re: Need Nikon Camera Lens Recs

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