I Need Nikon Shooters Help

[Gianna'sPapa]

My DD significant other wants to make a last minute purchase of a Nikon 5100 for an Alaskan trip. He wants to start with an all in one lens. What would your recommendation be. This trip will entail cruise, helicopters, hiking. He is new to DSLR but the DD is not. I already gave him the "learning curve" speech! Being a Pentax shooter I am not familar with the Nikon lens lineup. He would want something with OS.

 

[Experiment_626]

Nikon calls it "VR" for "vibration reduction."

There's the ever-popular 18-200 zoom that a lot of people like, but optical quality, according to some, isn't quite as good as most others.

There's the 18-105 that comes as a kit lens with the D7000. Seems a decent choice ...

If it were me, I'd give serious consideration (read as: I would buy) to the 16-85. Decently long on a crop-sensor camera and significantly wider than an 18 (two extra millimeters really adds up on the wide end), and it is considered optically superior to most other Nikon super-zooms, unless you start looking at some of the f/2.8 offerings -- and even then, the difference in sheer optical quality is pretty small.

All three of these are AF-S lenses that will autofocus on the D5100.

Reviews:

http://www.bythom.com/18200lens.htm

http://www.bythom.com/Nikkor18-105lensreview.htm

http://www.bythom.com/Nikkor16-85lensreview.htm

Scott

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

Thanks Scott. Thats good info. Us Pentaxians call it SR for shake reduction.

 

[ukcatfan]

I don't know myself, but have heard that for an Alaskan cruise you would want something at least 200mm, but more if possible.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

The Sigma 18-250 with OS (Optical Stabilization) is my first choice. When I leave the house it's on the camera. I checked it out for a while before I got it from B&H and the only thing I'd change was ordering it earlier.

 

[Tigger2252]

I have the 18-200 lens and it is on my camera pretty much all the time. I love the results I get with it. The lens is heavy though and as a result when you have it around your neck it tends to extend itself. The other thing I have to watch is to be sure that there isn't any weird shadowing along the upper edges of the frame when I have the lens hood on. It doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen. Personally, I would highly recommend this lens though.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

Thank you everyone for the input. I will pass the information to the DD. After running into a bad salesman at Ritz, they decided to wait until they return and purchase from a more reputable dealer (B & H, Adorama, Amazon, etc.).

 

[WDWFigment]

I have the Nikon 18-200 VR, and it's great. Tamron makes a series of lenses in this range (18-250/270) that are also good from what I hear.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

I have the Nikon 18-200 VR, and it's great. Tamron makes a series of lenses in this range (18-250/270) that are also good from what I hear.

The 18-200 was one of the lenses they were considering before the Ritz salesman got crazy/greedy and they left the store. I will pass on your recommendation. I used the Tamron 18-250 on a friend's Sony. While optically it was very good, the lens creep or should I say "drop" was significant enough to drive me crazy. Everytime I pointed the lens anywhere near down it fully extended. I received several recommendations on how reduce or eliminate that issue that I passed on to my friend. All my larger zoom lens are internal focus/zooms so I don't experience that issue. Thanks for the recommendation.