Need Nikon Camera Lens Recs

Do you have Lightroom? Invest a little money in that program and shoot in RAW...

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Looking for something up to 300mm and a lower aperture (f/1.8) with the wide angle lens.

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I don't think both of those things exist in the same zoom lens.

The Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 is a fantastic lens. I have one and highly recommend it. $800 new. If that's too much get the Nikon 35 f/1.8. It's not particularly wide but it's $200 and optically excellent. Plus it's small and light (the 18-35 definitely isn't).

300mm is tougher. The Nikon 70-300VR isn't great at 300mm. The 55-300 is okay. Unfortunately the 300 f/4 won't autofocus on your camera since it requires the camera body to have it built-in. Your best bet is probably Tamron's 70-300 because it's supposed to be better than Nikon's 70-300 from 200 to 300mm (the Nikon one gets soft after 240mm. I had one and it's true).

Whatever you do, stay away from the superzooms that go out to 300mm (Nikon's 18-300 probably being the best of a mediocre lot).

Putting my money where my mouth is, here's what I currently shoot with:

2x Nikon D7000 bodies
Sigma 18-35mm 1.8
Nikkor 50mm 1.4
Nikkor 85mm 1.8

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Sigma 311306 50mm F1.4 DG HSM Art Lens for Nikon Cameras

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LINK

The better half picked this up a while back. Says its a good multi-purpose lens. But, what the frick do I know.

I recently bought my first Nikon(D7100) and had to make decisions that you are having to make. So here is my $0.02.

- Read a whole bunch of reviews from dpreview
- Read a lot of reviews from kenrockwell.com
- Read https://www.cameralabs.com/lenses/lens_buyers_guide/Nikon_Nikkor_lenses/Recommended_Nikkor_Nikon_lenses.shtml
- I watched all the nikon lens related videos from https://www.youtube.com/user/DigitalRevCom

Then I decided to buy the following:

1) 35mm f1.8 G prime - used from Adorama ($145)
2) 50mm f1.8 G prime - new - from some NYC based store through eBay ($165)
3) 18-200 mm 3.5-5.6 G VR used - from eBay ($255). This is the old version. The new version is probably better
4) 16-85 mm 3.5-5.6 G used - from eBay ($300). Probably overpaid around $20.

Initially I was not planning on buying only 1-3 and not buy 4. Went probably overboard with my budget when bought 4. Now, that I look back, for the type of photography that I like, mainly cityscape, landscape etc., I should have just bought 4 at the beginning itself and not 3. Wider ranges for 3) definitely need a tripod. Knowing myself, I would probably use the lighter 16-85 more on my trips.

Given your 300mm requirement, I would look in to the nikon 18-300. I bought everything used (including the camera - refurbished from Adorama). I considered that when I bought the 18-200. If you are not comfortable buying from random people on eBay (I only bought from US only sellers), look in to Adorama, B&H, Cameta Camera, BeachCamera etc. for good deals on used ones. I only bought the filters and a black rapid strap new, from Amazon.

for me, I had the manual lenses, then later got digital
but tired of lugging all the crap around.

settled for one to slip in the pocket 16 or 18mb
steady shot point and shoot, Sony DSC-TX30/D 18 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

takes great shots

best wishes with all that equipment