Nikon D5300

J

Jomarc

New member
Afternoon joined today as I have taken up photography again after 30 years, things have definitely changed since the old 35mm film roll days. I bought my Nikon D5300 & Nikon 18-55MM F/3.5-5.6 G VR as refurbished kit along with a Nikon 55-300MM F/4.5-5.6 G ED AF-S and a Tamron 18-200MM F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC ( purely on cost)

I'm into wildlife and landscapes and of course family portraits. Along with the lenses I already have what other lenses do you think I may need.

I'm taking photography up again as I'm due to retire soon and thought it would get me out and about.


I've added just 2 snaps I took on a mobile phone just to give you some sort of results in looking for
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Needa

Needa

Senior Member
Challenge Team
Welcome!

My thought is to just use what you have, then see what is not working and make your decision. Say you find you can't get close enough to wildlife you may want something like a 200-500 or a 150-600. But if you find yourself shooting a lot of low light stuff you might want something like a 24-70 2.8. So see how it goes and enjoy.
Check out our monthly assignment and weekly challenges to get you back in to shooting.
 
BF Hammer

BF Hammer

Senior Member
Welcome! Looking at the samples you want to emulate, I suspect you will be using the Tamron more than the others and living more on the wider end of the zoom range.

An alternative to Needa's suggestion of a 24-70 f/2.8 for low light, I would say you might consider tracking down a Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 Art series. It could be a substitute for the 18-55mm and even wider aperture than a 24-70mm. I used that Sigma Art lens for a few years before upgrading to full-frame and was very impressed. Prime lens performance in a zoom.
 
Clovishound

Clovishound

Senior Member
I'm with Needa, explore what you have now and get a good idea of what direction you want to go in, and what is lacking in your current equipment. Right now you have a good bit of overlap from a standpoint of focal length. I, myself, am not much into portrait, or landscape, but I do a lot of wildlife and macro. Unless you feel the pull of macro, I would leave that for now. A set of inexpensive extension tubes could get you started if that is a direction you want to go into. You can make do with the 55-300 for wildlife. 300mm will be the FF equivalent of 450mm, which is adequate for most wildlife work.

Be careful investing in glass. Between the differences between crop frame, full frame, and mirrorless it's easy to invest in a bunch of glass that becomes obsolete for you, if you change camera body types. The D5300 is an older DSLR that should still give you years of service. Having said that, it's easy to get the itch for the newest, latest gear. The camera world has made the transition to mirrorless, and mirrorless lenses have a different mount, although you can adapt the F mount lenses.
 
Woodyg3

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Of course it depends on what wildlife, but for birds I would recommend something longer than your 55-300mm. Then, of course, it depends on your budget. The Nikon 200-500 is a possible option that won't break the bank. The Nikon 500mm f/5.6 PF is a fantastic lens, but much more money. I had the Tamron 150-600 and found it to be lacking in sharpness, speed, and reliability compared to the Nikon 200-500mm
 
nikonbill

nikonbill

Senior Member
Contributor
Welcome! I'm with the others, use what you have a while, and then see what you may be lacking.

See if you like editing or not, that can be quite the learning curve, (very good free software to try to see if you like editing) the dark room is now digital too.

Finally congratulations on retirement! Today is my one year retired anniversary, you will love it!
 
tonye

tonye

New member
Hi and welcome aboard. Lots of good advice above.The best bit is remember that you are using a crop sensor camera so you just add half of what your lens says, ie 100mm will be 150 and your 300 will be equivalent to 450mm other than that have fun with whatever glass you have before splashing out. I have the D5200, exactly the same as yours without the wifi and gps, not really a problem to me but might be useful to yourself. A great choice of camera to get back into things especially with the flip/rotate rear screen.
Where in the world are you, I'm in Burnley UK and it can gets a bit confusing getting replies at weird times of day from members all over the world. Have fun and if you have any questions just put them out there, someone will have the answer. Look forward to seeing your work. Regards Tony.
 
tonye

tonye

New member
I suppose someone has to live there. Nice neck of the woods when the weather is on your side. Some cracking seascapes over on the east coast. Great to hear from you and have fun.
 
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