Recommend a budget travel lens for me?

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Relex

New member
I've been a long time reader but a first time poster. I got a nikon d3100 a little over a year ago, so far I have the 18-55 kit lens and a nikon 35mm prime lens.

I have a trip planned for the outer banks next month and within a few months a trip to nyc. I'm looking for a budget walk around lens and I'm looking got something around $200. I was looking around on amazon and came across the Tamron 18-200... Would something like that be better than the kit lens or would I just be throwing money away? If I do get something else I would be looking to replace my kit lens with it so I'd probably end up selling the kit lens.
 
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nickt

Senior Member
I don't know the Tamron lens. I'm thinking it does not have VR (Off-hand, I think is the Tamron designation is VC) You might miss that feature.

I found a refurb Nikon 18-105 to be a good value upgrade from the 18-55. It is a very sharp lens. Maybe someone with first hand knowledge can compare to the Tamron. My gut would nudge me to the Nikon 18-105 with VR and good sharpness.
 
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weebee

Senior Member
I have the Tamron 18-200 lenses. It does not have VC on it. But I get great results with it shooting free hand. Though I almost always have my mono-pod with me anyways. This is pretty much my daily walk about lenses.
 
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skene

Senior Member
If you already have the 18-55... maybe just look into the 55-200 or a 70-300 to fill your gap. However for traveling the 18-55 would probably be best suited when doing city walks to light landscape photography.
This however is based on what I shoot... YMMV.
 
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Relex

New member
Thanks for the replies. I was checking around on ebay and I've been finding the 55-200 lens refurbished for $100 which isn't bad at all. I'm probably going to go that route since looking at the current going prices of the 18-55 it's not worth getting rid of especially for all the more I use my camera.
 
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nickt

Senior Member
Just make sure you can live with 55 at the low end if you make the 55-200 your 'walking around' lens. Yes, you have the 18-55 and if you are on a mission to take pictures, you will carry both and swap lenses as needed. But the reality is if you are just casually walking around site-seeing, shopping, etc, you aren't going to change lenses. You are going to make do with whichever lens happens to be on the camera. Been there-done that. I did exactly the same. Got a d3100 with 18-55 then added the 55-200. I ended up keeping mostly the 18-55 on the camera. When I did want zoom, usually for an animal, 200mm wasn't enough. Eventually I ended up with an 18-105 that lives on the camera and a 70-300. They are my two most used lenses.
I'm not trying to talk you out of it, for the money its an inexpensive option. I'm just saying how it worked out for me as the 55-200 sits in the closet. On the plus side, its a nice light lens and feels good on the d3100. That's why I didn't sell it.
 
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skene

Senior Member
nickt said:
I'm just saying how it worked out for me as the 55-200 sits in the closet.
Click to expand...

Pretty much the same with my 55-200 and 70-300 they both sit on the shelves and I hardly ever find a time when I need to grab either of those lenses.

My usual go to lenses are the 18-55,35 f1.8g, 50 f1.8d, 85 3.5g and 70-210 f4.
 
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