# What new lens to invest in?



## Patriot (Dec 22, 2010)

I'm selling my D3100 and the 55-200mm lens for $500 to invest in a new glass. Is there any good FX lens out there worth buying to add to my collection? The only lens I have now is the 55-105mm kit lens. I have the D7000 now but I want some good glass for later if I go FX. I know for a fact that I wont get much with about $500 after I convert it over with the Japanese yen rate of 83. The only thing that I saw from Nikon's site was the 50mm lens both being below $500, and a few macros being close enough to add more funds to.


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## manualfocus (Jun 15, 2011)

What kind of photography are you wanting to do? Portrait? Landscape? Macro?


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## Nubster (Aug 9, 2011)

What do you want to cover, >105mm or <55mm? Are you opposed to third party? If you want a little more zoom, perhaps sell the 55-105 and pickup a Nikkor 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 VR and then still have money left to grab a 50mm f/1.8. 

If you want wide, I have the Tokina 12-24mm f/4 and it's pretty nice and in your price range.


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## bradlgt21 (Mar 24, 2010)

I like having a wider lense. I think the lens that came with my cannon is like a 18mm-75mm. I love the 18mm end for landscape shots and when you want to get a lot in the frame but don't have a lot of room, look doing a group photo when only standing a couple feet away.

For fish tanks I would suggest investing in something with a low aperture rating so that you can take quality pictures in low light situations.


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Not sure about Nikon, but 55-105 doesn't sound right. Maybe 18-105?

In the Canon world, if planning to upgrade to full frame, and looking at wide angle, if you had a lot of cash (>>$500) you would look at either the 17-40 (FF wide angle) or 24-70 (FF "normal" zoom). For ~$500, you might be better off with something from the Sigma/Tamron/Tokina world. On the low end, again speaking for Canon, the 18-55 kit lens is excellent for what it costs, so to save money I would get/keep that (Nikon equivalent) now and when going FF sell it and get something more expensive then. But you already might have that lens, judging from your "kit lens" comment.

Keep in mind that depending on the sensor type (CF vs FF) your lens characteristics change. For example, 24mm is a typical wide angle for a FF sensor, while it is almost "normal" for CF.

Nikon lenses are just  expensive. There is a lot of information available on the web, so I would suggest some serious research before plunking down a wad of cash on one of them. You will get some (self-proclaimed expert) opinions here, but I wouldn't take them too seriously. Especially this one.


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## jack25 (Sep 26, 2011)

The Tokina 11-16. It's a fixed aperture lense at f2.8. Got pretty decent reviews. It'll cost you around $700, I think.


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## Nubster (Aug 9, 2011)

jack25 said:


> The Tokina 11-16. It's a fixed aperture lense at f2.8. Got pretty decent reviews. It'll cost you around $700, I think.


Excellent lens. The Tokina stuff is pretty darn good.


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## TickleMyElmo (Aug 13, 2009)

The tokina 11-16 2.8 is a nice lens, but it's meant for DX cameras, not FF...

It really depends what you want to do with it, but honestly, there's not many spectacular options for $500 for an FX lens. The only ones that really come close are the 50mm's as you mentioned. One of the downsides of FX is that the lenses are much higher priced...

There is the Nikon 35mm f/2 AF-D, but that's not exactly a spectacular lens (although it would perform better on DX then it does on FX, since the corners would be cropped out)

There's also the newly released Nikon 85mm 1.8G, which is $499, but its not very versatile...

I think I qualify as an expert :red_mouth (or maybe that's just in my head, lol!)


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## pandjpudge (Dec 7, 2008)

Yeah $500 isn't much but being in japan you should have access to a lot of second hand gear there. You might be able to stretch your money that way.

The tokina 100mm macro is under $500 and useful as a portrait/macro lens.


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## Patriot (Dec 22, 2010)

yeah my bad I meant to type the 18-105mm. I don't mind getting lens from any 3rd party unless they are just horrible. I have more money but i just wanted to spend the $500 because I really hate holding money. Most lenses here in Japan are more expensive so I might just buy from online.


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