Spec me some Len'ses

[Ace Modder]

Hi

I have a D5200 Body. I have not really used my camera much in the last 10 years, but I fancy getting into photography more.

I only have a few lenses, and they are fairly cheap ones.

Nikon DX AF-S 18-55mm (kit lens)
Sigma DG 70-300mm
Nikon DX AF-S 35mm

I'm looking for some better quality lenses for general usage, what would you all recommend?

 

[Derek W]

General use is a bit of a vague description. Do you have an area of photography that your particularly interested in e.g going by your sig possibly car photography? Also out of the lenses you have at the moment do you use one more than the other two as this may influence any recommendation?

First and foremost though if you haven't used your camera much in the last 10yrs would it not be a good start to get out with the camera and lenses you have at the moment more to see if it is something you want to get into rather than spending cash on an upgrade that may sit in a cupboard for the next 10yrs?

 

[Ace Modder]

General use is a bit of a vague description. Do you have an area of photography that your particularly interested in e.g going by your sig possibly car photography? Also out of the lenses you have at the moment do you use one more than the other two as this may influence any recommendation?

First and foremost though if you haven't used your camera much in the last 10yrs would it not be a good start to get out with the camera and lenses you have at the moment more to see if it is something you want to get into rather than spending cash on an upgrade that may sit in a cupboard for the next 10yrs?

Well the issue is I had a Canon before and I swapped to the Nikon, and the canon just seemed better duie to the lens I had with that. I was rather defalted with the Nikon, but I think its the low end lenses which cause that.

No lens preference, but the kit lens motor is a bit janky, so I defo need to replace that with something similiar, but better quality. It clicks when trying to focus, it does focus but is not 100%.

Here are some photos I did with my old trusty Canon. This is the type of stuff I enjoy.

 

[Derek W]

From the selection of images I'd suggest most of them were probably taken with your kit lens and at a push a 24 - 70 mm lens of a higher quality would get you started with the type of images you enjoy taking. That'll cover landscapes / portrait images no problem. Is it possible to post up a photo even a test photo so we can see what issue you might have compared to the canon shots? I'm a canon shooter as well so I'm not really up to speed with Nikon. I was going to have a look at pixelpeeper to see what image quality you could have but looks like they've changed their website completely and you cant just select cameras and lenses and their images update according to what users have uploaded.

 

[Drollic]

I'm not sure I'd invest in multiple lenses in that body now. Most using such lenses have had them years or are already adapted onto more recent nikon bodies (you almost have to with the poor lens selection and pricing of the high end new stuff on z mount).

 

[Snapshot]

I'd start by looking for a decent Nikon AF-S 16-85mm f3.5-5.6G ED DX VR to replace the 18-45mm. It gives a lot more flexibility in terms of focal length and is cheap to buy, certainly compared to what it cost me new to go with my D90.....