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Joshuashaw

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Joshua Shaw
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So I've decided on the D80 for my first camera, more than lightly purchasing it from Jessops too, they do various deals on the D80 with lenses, I am just wondering from a beginners perspective, what lenses do what?

For a beginner just getting into photography which lens would be more ideal, the 18-135 mm, or 18-70mm. If anyone can point me in the right direction for a tutorial or something I can read about lenses on the net, I'd be much appreciative. Thanks, Josh.
 
I can't speak for the 18-135 as I have no experience with it and know no one who's used it. However, the 18-70 is a fantastic lens. I've used it and have a close relative who used it for a very long time ... at one point sold it, then bought it back (the same one I sold), used it for a while, and then sold it again!
 
Ive got the 18-135, Ive had it for the whole time Ive had my D80 ( A year) and I would really reccomend it.. Its served me well and the range on the lens is very good for a variety of different photography subjects..

Never used the 18-70 but have used a 18-55 and I dont think that focal range would really be as good for a beginner as the 18-135 would be unless of course you have the money to buy another lens to supplement the supplied one?

Regards, James
 
18-135mm is about £20 cheaper, as in the bundle. I have about £700 to spend on a full set up, bag, couple of memory cards etc. I'm going to Jessops in hope they'll do me a nice deal as I've bought a few cameras from them. Anymore advice much appreciated.
 
Hello Joshua,

I'm told that Jessops are quite expensive compared with some of the numerous on-line retailers that folks on here use. Not really experienced enough to recommend any from personal use but a search through the forums would probably get you a much better deal.

I've got a D80 and love it!

Good luck,

Comus
 
Decided I'll buy from digital rev, I'll keep looking them up though.

But, I am so confused about lenses, can anyone shine some light on which sizes suit which type of photography etc? ANY HELP MUCH APPRECIATED.
 
Joshua - on the Tamron web site there is a focal length comparison tool. have a play with it. Then come back here and tell us what you've learned.
 
Wider the focal length as in 17mm - 18mm or 17mm to 17mm - 135mm the more you can zoom in, but the further you zoom in the limited you are on how much of the image you capture?
 
The ideal lens would be the Nikon 18-200mm VR - but that may stretch your budget...
 
I went for the 18-70 Nikon lens with my D80 early this year when I 1st started photography and it is a cracking lens.
 
God, the abbreviations on lenses VR, VF, IF, ED, etc all so confusing. What does it all mean? Just text my Dad to see what lenses he has for his D80 so we can share. He has a standard one which came with his camera, so I'm presumming 17-85mm or 17-135mm, and he also not sure on model, but he bought it specifically to photograph bathroom suites he's fitted to show in his portfolio as such and that's a wide lens I think.

What kind of products do I need apart from memory cards & a protective bag?

I fancy a fisheye lens or macro lens if they are reasonably cheap, I have 700 to spend, d80 with standard lens is about 550 max on digi rex.
 
Spoke to dad, he has the 17mm to 80mm and I aske about the wide lens he has for photographing bathroom that's ? - 200mm, he said 20mm, but that's not logical, I presume 200mm.
 
Joshuashaw said:
Spoke to dad, he has the 17mm to 80mm and I aske about the wide lens he has for photographing bathroom that's ? - 200mm, he said 20mm, but that's not logical, I presume 200mm.
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He meant 20mm. The lower the number the wider the lens. 20mm is considered a wide angle lens, 200mm is a telephoto lens. To give you a guide on the D80 a 35mm lens is approximately the same view as the human eye.
 
I have a D80 and it came with the 18-135. I'm no expert and have only had the D80 for a couple of weeks. I can't speak for any other lens, however find the 18-135 a very good lens and I am well happy with it. I find it produces sharp images, even at 135mm.
I would quite like the 70-300 Nikon lens but have my eye on a Tamron 70-300. Does anyone have any views on this one? Depending on what you want to shoot, this may an option for yourself Joshua.
Regards
Bill
 
Comus said:
Hello Joshua,

I'm told that Jessops are quite expensive compared with some of the numerous on-line retailers that folks on here use. Not really experienced enough to recommend any from personal use but a search through the forums would probably get you a much better deal.

