What lenses would you recommend that cost $200 or less?

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Bill16

Senior Member
Hey everybody! After being here a while I've been seeing some of you that are in a similar condition to mine! I just don't have the money to buy the newer lenses!
Well I started this thread to help us find out about lenses we have a chance of getting on a tight budget!
I'll start it off by recommending the 105mm, 135mm, and the 200mm prime lenses listed in my signature! They all cost less than $200 and work really well! The 105mm is my favorite and spends the most time on my D3100, and I would recommend it the most!

What lenses would you recommend for us poor folk, or those here who are on a tight budget? :frog:
 
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Bill16

Senior Member
This is just a recommendation thread for lenses you like that cost $200.00 or less. So members can come looking here for cheap lenses that others members would recommend. The cost must be $200 or less per lens and work on DSLRs. :) I'm not paricularly asking for lenses for myself. So any lens you think is a good to great lens $200 or cheaper can be recommended here. :D
 
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Michael J.

Michael J.

Senior Member
Bill16 said:
What lenses would you recommend for us poor folk, or those here who are on a tight budget? :frog:
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I recommend use the kit lens until the money is on the acount to buy a good lens you are really want. Don't make the comprokmise as same as me in my beginning and buy cos you want buy it. After a while maybe you would a better lens, cos of your experience, but the budget is gone cos of impatient to wait.



I don't think this answer is right here but it was my first thought when I read this thread.
 
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Bill16

Senior Member
That recommendation can often be right my friend. But some people may not be able to to buy more than one good new model lens after saving for a long time. So buying a lens or two that are still good to cover some of the types of shots they want to get, may be a good alternative to going without. I've been pretty happy with my 105mm and hardly use my kit lens, and now while I save I'm still able to have some lenses to choose from. For me to save to get a great new lens may take me 6 months minimum and up to a couple years depending on the price. I'm saving for the D600 and that will take at least a couple years unless I find some quicker way to come up with the money for it. And then I can start saving for a great lens once I decide what lens I want the most.
Until then I have a few good lenses to use that covers a pretty good range while I wait. :)
siamthai1 said:
I recommend use the kit lens until the money is on the acount to buy a good lens you are really want. Don't make the comprokmise as same as me in my beginning and buy cos you want buy it. After a while maybe you would a better lens, cos of your experience, but the budget is gone cos of impatient to wait.



I don't think this answer is right here but it was my first thought when I read this thread.
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mikew_RIP

Senior Member
The reason i recommend a 55-300 if some one is looking for a longer than the standard zoom is because it covers most longer focal lengths,second hand it wont break the bank and after using it long enough to find what focal lengths are used the most it will still have a resale value.
The problem i have with recommending fixed focal length lenses is if the person asking is on a very tight budget, buys a 135mm as good as it is they cant experience the other options,then there next purchase would be just as much of a gamble.

mike
 
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nzswift

Senior Member
Being an old film guy I had a number of manual focus prime lenses. They were metal construction and the full helicoil gave a special focus feel to them that is difficult to put into words but it is just a pleasurable tactile experience. Unfortunately the focal lengths are all screwed up by the DX format. The price of Nikon FX camera bodies prevented me joining the digital revolution until the D600 came along. Just love using my old manual focus lenses on it. Some like the 28mm/f2.8 have the almost the same optical formula as the D and G lenses. That would be one I'd recommend but on a DX body it is a 42mm lens and not a wide angle at all!!! Unfortunately there are no reasonably priced AI/S lenses that will be wide angle on a DX body
 
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Mike150

Senior Member
I'm not going to recommend anything, but I have rented a lens I was interested in, only to discover I didn't like it. I've also rented lenses that I will buy as soon as I get the funds
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Ijustwant1

Ijustwant1

Senior Member
gqtuazon said:
This is ironic since I've been stressed out on which lens to get rid off due to lack of use.
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Hi Glenn I have seen your photos and they are very good ! But you don't seem to use the Nikon 105mm f2.8 VRI, Micro very much, and I think I could put it to good use, nudge nude wink wink ;-) send it my way ! But never get ride of the 50mm 1.8G because she is just so sweet :-D thank you in advance for the 105mm ;-) cheers Greg :cool:
 
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Just-Clayton

Senior Member
I have only bought 2 cheap lenses on ebay. The first one was a Nikon 35-70/3.3-4.5 for $38. Not to impressed, does fine with flash. I don't use it very much. The other lens I got was a Quantaray 70-300 for $46. This lens does OK for me. I use it for portrait w/flash and on bright days for candid shots. Goes soft in low light situations.
 
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gqtuazon

Gear Head
Ijustwant1 said:
Hi Glenn I have seen your photos and they are very good ! But you don't seem to use the Nikon 105mm f2.8 VRI, Micro very much, and I think I could put it to good use, nudge nude wink wink ;-) send it my way ! But never get ride of the 50mm 1.8G because she is just so sweet :-D thank you in advance for the 105mm ;-) cheers Greg :cool:
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The Nikon 105mm f2.8 VR gets used when I don't have any other subjects to shoot. So, I normally use it for macro and flower shots since those are available all year round. A little more convincing on your part might push me over to let it go. ;)

My least used lenses are the wide and long end (Nikon 16-35mm f4 VRII and Nikon 300mm f4 AFS). I don't do a lot of landscape and wildlife photography that much. The mid range lenses gets more use since I do more event photography.
 
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singlerosa_RIP

Senior Member
A long-time favorite of mine (wish I still had it for my D7000) is the 18-70 AF-S DX. It was the kit lens for the D70 and can be purchased for under $200.
 
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Bill16

Senior Member
The 70-300mm listed in my signature works pretty good and I bought it for less than $200, though I have to manually focus it on my D3100. I leave it to the members looking through this thread to decide if one of the lenses recommended here will work for what they need! :)

I hope if this thread helps anyone, they'll post and let us know and what lens or lenses they decided to get! Thank you to all you who have posted a recommendation, I appreciate it! :D
 
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pedroj

Senior Member
My old 28-85mm AF F3.5-4.5 bought a few years back second hand was on the camera most of the time when first acquired...

Almost as sharp as my 28-70mm....
 
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