Which Nikon lens should I bring?

[Rustysmom]

I have a Nikon D50 that I'm trying to learn to use. It came with a 18-55mm lens. I bought the D50 so I could use the lenses from my old N50. Those lenses were a 35-80 mm (which came with the N50 and was the one I used most of the time) and 70-210mm.

Which lens or lenses should I bring with me? Or are there better lenses out there that aren't outrageously expensive?

 

[Steve's Girl]

I have a Nikon D50 that I'm trying to learn to use. It came with a 18-55mm lens. I bought the D50 so I could use the lenses from my old N50. Those lenses were a 35-80 mm (which came with the N50 and was the one I used most of the time) and 70-210mm.

Which lens or lenses should I bring with me? Or are there better lenses out there that aren't outrageously expensive?

If you are happy with the image quality, I think the kit lens with the 70-210 would work nicely for Disney. Otherwise, look at the Nikkor 18-135. It is reasonably priced and very sharp. (the 35-80 would effectively be about 52mm at the wide end on the D50. I don't think you will find that wide enough)

 

[YEKCIM]

Depends, to some extent, on your shooting "style". I tend to shoot more at the "long" end so, while I'd want the 18-55 for wide shots, I'd have to have something longer, too. I'll be at The World in three weeks and plan on taking *three* lenses in the parks with me: the 18-135mm (great walkaround lens, $310 via Amazon.com), the 70-300VR, for long reach, and the 50mm f/1.8 for low light stuff.

The ultimate walkaround, of course, is the 18-200VR, but they're hard to find and way overpriced (IMO) when you do find one.

Of the lenses you currently have, I'd consider taking the 18-55 and the 70-210, if it's a good lens.

~YEKCIM

 

[Rustysmom]

I guess I'll take the 2 lenses then. I don't know if the 70-210 is a good lens or not. It's a Nikkor and it also says "1.4-5.6 D" on it. As you can see, I don't know much about the different lenses. My DH bought me that one for my old camera, but he doesn't know anything at all about lenses. He just wanted to get me a telephoto lens to shoot things far away and that's what they gave him.

I don't really have a shooting style. I just want the pictures to be clear and I'm happy. That's why I wasn't happy with my old Canon p&s digital camera because half the time the pictures weren't clear.

I'm going to take a look at the 18-135 mm lens. If it's really sharp, it might be worth the money, although that's almost more than I paid for the whole camera.

Thanks!

 

[Master Mason]

I'm going to take a look at the 18-135 mm lens. If it's really sharp, it might be worth the money, although that's almost more than I paid for the whole camera.

Thanks!

Welcome to the world of Lenses. I have 2 lenses now that cost more than my camera body. But that is why it is a system you buy into, those lenses will serve me well though the next few bodies I purchase too.

 

[YEKCIM]

I guess I'll take the 2 lenses then. I don't know if the 70-210 is a good lens or not. It's a Nikkor and it also says "1.4-5.6 D" on it. As you can see, I don't know much about the different lenses. My DH bought me that one for my old camera, but he doesn't know anything at all about lenses. He just wanted to get me a telephoto lens to shoot things far away and that's what they gave him.

I don't really have a shooting style. I just want the pictures to be clear and I'm happy. That's why I wasn't happy with my old Canon p&s digital camera because half the time the pictures weren't clear.

I'm going to take a look at the 18-135 mm lens. If it's really sharp, it might be worth the money, although that's almost more than I paid for the whole camera.

Thanks!

I can't comment on the 70-210, but maybe others who are more familiar with Nikon's older gear can.

Concerning the price of the 18-135, you have discovered what many of us have, that lenses can easily become the most expensive component of your entire set of gear and with good reason. It is the lens optics that are most responsible for delivering the image quality that the camera produces.

When I bought my D50, (two, actually), I opted to buy a less expensive body in order to allocate a larger portion of my budget to more and better lenses. In retrospect, I still think it was the right move.

The 18-135, by the way, is equivalent to a 28-200mm lens on a 35mm film SLR, due to the 1.5 focal length multiplier associated with the smaller sensor size on Nikon's dSLR's. the 70-210 is equivalent to a 105-315mm film SLR lens, if that helps any.

~YEKCIM

 

[handicap18]

When I went in June of last year with my D50 I mostly used my 18-70mm lens. The majority of my shots were at the 18mm end. I also used a 70-300mm and a 50mm f/1.8 lens.

I think you'll find yourself using the 18-55 the most with the exception of Animal Kingdom which tends to need a longer lens.

As for the 18-135mm lens. I love it! I used the 18-70 for about 14 months, but felt the 70mm wasn't quite long enough so I came across a great deal on the 18-135mm and it is awesome. VERY sharp. It has a great focal length range and is great as an everyday walk-around lens. I highly recommened to to any Nikonian who can't or doesn't want to get the 18-200mm VR lens.

FYI... on the 70-210mm lens you have, the 1.4-5.6D tells you what its max apertures are. Its an f/4-5.6 meaning at 70mm the widest aperture is f4 and at the 210mm length the widest aperture is f/5.6. As you zoom in from 70-210 the aperture gets smaller. The 'D' means it has an aperture ring on the lens. This really doesn't mean much one way or the other on a Nikon dSLR as with the D50 you have to leave the lens at f/22 and then control the f/numbers in the camera body.

 

[Groucho]

I would think that with the 35-80mm lens, you'd be spending a lot of time wishing that you had a wider lens at WDW. I would lean towards the kit lens plus the long zoom lens... unless, of course, the 35-80mm is an F2.8 lens, but I'd say that that's pretty unlikely.