D7000 question.

[Marcel]

First of all, thank you all for your warm welcome and replies. I feel like I started "which lens is best?" thread, and sorry about that. Prior to my actual purchase, I'm still doing researches and reading lots of reviews, and how-to-guide on D7000.

I will be making my final decision soon but ran into 1 question. What's your take on 70-300 vs 55-300? Amazon is having special sale so at the end, D7000 with 70-300 or D7000 with 55-300 is same price till end of July. I'm leaning toward D7000 Kit since, less need for lens change required but how's indoor shot quality with Kit lens and under low light condition?

I will be going on Alaska cruise in Aug and European cruise in Nov, so I think zoom lens will come in handy.

Here is my take,

For indoor, low light, only a 2.8 zoom can do anything good. Yes, you can use the others with VR, but only to take pictures of "non moving objects". If you want to take pictures of people, you'll need an external flash and, since light decreases very fast with distance, long zooms are not that great indoor.

As far as quality, I don't know what the difference is between the 55-300 and the 70-300 (only the 70-300 will cover FX full frame though), but I would suspect the quality to be about equivalent. So, for practical use if you want to invest wisely, I'd say take the one that is the least expensive and get a good external flash with the difference. But do get the basic lens 18-105 or 18-55 to start with.

 

[bluenoser]

I will be making my final decision soon but ran into 1 question. What's your take on 70-300 vs 55-300? Amazon is having special sale so at the end, D7000 with 70-300 or D7000 with 55-300 is same price till end of July. I'm leaning toward D7000 Kit since, less need for lens change required but how's indoor shot quality with Kit lens and under low light condition? I will be going on Alaska cruise in Aug and European cruise in Nov, so I think zoom lens will come in handy.

I have not used the 55-300 but I have owned the Nikon 70-300VR for quite some time now. Based on everything I've *read* and *seen* about the 55-300 - there doesn't seem to be much doubt that the 70-300VR is the better of the 2 lenses in many ways (it's FX compatible, better build quality and slightly better image quality). Frankly I think the choice is very easy if the decision is just between those 2 lenses - get the Nikon 70-300VR. If you want a 70-300 option, you can also look at the also excellent Tamron 70-300VC - some swear that the Tamron is better/sharper than the Nikon. I'm not sure but owners of this lens rave about it like I've rarely seen with 3rd party lenses.

Are you referring to the 18-105 or 18-55 when you ask about low-light performance? If so then neither lens will blow you away. While they are excellent lenses for the price - they are slow lenses too. Yes VR will help to some degree (i.e. will compensate for operator movement) there is no substitute for speed. VR will not help you freeze a moving subject but a speedy lens will allow for the faster shutter speeds required to do that. If you are using the kit lens in low light, you would be well advised to get an external flash unit to throw more light around and help you bump up your shutter speed.

*one final thought on the 18-105 or 18-55: If you do end up getting the Nikon 70-300VR, the filter size of that lens is 67mm - the same size as the 18-105! The filter size of the 55-300 is 58mm and the 18-55 has a filter size of 52mm. My point is that you will be able to buy the same sized filters and swap them between the 18-105 and 70-300 - a nice advantage.

A couple of my 70-300VR shots:

D40 + 70-300VR


and a squirrel shot (inspired by Curt! ) D7000 + 70-300VR

 

[TieuNgao]

Based on the list prices and reviews (Thom Hogan and Lenstip.com) I say that 70-300 is better lense than 55-300.
With the powerful built-in flash of D7000 and good quality of high ISO I wouldn't worry about indoor photography. In fact I've taken a lot of indoor party pictures and they turned out great. No problem with exposure at all, unless you don't want to use the flash then you may need a tripod and perhaps change the WB.
Which kit lense to go with 70-300mm? I'd rather have a bit of overlap than a gap in the focal range.

 

[fotojack]

There's a rumour goin' around that Curt loves the 70-300mm lens!

Well, I love my 55-300VR lens. I tried the 70-300VR, and while it's a great lens, I couldn't justify the price, so I had to go the cheaper route. I get great shots with the 55-300, so I can't complain. Besides, it compliments my 18-55VR lens. Matter of fact, I just shot an outdoor wedding in the Rockies using the 18-55VR almost exclusively!. Pictures turned out great.

 

[Curt]

Jack, I see you put 70-30mm...lol. there was my chance to edit your post...lol.
And yes Jack, I do love my 70-300mm lens .

 

[fotojack]

Jack, I see you put 70-30mm...lol. there was my chance to edit your post...lol.
And yes Jack, I do love my 70-300mm lens .

ooops! My bad. lol At least you're paying attention, Curt. Good catch, bud.

 

[Curt]

Well Jack most of the time I don't notice,but I saw my name with it and noticed it. But I am one of those guys that types faster then I think...lol.

 

[TeddyBear]

After all your help, I've decided on D7000 Kit + 70-300. According to bluenoser, I guess I need to purchase filter? Can someone recommend me descent filter for above lens? Thank you all for your help. You guys ROCK!

 

[Eye-level]

Apparently another one of the D7000's virtues is that you can matrix meter with just about any old school AIS Nikkor...that makes it one very very powerful machine in my books!!!

 

[bluenoser]

After all your help, I've decided on D7000 Kit + 70-300. According to bluenoser, I guess I need to purchase filter? Can someone recommend me descent filter for above lens? Thank you all for your help. You guys ROCK!

No problem, happy to help.

Didn't mean to give you the impression that you *had* to get a filter - it's certainly not mandatory. In fact there are some users that are dead set against using filters - especially on lower end lenses. My point was that if you were so inclined to get filters, the 70-300 and 18-105 lenses shared the same filter size, which makes things more convenient for filter users. The most common filters to use are the UV filter (commonly used for lens protection and minor haze reduction) and a CP (Circular Polarizer - commonly used for added colour richness and glare reduction) filter. Do a bit of research on each and see if they are for you.

 

[ohkphoto]

The best thing to do is give them all a test drive and see which you prefer.

ABSOLUTELY the best advice, Curt!

 

[FarOut]

The D7000 w/ 18-105 is my first dslr and I have had no problems with it, I got mine from bestbuy with there black tie protection which will repair any issues and on the 4th repair it's replaced. I love the camera its quite nice especially with the vertical grip (I got a Chinese version of the grip)

 

[Curt]

Apparently another one of the D7000's virtues is that you can matrix meter with just about any old school AIS Nikkor...that makes it one very very powerful machine in my books!!!

Yes I use some of my old lenses on my D7000, it a great camera body.
I have had my D7000 for half a year and it has given me no problems at all.
Great choice in a camera.

 

[OverTemp]

Hi... I'm new.

I bought a D7000 yesterday. Bought it with a 18-200mm VR and a 35mm f1.8. So far I LOVE the camera. I'm fairly tech savvy, but don't find it difficult to use at all. I bought it locally and the guy at the store is a nikon freak and excited to answer question.

Just recovering the light feeling my wallet has now!!!!

Tis is my first pic with it!!! Indoors, no flash, at dusk (and Popsicle face!). The one below is a small iPad shrunk version. The big one looks great!!! The point is I could take it out of the box and use it!!!