stick with 18-55mm or upgrade to 18-105mm?

J

jdeg

^ broke something
Staff member
So I'm fishing around for a D7000 at the moment. I'll be selling my trusty D5000.

I'm undecided if I should just sell the D5000 body alone without the 18-55 kit lens it came with and keep it to use on the D7000, or just get a 18-105 with the D7000 and sell the 18-55 with the D5000.

FYI, I already have a 55-300mm, so I'm not worried about the 55-105 range.

What would you do?
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
I'd get the 18-105. I find it more practical when you want to close-in a tad for portraits or kids without getting too close to them.

IQ wise, I would think they'd be about equivalent.
 
AC016

AC016

Senior Member
It's a tough decision that i recently went through and ended up with the 18-105. I really wanted to keep my 18-55 because i have grown with it. But, i think the 18-105 is a better decision for the folowing: good walkabout lens, comes with lens hood and pouch, pretty much the same optically compared to the 18-55. However, for $400, it's a pretty boring lens and for that price, i think Nikon can give us a metal mount!! For crying out loud, the 50mm 1.8D has a metal mount and you can get them for $140 new. Lame
 
C

carguy

Senior Member
AC016 said:
It's a tough decision that i recently went through and ended up with the 18-105. I really wanted to keep my 18-55 because i have grown with it. But, i think the 18-105 is a better decision for the folowing: good walkabout lens, comes with lens hood and pouch, pretty much the same optically compared to the 18-55. However, for $400, it's a pretty boring lens and for that price, i think Nikon can give us a metal mount!! For crying out loud, the 50mm 1.8D has a metal mount and you can get them for $140 new. Lame
Click to expand...
The very reason I went used with mine and saved 1/2 the money :)
 
W

WhiteLight

Senior Member
Depends on what you like to shoot as well.. and what other lenses you have.. or will get
Personally i like my 18-55 and for more reach i use my 70-300..
If it's going to be your only lens, then definitely the 18-105 is a much better option.
Other than that, there isn't much difference in IQ or other factors
 
RockyNH_RIP

RockyNH_RIP

Senior Member
John, like many others, I have gone to the 18-105 for my daily lens and recently sold my 18-55. No regrets and really enjoy the extra range in my everyday lens...

Pat in NH
 
J

jdeg

^ broke something
Staff member
Thanks for the advice everyone.

One thing I didn't consider is the filter size, which would be 67mm on the 18-105. There's at least a couple filters, including a CP filter I wouldn't be able to use anymore.
 
AC016

AC016

Senior Member
Get a 77mm CP filter and buy step up rings for your lenses. More cost efective solution than buyig a CP filter for every size lens.
 
AC016

AC016

Senior Member
Not sure that would help him Jack. That step up ring is for attaching to a 52mm filter sized lens, like the 18-55. If he gets the 18-105, this will not help him in anyway.
 
L

Lee

Senior Member
I like my 18-105 for the range. I felt a bit restricted with the 18-55 and find the optical quality for a 'bugdet lens' on the 18-105 pretty good so if you are upgrading, do it for the range.

Regarding selling your old camera, do a bit of homework before you put it up for sale. Sometimes you get more cash back by selling the body and lens separately. Not always, and it varies depending what you sell and where you list it, but it's worth checking out first.
 
R

Rick M

Senior Member
To be honest John, I would hold onto the 18-55 and save up for a fast standard zoom to compliment the 55-300. The 17-55 2.8 perhaps. If you have little ones or like to take a lot of people shots, it's worth the wait. Having sold a lot of lenses to upgrade, I wish I had just researched and saved for a 2.8. I'm going to go against the grain and say that the 105 is not going to give you much of an upgrade over the 18-55 since you have the 55-300. Wait and upgrade for quality.
 
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T

TedG954

Senior Member
Rick M said:
To be honest John, I would hold onto the 18-55 and save up for a fast standard zoom to compliment the 55-300. The 17-55 2.8 perhaps. If you have little ones or like to take a lot of people shots, it's worth the wait. Having sold a lot of lenses to upgrade, I wish I had just researched and saved for a 2.8. I'm going to go against the grain and say that the 105 is not going to give you much of an upgrade over the 18-55 since you have the 55-300. Wait and upgrade for quality.
Click to expand...

Excellent advice. That's what I was thinking. Great minds.......
 
B

Bukitimah

Senior Member
I was in that situation 2 years back but bought the d300 when d7000 is not not available. I may still end us with d300 though.

The thing I wish to share is, maybe try to keep the d5000 for a while. Switch from 55-300 to 18-105 is not an easy thing when things are moving fast. Have 2 cameras may be an advantage.
 
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