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 as a landscape lens - loving this so far.
Nikon 50mm f1.8 - can't go wrong at the price and a brilliant lens.

Not got anything in the macro area but I will be looking at a nice long lens later this year. Personally I'll probably go for the 70-200mm f2.8 and get a 1.7x or 2x teleconvertor for when I need the extra reach. An expensive option but may be worth considering the Sigma version of the same thing which gets good reports!

If you are going for anything longer my experiences with the longer Sigma lenses has been great and the prices are very reasonable compared to the Nikon equivalents.

 

[taz]

Nikons 28-105 also has a half decent macro.

How about a Sigma 12-24, then when you upgrade to FF you'll already have an Ultra Ultra Wide