Nikon DSLR Lens advice...

Question

I have decided to buy a Nikon D40 and also buy a new lens to go with it. I have been looking at 3 lenses.

1. Nikon 16-85mm VR

2. Sigma 18-125mm OS HSM

3. Sigma 18-200 OS

I would buy the nikon lens in New York to save some money. My budget is about £280.

My main worrys with the Sigma 18-200mm are:

1. Would AF work on the D40?

2.The size of the lens compared to the tiny camera body. Would it fit comfortably without looking completly OTT.

Any help or advice especially from someone who owns something of a similar setup would be good.

Answer 1

The main reason to buy a Nikon (or Canon) lens is that the optics are simply better than the competition off brands like Sigma and Tamron. This is also why they are typically more expensive. Is the difference significant enough to justify the difference in cost? Sometimes. It depends on how skilled you are as a photographer and how discerning you are over your photos. I would suggest comparing photos taken with each lens. If you cant tell the difference then by all means go with the cheaper lens because you need to develop your skill as a photographer.

You should also consider that each of the lenses you mention do have some overlap in range but each is also more or less useful and appropriate depending on what you are trying to photograph. A good photographer always uses the correct lens for the job based on too many factors to list here.

Answer 2

I can't answer about the AF as I don't know.

As far as it looking funny goes, don't worry about that. There are plenty of lenses out there that are huge. Haven't you ever seen a photographer at a sports match?

What I'd be concerned with about the 18-200 is the extended zoom range. This lens has a zoom range of about 10x. *Generally* lenses with zooms of more than 5x have to make compromises in image quality in order to accommodate all that zoom. This may not be the case with this particular lens but it would be something to look for when reading reviews of it.

Answer 3

I also rarely buy 3rd party lenses as the quality on the name brand lens is normally better. Some high end 3rd party lenses are an exception to that. Now as to if it will autofocus, for sigma the lens would have to have the letters HSM in the description. This is thier version of a silent wave motor ( but some say its not as smooth of fast ) If it does not have those letter it will not auto focus. If you are buying Nikon lenses make sure the are AFs. if you want autofocus.

Beleive it or not though its not the end of the world to focus manually. As I keep saying on here there are situations when it is preferable and I spent the first 30 years I took pictures focusing manually all the time.

I keep an 18-200VR or 24-120 VR on the D40 I have and its not too large for the camera so I don't think you would have an issue with either of these