Nikon D3300, Lens advice?

Beggs74

Beggs74

Beggs74

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My wife has agreed to get me my first DSLR and Lens for my 40th, I'm pretty much settled on a Nikon D3300 which appears to be a good choice for a novice.
I'm undecided about the lens, it will mostly be used for family shots but I'd like the ability to take shots of aircraft taking off and landing at my local airport. The odd landscape would also be nice, so the lens does need to be an all rounder.

Budget for the camera body and lens combined is about £1000 - £1300.

Thanks for any advice.
 
I'm a novice so take my input with a pinch of salt. That said I have a D3100 and 2 lenses, one is the standard bundle 18-55mm VR lens and I also have a Nikon 55-300mm VR lens. Used the 55-300mm for F1 and a few other photographs where it's been great, the zoom on it is seriously impressive (can pick out individual people on the 2nd floor of the Eiffel Tower from ground level).

Can dig out some photos I've taken if you're interested, otherwise sure someone who knows a bit more will be along at some point :D
 
GhostWKD said:
I'm a novice so take my input with a pinch of salt. That said I have a D3100 and 2 lenses, one is the standard bundle 18-55mm VR lens and I also have a Nikon 55-300mm VR lens. Used the 55-300mm for F1 and a few other photographs where it's been great, the zoom on it is seriously impressive (can pick out individual people on the 2nd floor of the Eiffel Tower from ground level).

Can dig out some photos I've taken if you're interested, otherwise sure someone who knows a bit more will be along at some point :D
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Yes I'd love to see your 55-300mm shots. Thanks.
 
Interested in this - I've got a 3200 with the standard lens and am interested in looking into an addition. Looking forward to seeing some shots :)
 
I would skip the standard 18-55 unless you get it basically for free and instead go for a better kit lens like the 18-105mm VR or 18-140mm VR as long as you get these as a kit with a reasonable saving compared to individual retail. These lenses will also typically appear second hand at a low price. I recommend these because they have a better zoom range and image quality. The 18-55mm is fine but it has a very slow aperture f/5.6(doesn't let much light in) and a very short zoom range so is not very attractive. My recommendation is to either go for a lens that still has the slow aperture but gives you a long zoom range like the 18-140mm or 16-85, OR you go for a lens that has a short zoom range like 17-50,m but has a much faster brighter aperture (f/2.8) such as the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8. The kit 18-55mm is the worst aspects of both types of lenses so it not that useful IMO, but the photos it produces are fine for general photography.


Then I would add the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 DX (there is a similar lens that is not DX but that is more expensive and not needed)- this will be great for portraits.


And I would probably stop there for the time being with an an eye to buy some kind of telephoto zoom, 55-200, 55-300, 70-300 etc.
 
Lowe said:
Interested in this - I've got a 3200 with the standard lens and am interested in looking into an addition. Looking forward to seeing some shots :)
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Depends what you like to shoot.
The Nikon 35mm f/1.8 DX is a great lens for portraits. 70-300mm is a great entry into wildlife & sports. Some people like to go for ultra wide angle lenses like 10-20mm but these are very hard to use.
 
For telephoto, 70-300mm VR is a brilliant lens, light and with a decent zoom range (what, 100-450mm equivalent) and with VR means you shake less shots. The other one thats worth looking at is the 55-200mm which is smaller and lighter (and cheaper) but lacks the zoom range.

If you get the kit 18-55mm lens with the camera then I'd just keep that. If you want a seriously wide angle lens, then you could look for a second hand 10-24mm which is a really nice lens but you'd have to look for one second hand I would think if you want a telephoto too. tbh, for most things the 18-55 is all you'll ever need, only problem being in low light.

Or you could just say to hell with all of it and try to find an 18-200mm and leave it on the camera all the time :D

From the retailer I go to in London:
D3300 + kit lens + 70-300 = £930
D3300 + 18-200 = £980
You could also just about stretch to a D3300, 10-24 and 55-200 at approx £1250 I think too
 
cwgk91 said:
For telephoto, 70-300mm VR is a brilliant lens, light and with a decent zoom range (what, 100-450mm equivalent) and with VR means you shake less shots. The other one thats worth looking at is the 55-200mm which is smaller and lighter (and cheaper) but lacks the zoom range.

