A good "vacation" lens

trkramer

New member
I have a D80 and am looking to get a good lens to take down to the beach with me this year. I currently have the Nikon 18-125 "kit" lens but was thinking of going with a fixed lens this year or possible a combination of a few lenses. I primarily take pictures of the kids and am rarely zooming in that much so I was thinking of maybe doing an 50 mm or 85mm as the primary lens and then maybe going with a 105 if I didn't want to get too close. Any thoughts? Thanks!
 

KennethHamlett

New member
What you're suggesting is giving up the flexibility of the zoom lens (especially when shooting kids) for the inflexible characteristics of fixed focal length lenses. A lot of people want to buy additional lenses because for some reason there's a stigma against the standard lens purchased with the camera. When I'm shooting for personal work the standard 18-55mm VR stays on my camera 90% of the time. It's super sharp and covers most everything I want to shoot. For me vacation means traveling light - one lens and a body - the 18-105 fits that bill perfectly.
 

fotojack

Senior Member
'Stigma'.....good choice of words, Kenneth. :) I don't understand it either, as the 18-55mm kit lens will cover almost any vacation situation. It's a great lens.....tack sharp, versatile, lightweight.....what more could you want? For closeups and some portrait work, or macro, I use the 85mm. For general picture taking, I use the 55-200mm zoom lens. My next lens will be the 70-300mm for sports shooting (hockey, motorcycle racing, etc.) and some long range macro work. But for general vacation shooting, the good ol' "kit" lens always does the trick for me.
 

KennethHamlett

New member
'Stigma'.....good choice of words, Kenneth. :) I don't understand it either, as the 18-55mm kit lens will cover almost any vacation situation. It's a great lens.....tack sharp, versatile, lightweight.....what more could you want? For closeups and some portrait work, or macro, I use the 85mm. For general picture taking, I use the 55-200mm zoom lens. My next lens will be the 70-300mm for sports shooting (hockey, motorcycle racing, etc.) and some long range macro work. But for general vacation shooting, the good ol' "kit" lens always does the trick for me.

Thanks Jack. I just don't get it. Hell, I remember when all you got was a 50mm f1.8 lens with your camera AND you made do until you could get something else. One good, tack sharp lens is worth three half-ass lenses anyday!
 

trkramer

New member
Uhm, OK I am feeling like you guys are being a little harsh on my choice of wanting to have a fixed lens. Is there something wrong with wanting to have a fixed? Sure I do like having a range and the 1 lens philosophy but I also want to try new things as well. Perhaps I will hate having multiple fixed lenses and will curse the day I buy one. However, everyone is different and I guess I will just do some more research online for different fixed lenses. I am not saying I want to give up on the "kit" lens...just want to have some different options. My kit lens is the 18-135 and I have never used the 18-55 as suggested. Perhaps I will look into that one or just keep the 18-135 on there. Again...just looking for options and opinions on an actual lens. If you use an 18-55 or an 18-200 or whatever, I would just like to have your opinion on the benefits of that lens. I'm not really looking for criticism on why I am looking outside of the "kit" lens. Thanks!
 

KennethHamlett

New member
Uhm, OK I am feeling like you guys are being a little harsh on my choice of wanting to have a fixed lens. Is there something wrong with wanting to have a fixed? Sure I do like having a range and the 1 lens philosophy but I also want to try new things as well. Perhaps I will hate having multiple fixed lenses and will curse the day I buy one. However, everyone is different and I guess I will just do some more research online for different fixed lenses. I am not saying I want to give up on the "kit" lens...just want to have some different options. My kit lens is the 18-135 and I have never used the 18-55 as suggested. Perhaps I will look into that one or just keep the 18-135 on there. Again...just looking for options and opinions on an actual lens. If you use an 18-55 or an 18-200 or whatever, I would just like to have your opinion on the benefits of that lens. I'm not really looking for criticism on why I am looking outside of the "kit" lens. Thanks!

Sorry if our comments seemed harsh. We don't want to make anyone feel like they can't openly ask any questions. OK, here are my thoughts. If thinking about purchasing a fixed focus lens I would suggest a 35mm or 50mm for most work. You can get in close to your subjects for a different take on perspective (especially with kids) and you have enough coverage to shoot some landscape shots. For anything longer I would look at the 105 or 135 focal lengths. The 105 is the perfect portrait lens and the 135 works for portraits and most anything else that doesn't require a long telephoto.

I like the 18-55 because I find in my personal work that I shoot a lot of scenes with semi-wide coverage. Plus, it's super sharp and the VR comes in very handy.
 

trkramer

New member
Thanks for the comments. I wasn't trying to be difficult and am really looking for comments from the people out here that have experience. I am realy new to the whole Digital SLR world and want to be better at taking photos...especially on vacation with the kids. I do like my 18-135 but the majority of the time last year I was strictly in the 18-50 range and rarely used the zoom. Seemed kind of pointless for me to have the additional 50-135 range, which is why I wanted to perhaps make a change for this year and see how I like it. Going out to B&H and Amazon is a daunting task when looking at all the different brands they have out there. Other than the Nikon lenses, I have been looking at the Tamron and Sigma lenses (heard good things on both of those). They each seem to have their own flavor of "VR" so I am trying to decide on spending th eextra cash on the Nikon lens or saving a few bucks to go with one of the others.

