http://www.nikonchat.com/af-s-nikkor-18-200mm-vr/
DSLR LENS…help to pick the right one!?
Hello! So, I have the money to get a new lens for my Nikon D60 but I am overwhelmed with all the options. What I need really is zoom…but I want a lens that I can use in low light and outdoors…pretty much a jack-of-all-trades but not outrageously expensive. The lens I am thinking about (linked below) is $759 and I don’t know how much more I could spend on a lens. SO any advice, thoughts, rants, would be appreciated AND do you think a refurbished lens from Amazon would be a good buy?
Right now I have the kit lens: AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-18-55mm-3-5-5-6G-AF-S-Nikkor/dp/B000ZMCILW
and the one I am thinking about is this: 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens
http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-18-200mm-3-5-5-6-ED-IF-Zoom-Nikkor/dp/B000BY52NU
Thank you so much!
As you probably already know, a slow zoom lens, either your 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 or the 18-200mm f3.5-5.6, isn’t the best choice for low-light photography. Since a visual aid is always useful, go to this site which I use and recommend for low-light/night exposures:
http://www.calculator.org/exposure.aspx Now choose the Scene ‘Domestic interiors at night, subject lit by campfire or bonfire’ and choose ISO 400. Now look at the list of f-stop/shutter speed combinations.
ISO 400
f1.4 @ 1/60 sec.
f2.0 @ 1/30 sec.
f2.8 @ 1/15 sec.
f3.5 @ ~ 1/11 sec. The 18-55mm or 18-200mm wide open at 18mm
f4.0 @ 1/8 sec.
f5.6 @ 1/4 sec. The 18-55mm or 18-200mm wide open at 55mm or 200mm
While the two zooms are fine for general outdoor photography or when you’re using a flash (preferably an external one like the nikon sb-600 AF), from looking at the above chart they will require a very high ISO to get to the same shutter speed as a lens with a maximum aperture of f1.4. In fact, you’ll need ISO 3200 to get a slightly faster shutter speed at f3.5 (~ 1/80 sec.) than the f1.4 lens allows at ISO 400. At ISO 3200 f5.6 will allow a 1/30 sec. shutter speed and will need ISO 6400 to get to 1/60 sec. – the same shutter speed of the f1.4 lens at ISO 400.
So buy the 18-200mm for outdoors and use with a flash unit and buy the Nikon AF-S 50mm f1.4 for your low-light photography.
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