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Beginner--need a good all around lens pick--on budget

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va2vegas

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I am getting a Nikkon D60 and need a recommendation for a good all around lens pick. I like to shoot flowers, my dogs, and landscapes, some sunsets and night and sky scenes. I really only have about $100-$150 to spend on a decent, but cheap lens. I am not opposed to a used lens. Suggestions?
 
If you could push your budget up $25 you could get a used 18-70. This lens is a really good value and a favorite of many user on this forum. I love mine, it has a very useful focal length for a walkaround lens, good to very good image quality, and fairly light weight.
 
That's a very good lens for the price (I usually see them go at about $175), but it is AF-D, and won't autofocus on a D60.
--
Kevin
 
va2vegas said:
I am getting a Nikkon D60 and need a recommendation for a good all around lens pick. I like to shoot flowers, my dogs, and landscapes, some sunsets and night and sky scenes. I really only have about $100-$150 to spend on a decent, but cheap lens. I am not opposed to a used lens. Suggestions?
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Why re-invent the wheel? Nikon put a lot of thought into their current kit lenses, and the 18-55vr is a terrific starter lens.

How's this for a bargain? Amazon.com offers the d60 body for $500, but only charges *$535* for the d60 + 18-55vr combo. http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-10-2MP-Digital-18-55mm-3-5-5-6G/dp/B0012OGF6Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1248536898&sr=1-1

--
Warm regards, Uncle Frank
FCAS Founder, Event Photographer

Galleries at fdrphoto.smugmug.com
 
my choice would be the Nikkor 18-105 VR.
Best budget lens out there!

But it´s 200 euro here...
--
Greetz Wolf
 
D60 + 18-55VR seems like a good way to start!

The 18-70 is an very good lens (my first D70 lens!), but the 18-55's VR is probably more useful to most than the extra 15mm on the long end)

RB

http://www.pbase.com/rbfresno/profile
 
The perfect simple lens to get on a budget is the Nikkor 50mm 1.8. Small and good picture quality for approx 200 bucks (give or take).

If you look on craiglist you might get a good Nikkor 50mm 1.4D for about similar price as well.

Otherwise, spend a little more and get the Tamron 28-75 f2.8. That is the best lens for price vs quality.

--
Website: http://www.photographybykevin.net
Gallery: http://gallery.knguyentu.com/

 
Kevin Nguyen said:
By the way, this is the 50mm 1.8 I was talking about
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It's a terrific little lens and very affordable, but it won't autofocus on a d60. Did you mean to suggest a lens that would require a newbie learn to manually focus on the d60's tiny viewfinder in order to get sharp images?

I'll pose the same question to Alex, who suggested the 28-105.

--
Warm regards, Uncle Frank
FCAS Founder, Event Photographer

Galleries at fdrphoto.smugmug.com
 
Kevin Nguyen said:
Oh yea, forgot. This is a D60 Lol! Yes 50mm can't auto focus on it. Well you have the Tamron 28-75 f2.8. It has a built in motor.
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Perfect, except it sells for $400 and the original poster has a $150 budget.

--
Warm regards, Uncle Frank
FCAS Founder, Event Photographer

Galleries at fdrphoto.smugmug.com
 
Uncle Frank said:
Kevin Nguyen said:
By the way, this is the 50mm 1.8 I was talking about
Click to expand...
It's a terrific little lens and very affordable, but it won't autofocus on a d60.
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Indeed. However, the new 35/1.8 is a decent recommendation. At $200 it's a bit above the OP's price point, but it's well worth considering to pay a bit more for it.

The really important thing to make sure the OP understands about the 35/1.8 is that it's not a zoom lens; it only gives you one focal length. Still, what you're really giving up is convenience, not ability; before good zoom lenses were invented, most photography was done with lenses with similar view angle.

Oh, and lets about 4 times as much light in as an f/3.5 zoom.
 
Frank, what's wrong with a newcomer learning with manual focus? I know I did and I suspect you did as well. My first 35 mm was a Konica rangefinder forty-one years ago, followed by a Nikon FE over twenty-five years ago. And no fair pointing out some of my poorly focused pics--that's old-age shake, not a focusing problem.

Better to start off with an excellent 50 mm that can't autofocus on his D60 than a second rate, off-brand that can.

Best wishes,

Bruce
 
Why not a refurb D60 body + a new/2nd hand 18-105VR?
Refurb body from Adorama: $329 (mine had 450 clicks on it when delivered)

New lens from Adorama: $299 but the guys at Maine had it for $260 with a discount coupon.
$580 all up...I saw Cameta had a cheaper refurb body as well.
 
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