If you get the kit 18-55mm lens with the camera then I'd just keep that. If you want a seriously wide angle lens, then you could look for a second hand 10-24mm which is a really nice lens but you'd have to look for one second hand I would think if you want a telephoto too. tbh, for most things the 18-55 is all you'll ever need, only problem being in low light.

Or you could just say to hell with all of it and try to find an 18-200mm and leave it on the camera all the time :D

From the retailer I go to in London:
D3300 + kit lens + 70-300 = £930
D3300 + 18-200 = £980
You could also just about stretch to a D3300, 10-24 and 55-200 at approx £1250 I think too
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The 70-300mm seems to be popular choice for the aviation shots I'd like to take. Would that lens be any good for taking pictures of the family and landscapes?
 
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70-300 is just a good all rounder. Def good for landscapes as its so small and light + VR means you don't have to carry a tripod so all in all means you have less weight to carry. Bear in mind that its quite a long telephoto though on an APS-C camera as you have a 1.5x crop factor, so in fact its a 100-450 equivalent on 35mm. For family, again it'll be good as its an AFS lens, fast focussing, though relatively small aperture means that you may struggle for fast speeds for animals/children running around in low light, but to get that ability you'd need a fast prime (35mm 1.8 DX lens, 50mm 1.4, etc).

Got my sister the non-VR one (as Im a poor student :D) two years ago and she takes all her shots with that and a kit lens
 
Apologies for the delay but here's a few pics from the 70-300mm lens. Unfortunately facebook has destoryed the quality a little but my hard drive corrupted a couple of weeks ago so lost all originals :( These haven't been touched up either and it shows a little...

Castle in Germany;
https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t31.0-8/1275741_10151643594326966_1740235825_o.jpg

Neuschwanstein Castle in germany;
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t31/1149754_10151643603261966_10348216_o.jpg

F1 at Monza
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd....31/1272540_10151643662371966_2127351896_o.jpg

Couple of pics to show the standard lens (18-55) at full zoom vs the 55-300...

Standard lens Eiffel tower
https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1.0-9/5387_10151472928176966_244379295_n.jpg

55-300 first ever use :)
https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t31/964925_10151472928076966_1856527488_o.jpg

As I mentioned however I probably do the lens no justice as i'm a complete amateur but it certainly meets my requirements :)
 
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Some fantastic shots, especially the castles. Thanks for taking the time to post them.

I'm going to visit my local Nikon dealer on Saturday to try out some of the suggestions in this thread and other sources.
 
Always wanted to go to Neuschwanstein, v jealous!

@Beggs, thats the best thing to go and do, try before you buy. That way you get exactly what you want and not what we think you want :D
 
I've got a stock 18-55mm that came with my d40x many moons ago, I added to that with a 55-200mm VR and most recently with a 50mm f1.8 and as an occasional photographer I've been pretty happy with that little lot, I'd prefer if I had an 18-200 or 18-300 but I couldn't afford that :)
 
Yes, same here. That has been the lens I've enjoyed most out of my current setup. Got it for £110 second hand too. Bargain.

Btw, listen to DP. He helped me it when I got my setup about two years ago. Go for the 70-300mm if you can stretch to it.
 
I'm thinking along the lines of a D5300 with the 18-140 lens now. Wasn't able to test anything this weekend because my local dealer is waiting for new stock.
 
Tell me if I should stop suggesting 2nd hand items, as I understand if you want to buy new, but this guy is selling a D7000 with 18-105mm for £550 + delivery.

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/th...05-grip-tamron-17-50-2-8.534155/#post-6161607

I've just realised that you can't probably get to the forum, but it looks mint. If you're interested I could always pop him a message and get a contact email for you?

The bundle includes:

D7000 Body with original body cap

Nikon 18-105mm VR lens with original cap

Meike Additional hand grip with both battery inserts

8GB SD Card

Original Battery showing 0 (new) on the life meter

Original Strap

Original Charger

Original Box and paperwork.

Essentially everything you would want to pick up and start shooting!
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