Need a new lens for good family close-ups

[DVCinderella]

I have always loved taking pictures. When I was in my 20's (and had money to spend on myself ), I took a few photography courses. On the recommendation of one of the teachers, my first "good" camera purchase was a Nikon FM2...a fully manual camera. My first digital camera purchase was a Nikon Coolpix 5700. A few years later (when I had my kids and wanted a really good, fast camera to catch them in action), I upgraded to the Nikon D200, which had just come out. I had read rave reviews on-line about the Nikon 18-200 lens, so that was my first lens purchase for the D200.

The Nikon 18-200 is a great lens, don't get me wrong, but now that the kids are 4, and can take direction and sit still for a picture, I'd like to get a non-telephoto lens for nice closeups. I wish I had more time to read about photography, or take more courses, or just practice! Of course my favorite place to take pictures is WDW, and we are going in a few weeks. I'd love to get a good lens for this trip -- one that will be good for closeups of the kids, and pictures with the characters.

Thanks in advance for any advice and recommendations!

 

[KarenAylwood]

My personal favorite is the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 (I also have an 18-200 canon lens that's versatile but not great for indoors w/ no flash). I bought it recently to get some pictures of my friends' new babies, and also because I'm going to Disney in September. It's supposed to be great for dark rides.

Check out the Sigma prime lens thread. There are some awesome pictures on there. It's really good in low light (hence the f/1.4) and I use it much more than I thought I would. The colors from it are amazing. I recently took it to two weddings and got some really good shots. No flash needed for indoor photography, I LOVE it!

It's $440 retail. I got it off ebay for $326 shipped. I've used it for two weddings, a hospital visit when my friend's baby was born, and a trip to my friend's house to take pics of her kids. I've used the lens much more than I thought I would- I only bought it about a month or two ago.

You can also get the 50mm f/1.8 (much cheaper) or the f/1.6 or f/1.4 if you want something closer up. I'm assuming Nikon has these- I'm a Canon girl so I'm not up on the Nikon options

Here's some from the 30mm.

Outdoors:

Indoors:

 

[Mama_Dis]

My "nifty 50" is where it's at for me! I have the 50mm 1.8 that I got off ebay for like $80 that is by far my favorite lens. It will take some getting used to as far as how much room you will need to get what you want in the frame, but IMO on my D80- the portraits it gives me can't be beat.

HTH!!!