New walking around lens

TKC_D500

Senior Member
Well, Nikon have told me that my non functioning 18-200 would cost more to repair than it is worth by a pretty good amount, so... time to look at replacements. Right now the Sigma 17-50mm has my attention. Looks like it would be a good everyday lens on my D500. Any other suggestions?


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nikonpup

Senior Member
​Is Nikon going to return the lens? Did they say what is wrong with the lens? If you like the lens replace with a used one.
 
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TKC_D500

Senior Member
A little background info. It will focus Most of the time but if af drives it to infinity or minimum focus it sticks. I can Usually put it in manual and focus it somewhere in the middle and it will work until the next time it goes to either extreme.



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SteveH

Senior Member
My Sigma 24-105 f4 is my favourite lens, it is so versatile, sharp and in the grand scheme of lenses not so expensive.
 

Needa

Senior Member
Challenge Team
I have more picture shot on a 24-120 f4 than any other lens. I would find the 70 a bit short for a walk around. YMMV
 

nikonpup

Senior Member
My local camera store where I purchased it years ago, sent it to Morton Grove, Illinois.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/QUOTI HAVE SENT A COUPLE OF LENS TO THE CALIF. SVC CENTER THE PRICE TO REPAIR WAS ABOUT THE SAME AS A USED OR REFURBISHED LENS. I LIKE MY 24-120 F4 LENS FOR WALK AROUND.
 

nickt

Senior Member
I have the Sigma 17-50 on my d7200. I love it. My previous walk around was the 18-140. I don't miss the extra zoom. I thought surely I would miss the zoom but taking a few steps closer is almost always possible in my situations. The 17-50 is at a great price right now. When I say walk around, I'm talking people, scenery, houses, exhibits, etc. Not a wildlife walk, I definitely want more zoom for that, but my 18-140 didn't fit that need either.
 

Prefrosh01

Senior Member
I have the Nikon 16-80 F2.8-F4 on my D7100 and it's a fantastic lens...highly recommend it, especially if you can find a used one from a D500 kit.
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
Lots of good lenses to choose from. Having had a 18-200 will you be satisfied with a 17-50 focal length range? If so, add the Tamron 17-50 into your considerations. I have it and love it. Very sharp, fast, and inexpensive.
 

Ad B

Senior Member
Hi,

Did you also considder the Nikon 18-140mm F/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR lens?
A bit less wide angle, but a lot more tele in comparison with the 16-80 lens.
Picture quality? See for yourself:
https://www.the-digital-picture.com...meraComp=614&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=4&APIComp=4
Both very nice lenses.
It would cost me some sleepless night before I could make a decision, if I had to make one.
I never had one of them. I never had a aps-c camera from Nikon, just full frame (first D750, now D850).
 

spb_stan

Senior Member
What do you shoot when walking around?
Before deciding on a range, it is nice to analyze the focal lengths used in the past. There is usually a strong pattern repeated in scanning all your photo EXIF files to get a graph of the frequency of use of all the focal lengths. I would be surprised if you did not have a couple of focal lengths that are favorite points and fields of view you prefer but never realized how few you use.
Here is a focal length analyzer program that is the best price, free
https://www.vandel.nl/exposureplot.html

When searching for that information 10 years ago when I first switched from Canon film to Digital with my new D90 I found I shot most at 105mm, 60mm and 20mm using my kit 18-105. The first new lens I got was 50mm, then 70-200 2.8 and later with a 17-55 2.8. I hardly used the 17-55, still have it by added a Sigma 10-20. Then I found that the majority of shots after that was 125-200If you have a few specific lengths to cover and want a lot better image quality, you might want to get a few low cost f/1.8 G primes particularly if you shoot people or portraits. The 35mm 1.8G is a very good lens very good lens for low light from people architecture and f/1.8 85mm for portraits and as a short fast telephoto. Both are small and offer a much wider aperture than any zoom for $300 and $450 respectively. The improvement in sharpness and low light capability will surprise you. The zooms are usually pretty marginal in performance but if you are staying with Dx, consider a used 17-55 2.8. It is a very high-quality lens and can be found for about $550 and being a pro-Dx lens it will last forever.
 

Blade Canyon

Senior Member
Here is a focal length analyzer program that is the best price, free
https://www.vandel.nl/exposureplot.html

Wow, that made my day. I just installed it and ran it on my work PC (which has a lot of my personal photos stored). I notice I tend to shoot at the extreme ends of zooms, both the low end and the high end. You can see in the photo that 70mm (from both the 24-70 and the 70-200) is very popular, plus the 28 and 300 choices from my 28-300. Obviously I use 5.6-8 f-stops the most.

ExpGraph.jpg
 

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TKC_D500

Senior Member
I did consider focal lengths, and most of the exif data from my 18-200 folder indicated that I generally shoot between 35mm and 50mm with more of the rest being below 35 than above 50. A lot of what I have looked at are really great lenses, but college tuition for the daughter is eating into my camera funds so I am a bit budget limited.


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spb_stan

Senior Member
A nice thing about shooting DX is that with a lot of people moving to Fx, there are some real bargains to be had in used lenses. Used lenses usually are a better investment than a used camera body because you are likely to keep lenses longer than a body. Your D500, however, is in no need up upgrading for a very long time.
Your original thought of getting the narrower range zoom might be the best bet for your style of shooting.For that 35-50 range. I would look around for a used 35mm or 50mm 1.8G. They both have really good performance. The 50mm is a full frame lens which means on a Dx sensor the image circle that hits the sensor will be sharper corner to corner. Consider the Tamron also, after having a few Sigma's and getting a 15-30 2.8 Tamron 2 weeks ago I have to admit the build quality and performance of the Tamron is pretty darned impressive with image excellent stabilization, better than VR in any of my Nikkor lenses.
 

RickMac906

Senior Member
I have the new Tamron 18-400 for sale which is a great all around lens and is only 6 months old if you are interested? Send me a message for more detail.
 

Groundhog34

Senior Member
It seems that with most electrical/computer items these days repair cost are close to replacement cost. Also as previously stated with many persons moving from DX to FX there are bargains to be found in used lens. I have had good luck on ebay.
 
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