I've got a D80 and love it!

Good luck,

Comus
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Jessops price match. Also you get your hands on the body, just take a card in with you and they will stick a lens on for you.

Furthermore, I understand that if you buy from HKong, any fault means the gear has to go back to HKong. With jessops you can walk in with a faulty item.

I can't speak for other manufacturer, but Canon bodies are warrantied in geographical areas, so if you buy in Europe, your warranty is Europe wide. Canon lens warranty is International I believe.

jamie
 
The Tamron 70-300 is a great budget lens, nice n sharp and came top in a lot or reviews when it first came out. It all depends what you want to take photographs of ultimately as to which lens you would get the most use out of.

BTW - I have a Tamron for sale here
 
I got my D80 with the 18-135 and i wish i had taken the 18-70. I found the 18-135 to be ok, it can be quite sharp but doesnt have any character. I can however reccomend the 50mm 1.8, you can get them for around £60/70 and they truely are amazing little lenses..

Also the Sigma 70-300 apo is good lens for the money..
 
minimeeze said:
The Tamron 70-300 is a great budget lens, nice n sharp and came top in a lot or reviews when it first came out. It all depends what you want to take photographs of ultimately as to which lens you would get the most use out of.

BTW - I have a Tamron for sale here
Click to expand...

Timing is everything, I was going into town tomorrow to buy a lens. Now I don't need to. Thanks
Bill
 
Can someone please describe to be the basics of lenses? I'm getting so confused.

The body I am after is the D80, I've used my Dad's, it feels simple enough to get into DSLR photograph with but complex enough to learn plenty of things with. The camera will be used for all sorts as it will be used for my photography course at College, but will also accompany other courses I took like graphic illustration & web design. Personally, I'd use it for all sorts, events & concerts, action-sports like motocross, mountain-biking etc, but also things like scenery, landscapes, nature, wildlife, but also wouldn't mind experimenting with lots of other types of photography like macro etc.

Essentially I have £750 absolute max to spend on everything, body, lens/es, memory cards etc, anything I'll need, but I can purchase things as I need them. I have decided to purchase from digital rev, but also still have a few questions that need answering about them; whats the deal with import tax?

I know my Dad has the 18-70mm lens & 18-20mm, so I was thinking either a 18-70/135mm depending on what people think would suite me best knowing I want to experiment with different types of photography and maybe a fish eye lens or a macro lens.

ANY HELP MUCH APPRECIATED!
 
My only real problem with the 18-135 is that mine lasted for about 6 weeks till I had the camera knocked out of my hands :eek:
It fell on some grass and broke the plastic mountings, uneconomical to repair.
I did replace it with the 18-70, paid for by insurance :D , but I do
now check that all lenses I buy do have metal mounts not plastic.
 
Josh, have a look here and hopefully it will enlighten you as to what each type of lens does and the difference between them all :)
 
Joshuashaw said:
Can someone please describe to be the basics of lenses? I'm getting so confused.

The body I am after is the D80, I've used my Dad's, it feels simple enough to get into DSLR photograph with but complex enough to learn plenty of things with. The camera will be used for all sorts as it will be used for my photography course at College, but will also accompany other courses I took like graphic illustration & web design. Personally, I'd use it for all sorts, events & concerts, action-sports like motocross, mountain-biking etc, but also things like scenery, landscapes, nature, wildlife, but also wouldn't mind experimenting with lots of other types of photography like macro etc.

Essentially I have £750 absolute max to spend on everything, body, lens/es, memory cards etc, anything I'll need, but I can purchase things as I need them. I have decided to purchase from digital rev, but also still have a few questions that need answering about them; whats the deal with import tax?

I know my Dad has the 18-70mm lens & 18-20mm, so I was thinking either a 18-70/135mm depending on what people think would suite me best knowing I want to experiment with different types of photography and maybe a fish eye lens or a macro lens.

ANY HELP MUCH APPRECIATED!
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It's going to be difficult meeting all of your requirements straight away for your budget of £750. My suggestion would be to get the D80 with the 18-70mm lens. This lens is better quality (better made, and some would argue is better optically) than the other kit lens. You will have 'played' with your dad's lens and know exactly what this gives you in terms of focal lenghts (zoom range). From Digital Rev that will cost you £516.99 - I haven't used Digital Rev myself so can not comment on how good they are.

