Almost a newby needing advice from Colorado

advnturer

Senior Member
I am a newby that does not have his camera yet but ready to press the shutter and buy. I have decided on a D3200 and am trying to figure out whether getting a body only with a Tamaron 18-270 DC lens or just get the 18-55 and 55-250 kit would be better. I am leaning toward the the Tamaron since the way I plan to use is on my Colorado nature walking. The idea of not worrying if I have the right lens on is good for me, but I want to make sure I am not cropping my nose in spite of my face on what I expect to be doing.

Over the past year I have done a lot of walking and the only camera I have had was my Glxy Note 3, and I have taken a few picture that came out good and other not so much, so a light weight DSLR is very appealing to me, and for the money, the D3200 with the 18-270 lens looks like it will do the trick.

What advice do some of you guys have on this. I plan to purchase in the next week and advice that would keep me from making a mistake would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Dan
aka - Advnturer

IMGP0208.jpg

Aloft - Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta taken with Glxy Note 3
 

RocketCowboy

Senior Member
Howdy Dan and welcome to Nikonites!

I don't have much experience with Tamron lenses yet, but when I pulled the release on a D5300 a couple months ago I went with the Nikon kit lenses ... 18-55mm and 55-300mm. I've been pretty pleased with those lenses as I'm learning the ropes on the camera, and will look to upgrade lenses as my needs/interests start to cement themselves.

BTW, nice capture of the balloon festival ... that's something I'd like to experience soon myself!
 

Roy1961

Senior Member
Contributor
for ease the 18-270 would be better, no lens changing plus the extra 70 the tamron has over the kit 55-200 nikon will help pull in things, even better as said if you can get the nikon 55-300, but you lose out on the smaller end? decisions decisions.

Hello and welcome
 

Bill16

Senior Member
Welcome from another galaxy note 3 owner to Nikonites! I think you came to the right place! I'm looking forward to seeing your photos after getting your new Nikon! :D
 

Lawrence

Senior Member
Welcome and let us know what you decide.
Personally I would have thought that the 18-270 would be too much variance and therefore reduce IQ but i don't know the lens at all so could be talking for talking's sake. On that basis though I think Fish's suggestion makes sense.
best of luck
 

advnturer

Senior Member
okay, I bit the bullet and ordered my first DSLR camera today. Expect to have it Thursday 7/31 and start learning how to use it.... YouTube here I come. Any other suggestions?

I decided on a D3200. All the reviews I read suggested that the differences between the 3200 and the 3300 were not great enough to worry about and to put the money into the lens. I ordered body only then used the $100 I saved on the body and ordered the Nikon 18-140 VR per Fish's suggestion. I spent last night looking a reviews and blog opinion and for what I am going to be shooting, at least while I am in learning mode, is landscape and wildlife. the 140mm zoom should be enough to get what I want. I have already started a fund for my next lens which will probably be a longer zoom, but won't worry about that until I learn what I am doing and what lens would be best for that that the 18-140 is not giving me.

Now the fun begins.

Dan
aka: Advnturer
 

Elliot87

Senior Member
Congratulations and let us know how you get on with the 18-140VR. I'm also just starting out with a D3200 and I've found it to be a fantastic camera.

If anyone on here owns or has experience of the Tamron 18-270mm, I'd be very interested to hear what they make of it? From what I've read it does have quite a bit of barrel distortion at the wide end but other than that reviews seem positive, with things like chromatic aberration being minimal. Matt Granger "that Nikon guy" seems to rate it highly as a good travel lens but I'm not sure how highly rated he is.
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
If I was to start out today with lenses and knowing what I know (which ain't that much BTW) I would start out with the AF-S 18-140mm and the AF-S 70-300mm VR lenses. Then I would add the Tokina 11-16mm after I figured out that I needed something wider.
 
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