I want a new lens

I have a Nikon D80 w/ a 18-135 & a 70-300. Now I want another lens but not sure what lens would be the next inline to buy. I love close ups but I also want a lens for long shots. I think will be doing more studio week in the future so I think some thing for close shots.

 

Have you thought about a 105mm 2.8? For macro shots they are awesome! I shoot a D70 myself and have used the Tokina 105 on and off from a friend of mine. The glass in the Tokina lense is as good as the Nikon glass and they both shoot pretty equally in my opinion. Tokina is about half the price too!!

 

As tdm156 said the 105mm is a nice portrait lens, the 135mm & 85mm is nice as well as the 50mm, but a little on the close side. Being able to capture the mood is REALLY important and being a little close to the subject will hinder that. Speed isn't that important since added light will be present, so quality glass is truly paramount, and Tokina glass is o.k. but I am a Nikon guy through and through. Your apertures will be small, so as many elements a possible, and look for rounded blades to achieve a crisper shot.

 

I looked and didn't see the Tonkina but is this similar sigma

 

A nifty 50mm lens. Get in in macro. It's fast, small and light for indoor work. Ypu have a 300mm in your zoom, how much longer focal length do you need?

 

I have been looking at that one too! I have used some of the older Sigma lenses and have had great experiences with them. Not a bad choice

 

I love the 300mm f/4 Nikon lens. It's sharp wide open and lets me get very close for a lens this long. I can fill the frame with butterflies and flowers from a comfortable distance. You and couple this with a 1.4x teleconverter to get a 420mm f/5.6 lens. The quality is really good with this combo. You will be much happier with this lens over your existing zoom at the 300mm end. Even with the converter it has superior image quality.

A macro lens is what you want if you want to take extreme close-ups. I have an old dental lens (Lester Dyne 90mm) for the Nikon and it's pretty good. The focal length to get depends on what you will be photographing. In general I like the longer lenses as you can be farther from insects with the same magnification.

Tell us what you type of images you are looking to take, and I can maybe advise you a bit more.

 

agreed! i love my 50mm great for indoor work and portraits

 

can't go wrong with a 50mm just get a good lens with a low 1.4f

 

YES! 50 is an AMAZING lens. dont bother getting the 1.4
get the 1.8 i've been using mine for years! best buy ever
Im about to buy a flash and some pocket wizards and umbrella's on monday. STOKED!

 

Do you think you 70-300 would be good enough for taking surfing pictures? I need a telephoto for surfing shots but don't want to spend a grand or so!

 

I don't know how far out will the surfers be?

 

Like Killer said...depends on the distance of the surfers. You might look at some of the professional shops in your area. Alot of them have lens that you can rent and good deals over the weekend as you usually get Sundays free. Might be a thought...

on the 70-300 at full focal you will need a really steady hand or on at least a mono-pod if not a tripod to get the best results in my opinion. On the west coast where the wind blows alot I always found if I braced myself well or just used the mono pod I had great results.

 

My 70-300 has VR that is awesome at reducing movement.

 

Yeah I wish I had that myself. My dad has a 55-200 VR thats nice for a reasonable priced lens.

 

Ya I would be using a mono pod for sure! I'm on the East Coast and are waves break usually pretty close to shore so I wouldn't need as much zoom as you probably would.