The next lens to buy?

[Fstop Manalo]

Hey guys, Im needing some advice. I was thinking of buying a new lens but I cant decide what. Im either thinking of a prime lens or another telephoto which is better than my current telephoto lens. Please give me your comments/suggestions if there is a good lens you can suggest. Thank you!!

[thequacksoflife]

can I ask a few questions?

what camera and lenses do you currently own? What is your budget? and what are you intending to use it for?

[Manfred M]

Hey guys, Im needing some advice. I was thinking of buying a new lens but I cant decide what. Im either thinking of a prime lens or another telephoto which is better than my current telephoto lens. Please give me your comments/suggestions if there is a good lens you can suggest. Thank you!!

Umm. The answer is somewhat dependent on the type of photography you are planning to do and also related to the camera (type (sensor size), brand) you are using (and any potential planned changes, upgrades you are looking at to your camera in the future). A bit more information is required to help answer this question.

[Fstop Manalo]

Oh yeah, i forgot about that, thanks for reminding me, haha. Nikon D5000 i use 18-200mm but im thinking of buying another lens. i dont want anything too expensive, i just want something that has a good focal length and at the same time good in taking portraits or people.i do sports photography. But sometimes my friends always wants me to take their pictures. is that good enough??

[Manfred M]

My wife has the 18-200mm on her D90 and the only time she ever uses anything else is when she does wildlife photography and she has a Sigma 150-500mm for that.

In the meantime, she is shooting away, while I am changing lenses to get the shot I want. You have a pretty reasonable all-purpose lens there. It's a bit shy on the wide-angle side and doesn't have a super long reach at the far end. If you want to take pictures of your friends, it certainly has the range to do that. It's a bit slow, especially at the long end (f/3.5-5.6). You don't have a super narrow depth of field and there's a bit of distortion, but is typical with these lenses with a very long range lens.

A "normal" lens for the APS-C sensor is the 35mm lens, which is f/1.8. It's fairly compact and sharp, with no real distortion. I't a great "walk about" lens.

If you want to get into a serious, fast portrait lens, the least expensive solution would be to go for the new f/1.8 50mm lens, as it will a field of view similar to what a 75mm lens would on a full-frame camera. I find it a bit short for my tastes, but other people like it. Just make sure you are looking at the new model and your camera does not have the built in focus motor the older one needs for autofocus. If you are looking at anything else, you've already got a lot of the focal lengths covered and are getting into the high-end (expensive) pro, full-frame lenses.

Again, you really need to figure out what you plan to shoot because your current lens seems to cover most of your needs already.

[thequacksoflife]

I think Grumpy/Manfred has pretty much got it covered. What you might want to do is set your 18-200 to 35 and 50 and see what our prefer.....

I'd add that the Tamron 60 f2 macro would be a decent portrait lens for a D5100. would be the equivalent of 90mm on a full frame. The Nikon version has a built in AF motor so will work on your camera.

[TheEvilDonut]

A "normal" lens for the APS-C sensor is the 35mm lens, which is f/1.8. It's fairly compact and sharp, with no real distortion. I't a great "walk about" lens.

I could not agree more.

I JUST got this lens and for the price it is nothing short of amazing. The picture quality is just insane and the 1.8 aperture is just so useful I'm at a loss for words.

Like I told my gf this morning, this lens takes such great pictures for the price I paid I almost feel like I stole it.

[MilT0s]

I have the EF 50mm F1.4 which I bought second hand. The 80mm equivalent on my 60D is perfect for portraits. The quality is much better than the much more expensive 24-105 F4L.

And the bokeh!.... Primes rule!

The only problem is that I now really need the 35mm.

[rpcrowe]

Actually, your 18-200mm lens used around 100-150mm should be a very viable portrait lens. I am not an afficianado of extreme shallow DOF in portraiture and quite often shoot my portraits at f/8 or so. My go-to portrait lens is the Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS used on a Canon 7D camera.

Your 18-200mm lens on your 1.5x Nikon will easily cover all the focal lengths I use on my 70-200mm lens. The IQ might not be quite as good and the A/F might not be as fast and accurate as on my lens, but your lens should be just fine for portraiture.

OTOH... If you want another lens, that is just fine and IMO, wanting a lens (if you can afford it) is reason enough to puchase one.

[TheEvilDonut]

wanting a lens (if you can afford it) is reason enough to puchase one.

This would look so good on a t-shirt!

[Brev00]

Sports and portraits? I think the ideal lens would be a 70-200 2.8 zoom but that is pricey and heavy. For these two purposes, I use a Tamron 70-300 vc. It is @ $400. Mine copes well with soccer and indoor ice skating action. It also has a fast and precise autofocus. Whereas the 18-200 is well regarded as a do-it-all lens, many say it gets less sharp toward the long end. The Tamron would pick up nicely at that point since I find my copy does very well at the long end. It also has a pleasing bokeh which means that the backgrounds for portraits and sports are nicely blurred. I use it a lot for flower closeups, too. Anything longer is going to start getting pretty expensive. Good luck!

[TheEvilDonut]

Sports and portraits? I think the ideal lens would be a 70-200 2.8 zoom but that is pricey and heavy. For these two purposes, I use a Tamron 70-300 vc. It is @ $400.

Great advice!

I almost purchased this one myself but opted at the last minute for the Nikon 55-300mm. It as a little less expansive and thus allowed me to treat myself to a second lens, namely the 35mm f/1.8.

[TheEvilDonut]

Double post edited out. Sorry.