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Originally Posted by bjones6416
Blather just a tiny bit more, if you don't mind! My nephew has just bought his first DSLR -- the Nikon 7000. He's pretty excited about it and is trying to learn as much as he can about using it before he does some travelling early next year. He's also looking at buying additional lenses. Do you have any particular words of advice, or caution?  |
Boy ya don't make it easy...first he made a wonderful choice on the body in the D7000. It brings a lot to the table. Now is where is gets complicated. What lenses, if any did he get with it already? Does he have a type of photography which he feels drawn toward?
Nikon's lenses are pretty, no they are the most complicated group of lenses to wade through as there are many different mounts, some old, some new some in-between. I would suggest if he wants something longish make sure to get a lens with VR (vibration reduction -- Nikon's name for image stabilization. Mind that this only refers to adjusting for lens movement during the shot and not movement of the subject, you would be surprised how often people make that mistaken assumption.
). Also I would add that to my knowledge Nikon still does not make any truly weather sealed lenses. Some have a sealing ring where the mount attaches to the body but none of their glass that I am aware of is marketed as weather sealed. But that is OK as not only are their lenses built to very tight tolerances, but also there are work arounds with special covers for the lens and camera body to help protect against the elements.
Next, how advanced is he, how dedicated is he to photography, where is he traveling...there are many factors. But most important is what does he already have. It could be a case where a couple accessories might be better than an extra couple lenses. A good travel oriented tripod and head for the tripod is a great tool if he will be shooting in nature using slow shutter speeds or panoramas. Also with a good tripod he can also make use of a certain type of filter called an ND filter which allows for very long exposures creating some really interesting shots of waterfalls, cloudy sunsets/sunrises or even a crowded public square or street. A filter called a CPL (circular polarizer is another very useful bit for his photo kit) as these can help clear up shots through glass, help get better sky color as well as block certain types of unwanted light reflections or enhance other reflections. But it depends on his interests. If he is just starting, something general purpose with maybe on really nice special lens, maybe not even a lens made by Nikon. I can think of one lens, it's new, it's made by Sigma and nobody makes a lens even close to it and that is the Sigma 8-16mm non-fisheye lens. It is really a super lens and very highly rated so far and not too spendy, about $600 which is still a lot of cash but it is a lens that will let him be really creative and get shots impossible with other lenses. The major thing about it is it is not a fish-eye as all lenses in this range have been fish-eyes and this is just a really wide angle rectilinear lens that has very little distortion even at the 8mm end. You can read about it here:
http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showp...ct/1330/cat/31
Basically the question is not as straight forward a thing as mentioning some good lenses. If he is just starting he does not need the best most expensive glass, he is better off learning technique over spending a lot of cash expecting the lens to make him a better photographer. But a good rule for travel is something wide angle [as i indicated the new Sigma 8-16mm is a very nice and could be a new classic lens which could let him have a lot of fun with his new camera and the camera's excellent performance at high ISO (think low light photography) for indoor shooting or nice landscape shots which are not panos], a nice medium "walk around" zoom lens in the 24-120 range (not those specific numbers but covering that range) and then a nice lower end of the long telephoto range up to around 200-300mm (a good example is something in the 70-200mm type of lense and this should have VR which will make it more expensive lens, figure a minimum of $1200 give or take, maybe more if he wants a faster lens like an f2.8 or even an f4 lens.)
But if you can get more details of what he has, how he is traveling and where he is going people can offer more concise suggestions. Feel free to PM me in case Gary wants to get the thread back on track..or not. hahaha!
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