Lens for D7000

[Washington]

Hello there,

I have decided to buy a Nikon D7000. Now a really need help to decide which lens to buy. I like to take pictures of landscape as well as small things such as insects, flowers, fungi, so on and so forth. Besides, My wife needs to take pictures of jewelries (this is the main reason why we are buying this camera). Anyway, at the store, this camera can be sold with lens in a better deal. I do not think my budget can go over $500 for a lens.

Any good suggestion?

Thank you.

[Dave Humphries]

Hello there,

I have decided to buy a Nikon D7000. Now a really need help to decide which lens to buy. I like to take pictures of landscape as well as small things such as insects, flowers, fungi, so on and so forth. Besides, My wife needs to take pictures of jewelries (this is the main reason why we are buying this camera). Anyway, at the store, this camera can be sold with lens in a better deal. I do not think my budget can go over $500 for a lens.

Any good suggestion?

Thank you.

Hi Washington,

Welcome to the CiC forums from me, great to have another (potential) Nikon shooter

Your question is 'better asked' than the average for this kind of query from new members and it covers most things we usually have to ask follow up questions about

However, there is one bit of information missing, it helps us if you edit your profile and provide a Location, usually so we know whether to discuss budgets in dollars, pounds, euros. Fortunately you have said dollars, so I guess you're in the US (could be Australia, NZ, etc.), but which state/city?

Anyway, to the question: That's going to be a tough call on that budget, photography isn't cheap, especially if you start with quite an advanced DSLR body for a first model, which seems to be around $1350, then have just $550 left for lenses and I use plural because ideally you'll need more than one.

UPDATE Mike said what I was going to say next

Cheers,

[Dizzy]

Hi Washington,

If you are wondering which of the kit lenses to buy with the camera body, I would suggest
buying the package with the 18-105mm. For a kit lens it is quite good, and although you will
have a bit of vertical distortion at 18mm, I have found it to be a good all around lens. If
funds are tight, and you need to take those "close-up" shots of the jewelry, you might consider
adding some extension rings to get macro performance without adding an additional lens.

Mike

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Hello there,

I have decided to buy a Nikon D7000. Now a really need help to decide which lens to buy. I like to take pictures of landscape as well as small things such as insects, flowers, fungi, so on and so forth. Besides, My wife needs to take pictures of jewelries (this is the main reason why we are buying this camera). Anyway, at the store, this camera can be sold with lens in a better deal. I do not think my budget can go over $500 for a lens.

Any good suggestion?

Thank you.

I purchased a Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM Lens rather than taking the kit lens which should be sub-$500 (picked mine up for $370 AU). It's a reasonably good all rounder, although whether it's wide enough for your landscape shots will depend on your location. You may struggle to find anything wider with macro capability.

The macro is 1:2.7 so it's not a true macro but it's reasonably capable. Here's an example pic of a bug to demonstrate what it can do from a macro perspective.



Another option for you to consider in any case. Hope this helps!

[Washington]

Thank you,

I believe I will start with it.