Reddit mentions of NIKON AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED VR II Lens - White Box (New)

the 55-200 is $146 on amazon right now. https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-55-200MM-Vibration-Reduction-Cameras/dp/B00RUBK53Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478981692&sr=8-1&keywords=nikkor+55-200

Of course! It depends on your budget and what you want to photograph, but I highly recommend the 35mm f/1.8 prime lens. You can find it used for even less than the price listed ($200) as well. The lens is really sharp and decent for landscape and portraits. You can set your 18-55mm to the 35mm focal length to see what it looks like.

If you want a higher focal length than your 18-55mm, look at the 55-200mm lens. It is a kit lens sometimes bundled with the 18-55mm. There's also a 70-300mm if you want the extra 100mm range. These are usually best for something you need to zoom in on, like sports and wildlife.

If you want something super wide, I recommend either a Tokina 11-20mm or the Tokina 11-16mm. The 11-20mm is the sharpest and fastest autofocus of the two, but it is slightly more expensive. They are both good lenses. These are great for astrophotography, landscapes, and indoor architecture shots.

Here is an example picture of what different focal lengths look like. I hope this was helpful! If you have any more questions or want me to clarify something, let me know.

Shooting indoors is tricky. You want as big of an aperture as possible. Your 18-55mm lens has a max aperture of f3.5 when you're at 18mm and a max aperture of f5.6 when you're at 55mm. This is fairly limiting, so you'll need to use a high ISO which will make your images noisy.

Besides the challenging light, the other challenge is how far away from the action you may be. If you're in the audience you will want as much zoom as possible.

If you're in the audience, the best lens would be something with around 200mm or more of maximum zoom. An affordable option is the 55-200mm f4-5.6. You will still have to use a fairly high ISO, but you'll have enough zoom to get in close from the audience.

Lenses with similar zoom but a large aperture start getting much more expensive, and usually come in "full frame" format for covering a bigger sensor, like the 70-200mm f2.8 for almost $3,000. It would have amazing image quality, and you wouldn't need nearly as high of ISO, but the price is prohibitive.

If you can get close to the action, then you might be able to get away with the lens you already have, or something with bigger aperture like a 50mm f1.8. The large aperture would let you get really nice shots with low ISO, but it has no zoom at all so you'd be stuck at 50mm the whole time.

In terms of settings, you can probably just use Auto-No-Flash mode, or Aperture priority set to the largest aperture your lens will allow (the smallest f number). Auto ISO in either of these modes will raise the ISO until your shutter speed is adequate.

When I shoot I don't use auto ISO. I use Aperture priority so that I can control the aperture, and would set it to the smallest f number, or largest aperture for indoors shooting. Then I would raise my ISO manually until the shutter speed is fast enough for the focal length I'm using, and fast enough to capture the action. If I was at 200mm then I would try to have a shutter speed of 1/200th of a second or faster, since when you're zoomed in more little shakes or movements are more likely to cause blur. If I was at 55mm I would only need a shutter speed of 1/55th of a second or faster.

If the subject is moving around a lot, you might need an even faster shutter speed, and might need to raise the ISO even more to avoid blurry subjects.

Hope this helps!

Hi all,


 

I am researching getting a new camera and I have never had a DSLR camera before. I want to buy something nice, but not something so entry level that I'd need to go out and buy a new one again in a couple of years. This is definitely something I will keep for a while.


 

Option 1: Nikon D3300
-https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-1532-18-55mm-3-5-5-6G-Focus-S/dp/B00HQ4W1QE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1485311699&sr=8-3&keywords=d3300
-$450 on amazon with a 18-55mm lens and accessories

 

Option 2: Nikon D5500
-https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Camera-3-2-Inch-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B013RFPOEG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1485312117&sr=8-4&keywords=d5500
-$600 on Amazon (REFURBISHED) with a 18-55mm lens

 

I would also consider getting a 55-200mm lens for either option for an additional $150:https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-55-200MM-Vibration-Reduction-Cameras/dp/B00RUBK53Y/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1485312649&sr=8-10&keywords=nikon+lens


 

Current thoughts
--The 3300 seems to be very highly reviewed as an entry level DSLR
--The 5500 seems to be a couple of steps ahead and may be worth it to me to spend a little extra for something that will last longer and produce higher quality photos. Does anyone have experience between these two, is the upgrade worth it?
--I care more about the photo quality than touchscreens or wireless connectivity
--Any thoughts on the 55-200 lens?
--I will also search ebay for deals

this one?

https://www.amazon.ca/NIKON-AF-S-NIKKOR-55-200mm-4-5-6G/dp/B00RUBK53Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492709594&sr=8-1&keywords=nikon+55-200

honestly it's because I was looking at lenses under 200CAD but this is definitely in my price range. Any reason this is better over the ones I had originally linked? I'm a lense noob so feel free to enlighten me.

I currently have the two kit lenses, 18-55 and 70-300. I also have a Helios 44m-4 and a 55-200. I wouldn't call my collection impressive by any means lol

I used to shoot on a d5200.

Tbh, not having vr on a 300mm is going to make it incredibly difficult to get handheld shots. Basically the only way to reduce camera shake will be to get a tripod and remote shutter.

I wouldn't recommend it.

What I WOULD recommend is just buying the body, and getting the Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G. That'll be your go to landscape lens. Maybe a titch long considering the crop factor but that lens is the best you can get for the price. Then pick up a used 70-200 vr like this guy.

That kit might be a bit more than your budget rn but it'll improve your photography by a mile. The kit 18-55mm isn't a great lens, and while it's great for learning I wouldn't recommend it long term.

I just upgraded to an a7ii. I'm looking to possibly sell my d5200 kit with the kit lens, that zoom, and the 35mm. If you're interested you can hit me up and maybe we can make a deal, no pressure though. Just figured I'd mention it.