This leaves you a little over £230 from your £750. Well now you have a few options. If you want a macro lens, if you stay with Nikon lens you have the 60mm micro (not the AF-S version though), Digital Rev have this for £223.24, I have this lens and it is a very good performer for the money, however if you want to get up close and really macro then this lens doesn't give you much zoom so you have to get pretty close to your subject to start with, depends on what your subject matter will be I guess!

One option would be to just get the 18-70mm lens with the D80 and hire or borrow some lens, then you could work out which would be more useful to you. Search on these forums for lensforhire, they are pretty well recommended.

Another option would be to get a flashgun, Nikon's start at around £125 for the SB-600. This will be very useful if you intend on taking any portraits, as well as other types of photography, as it's a huge improvement on any built in flash.

My final piece of advise, for what it's worth, is to get the camera and take time before rushing into buying all of the lens you think you'll need, without knowing if you really need them! Get to know the camera and enjoy your photography, then see what lens you are missing.
 
What does the AF-S? At a guess, I'm thinking auto focus.

What in terms of me being a beginner would the 70mm have over the 135mm? Surprizingly the 135mm is more expensive considering people rate it not as good as the 70mm.

Flashgun can wait I decided, I don't plan to do portraits in a rush, doesn't really do things for me, makes me feel a little awkward analysing someone in such detail.

Thanks again to everyone who has replied, it's gradually making more sense.
 
Joshuashaw said:
What does the AF-S? At a guess, I'm thinking auto focus.

What in terms of me being a beginner would the 70mm have over the 135mm? Surprizingly the 135mm is more expensive considering people rate it not as good as the 70mm.

Flashgun can wait I decided, I don't plan to do portraits in a rush, doesn't really do things for me, makes me feel a little awkward analysing someone in such detail.

Thanks again to everyone who has replied, it's gradually making more sense.
Click to expand...

AF-S is Nikons fast and quiet autofocus, it means the lens will autofocus quicker and quieter than a AF (autofocus) lens.

The 70mm will actually give you slightly less than the 135mm. The 135mm will enable you to 'zoom in' that little bit more. But this comes at a small (and to you as a beginner probably hard to tell) price and that is optical performance and build quality. I would always go for optical performance and build quality over firstly.

The 70-300mm lens will enable you to zoom in a lot further, that is more distant object will fill the frame more. This lens is suited to such things as wildlife and motorsports photography (obviously many other types as well!). For instance, if you want to photograph a bird in the garden, at 18mm you would have to be very close to fill the shot with just the bird, if you were at a distance the bird would be just a small dot in the centre of the picture. With a 300mm lens you could be further away, and still fill the whole picture with the bird.

Think of it as looking through a pair of binoculars, the larger the mm number on the lens the more magnification you have.
 
I can understand your predicament Joshua, I have purchased a D80 over a week and half, and still cant quite work out which lens to buy for it, for fear of making a mistake. Advice here is great though, so listen carefully!

Your thread has helped me too!
 
Have you considered ringing Greys of Westminster, about second hand cameras and/or lenses, you'll get way more bang for your buck than from jessops, and more oft than not in near mint condition, they'll also give you lots and lots of advice on things like what lenses you should get with your camera etc.
 
18-70 is definately the better kit lens.. :thumbs:

As mentioned above, as you are a beginner, you dont want to go out and buy everything straight away, best thing to do is get the body 18-70 and then get to know it well, you will find out not only how all the different settings work and the differences they make to the photos but you will also get a better idea of what you like to take pictures off, that will put you in a much better posistion when it comes to buying more lenses and will save you wasting money on a lens you probably wont use that much!

I would also reccomend a flash gun, theyre not just used for portraits and its amazing the differences they can make to your photos, the Nikon -sb600 is an awesome piece of kit, i dont know what id do without mine..

:thumbs:
 
Can I ask if anyone has any advice on what they think of this one?
AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8G ED Major Features
 
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