Thanks again for your post. I find this forum to be helpful and am looking forward to getting more photog education!!
 

KennethHamlett

New member
Tamron and Sigma both make excellent lenses, so don't feel obligated to purchase a Nikon if price is an issue. I own Sigma lenses as well as Nikon and I have always been satisfied with the quality. Maybe consider trading in the 18-135 for an 18-55 VR, especially if you don't use the additional range that often. The other side of the coin is, almost inevitably at some point you'll start to explore more subject matter and may decide that you need the range offered by your existing lens.
 

blueiron

New member
I use fixed lenses for vacations all the time, but I don't photograph people. Landscapes, buildings, points of interest, and scenes are what interest me and a 20mm and a 60mm work for me. If I had a family, a zoom would be more user friendly, but plenty of vacations have been shot with 35 or 50mm lenses.
 

fotojack

Senior Member
I sincerely hope I didn't come off as being harsh. I just wanted to point out the benefits of the 18-55mm lens as a great vacation lens. As Kenneth said, if fixed is the way you want to go, then he's right on the money with the 50mm 1.8 lens. The ones I described are "people" lenses. The ones blueiron uses are "static" lenses, for architecture and landscapes usually. Having said all that, there's nothing wrong with having a good stable of good glass to take the right shot in the right setting. And as I said earlier, my vacation lens is the 18-55. It covers a lot of different situations when you're on vacation. :)
 

Curt

Senior Member
I had a D3000 that had a 18-55, right now I have a D80 and I must say I like the 18 to 135 lens for everyday better, but that is only my choice. I did really like the 18 to 55 and the VR is a very nice feature. But for all around everyday use I really like my 18 to 135. I have a 55 to 200 and with 200 the VR really helps. But I rarely use it for everyday shooting
 

blueiron

New member
Another point is, do you take outdoor photos at the beach, mountains, etc.? Or do you prefer to photograph inside of historic buildings, interiors, or darker areas?

A zoom is fine outdoors, but a simple 50mm f1.8 shines indoors without a flash.
 

Em11y

New member
Tamron and Sigma both make excellent lenses, so don't feel obligated to purchase a Nikon if price is an issue. I own Sigma lenses as well as Nikon and I have always been satisfied with the quality. Maybe consider trading in the 18-135 for an 18-55 VR, especially if you don't use the additional range that often. The other side of the coin is, almost inevitably at some point you'll start to explore more subject matter and may decide that you need the range offered by your existing lens.


good point, for this reason I use a sigma 18-200mm as my "walkabout lens", the problem with Prime lenses (fixed focal length) is that you will need more of them to cover specific focal ranges, and that means changing lenses more often increasing the chances of dust and dirt entering the camera body, not to mention being very expensive :)
 

Curt

Senior Member
I have an 18-135mm. That I was using a lot, but right now I am really enjoying my 50mm. 1.8. It doesn’t work for every shooting situation, but general shooting its great, so much more flexibility in terms of lighting. I guess everyone has their favourite type of lens for the shooting they do.
 

Eduard

Super Mod
Staff member
Super Mod
Vacation lens is a very difficult subject because it depends on the type of vacation and your style. If I'm just out and about with the family during the day, I'll usually throw my 18-200 on. If I think that I'll be able to take more than snapshots, I'll use my 17-55.

We go on a holiday once or twice a year without the kids. On those trips I'll bring a larger selection and pare down to what I need for the day. Normally my kit is a Sigma 10-20 and Nikon 17-55 and 70-300. If it is rainy (last fall in Venice is a great example) or I won't be in a position to change lenses (guided tour), I'll just have the 18-200. When we go out to dinner at night, I'll usually just have the 50/1.4, 35/1.8 and 85/1.8.

Does that help or confuse the situation more?
 

badbadman

New member
For a vacation you could do worse than the 18-200mm.
Wide enough for decent landscape shots and long enough for grabbing the odd candid with everything else covered in between.
 

Snap Happy

Senior Member
I have a D80 and am looking to get a good lens to take down to the beach with me this year. I currently have the Nikon 18-125 "kit" lens but was thinking of going with a fixed lens this year or possible a combination of a few lenses. I primarily take pictures of the kids and am rarely zooming in that much so I was thinking of maybe doing an 50 mm or 85mm as the primary lens and then maybe going with a 105 if I didn't want to get too close. Any thoughts? Thanks!

When you got the glass sorted out, I hope you will be taking the camera to the beach in a weatherproof bag/cover? Salt air, water vapor and sand do not go well with digital equipment, no matter how well it is made.

Just thought you may need to consider this as well.
 

Browncoat

Senior Member
My recommendation would be the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

It retails for just over $100, and is a very popular first lens upgrade for a lot of people. It's small and easy to carry around, making it ideal for travel. In addition, it's great in low light situations and you're bound to run into night scenes during your trip that you want to photograph. 50-85mm is the ideal portrait range, so you're covered there too.
 
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