HELP! ASAP Advice on choosing a new lens

[cjsteiger]

Let me start by saying I am an ameature and just received my DSLR for Christmas last year but I LOVE it!! I am ready to up grade to a new lens because I want to be able to capture more things that are far away specifically kids at sporting events, Field Hockey and Basketball and school concerts and such. I am looking at the following 2 lenses:

Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR [Vibration Reduction] Nikkor Zoom Lens $249.00

Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR $359.95

I have Nikon DX 3000.

I want the lens to be able to take on the 8th grade field trip to Washington DC. I'm looking for it to be my walk around lens.

If you have suggestion for a different lens I'm up for it just don't want to spend way too much. Still new at this.

Thanks!!

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

I wouldn't say that either of these lenses are a walkaround lens because on the short end, they are not wide enough (55mm). For outside, day (aka well-lit) sports they will work well. For indoor sports (aka NOT well-lit) you will probably struggle because your camera body has a 1600 ISO limit (3200 with boost). I'm not sure how usable the 1600/3200 ISO is on your camera. If you are looking for an all-in-one walkaround with the same lighting restrictions as the ones listed, I would look at 18-200, 18-250, and 18-270. You might consider third party (Tamron, Sigma, etc.) lenses also. When you get into shooting indoor sports (with your camera body), you will need a 2.8 lens with more than likely an external flash. I use a camera (Pentax K10D) with similar specifications as yours and I use my Sigma 70-200 f2.8 for indoor basketball, volleyball, etc. I have just recently purchased a new camera body (K5) with a much higher usable ISO which should allow me to shoot the higher shutter speeds without the use of a flash assist that are required for fast action sports.

 

[photo_chick]

I agree that 55mm may not be wide enough for a walkaround lens. Especially someplace like D.C. You'll be hard pressed to use it in tight museum locations and those particular lenses are a little slow, so availble light shooting indoors will be tough. And if you want to get an entire monument in the shot you'll have to back up pretty far away from it which isn't always possible. But for well lit telephoto shots those two lenses would be great.

 

[krb2g]

I have the 55-200mm zoom lens and I like it, but I don't use it all that often. There are certain things that I want the long focal length for (e.g. my brother's college graduation at Virginia Tech, where I got great shots of him processing on the football fields from our seats up in the stands), but I find that 55mm often isn't wide enough for a walk-around lens for me. I was in London last winter and my kit 18-55mm lens broke, leaving me with only the 55-200mm lens. I was constantly frustrated by how many shots I missed because I didn't have a wide enough lens. Now, if you invest in a good bag, you can have a longer range of focal lengths close at hand....

 

[NateNLogansDad]

My walk around is the Sigma 18-250mm OS HSM. Love it with the kids running around.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I love my 55-300 Nikkor zoom lens. It is great when I need to zoom in on something, but not so grade for wider shots. I justed used my lens in Animal Kingdom and it worked great on the safari ride. I mostly used my 18-55 for walking around. I used my 35mm for night.

 

[GoofyTroopOf6]

I took the advice of a couple others on here and found a used "mint condition" tamron lens for $379.95, shipped. I was finding these for no less than the upper 4 hundredes on EBAY even used. It was driving me insane. I have to say, I think I got a really good deal and really hope I'll like it.

This one is a little more expensive, but not by much http://www.usedcameras.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=187202 If you want to do a search, I used this website to search for used ones.
http://www.acecam.com/usedndex.html

 

[cjsteiger]

Thank you all for your input. I did order a 55-200 and found your recommendations were spot on. So I am sending it back because I really didn't want to have to constantly change lenses. So I ordered a Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC AF OS Zoom Lens which is due to arrive. I really think I will be much happier with it only having one lense to use. My hubby just didn't get the whole changing lenes thing was a real pain. I got a good deal on Amazon and was able to use 6 month no interest payment deal. Thanks all for your info.

Cheryl