What are some good lenses to get for my D40?

Question

I was thinking of 12-24mm for landscapes, and 70-200mm for general things that i cant get close enough to with the 18-55mm. Any other ideas?

Thanks very much

Answer 1

I use the Sigma 10-20 on a D200,it's range and quality are superb and compare well with the Nikon lenses at a good price.At the long end I use a Nikon 70-300.My Basic lens is the 18-200 which stays on the body most of the time.For specialist copying work I use the Sigma 50mm macro,which,although slower to focus on auto, does mostly Art works, jewelry and geological specimens,I rarely use my extension tubes with this.An old Tamron 90mm macro is still a good portrait lens,for studio work.

Answer 2

The 12-24mm and 70-200mm will serve you well. I think you are on the right track  As fhotoace pointed out there are many lenses that will autofocus and many more that will meter and work great if you maually focus them. Third party makers also make lenses that will work both autofocus and manual focus with your camera but I feel the nikon lenses are the way to go for quality.

Answer 3

I will go with the Sigma 70-300. I have one.

As for landscapes, do you have a tripod ??

Mount your camera on your tripod, and put in into the 'portrait' position, adjust the zoom you want on your 18-55 lens, and do a series of pics panning round, then stitch them together. Its fun, and saves you a h**l of a lot of money, and you get good results, if not better, than a 12-24.

Have a look at http://www.redbubble.com/ to get some ideas.

Message me if you join, its free, and I will send you a link to my profile on there.  

Answer 4

try the sigma 70~300mm with macro facility.

at under£150 new it is a good all purpose lens.

hope this helps

Answer 5

Only AF-S lenses will autofocus on the D40. Sigma has HSM lenses that should also work, but that's about it. The options are limited, and fairly pricey for the most part. The cheapest Nikon lenses besides the kit lens you can get are the Nikon 18-70, 18-135, and 55-200. After those, they go up drastically in price to ~$800 for the 18-200, $1000 and up for the likes of the 12-24 DX, 17-55 DX, 28-70, 80-200 AF-S, 300/4 AF-S, and the 70-200 VR.

Most of the Sigma lenses with HSM are telephotos and macros, excluding the 10-20 and 30/1.4.

I'm assuming if you bought Nikon's entry level camera you are not looking for $1200-dollar lenses.

Sigma, Tamron and others make a gazillion lenses for the Nikon mount, and they are relatively inexpensive.

I have a Pentax but use a Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 ($379) and Sigma 70-300mm APO ($219) as well as a Pentax 10-17mm ($319 with rebate). The APO version of the 70-300 has pretty good reviews for a "budget" lens.

The (possible) drawback is they do not have the Nikon VR image stabilization that Nikon (and Canon) puts into the lens, not the body.

If you really want AF, the Nikon 18-70 and 55-200 would cover most of the shots without too much overlap

Answer 6

Perfect ... the 12-24 mm is an amazing lens ... as is the 70-200 mm.

For now, you can buy a "close-up" lens kit that has  +1,+2 and +3 diopters that will allow you to use your 18-55 mm as a macro lens ... later you may want to buy a 60 mm or 105 mm Nikon macro lens

At this time there are "only" 29 current Nikon lenses that will work with your camera ... many more good used AF-I and AF-S are available too,