With the D40 I’m limited to AF-S lenses if I want to keep autofocus since the D40 doesn’t have a built in autofocus motor.
Basically looking for a lense that can zoom in better than the 18-55 for things like wakeboarding, nature shots etc.
The other option is the 70-300 nikkor but that’s almost twice as much $$$.
This is just a hobby for me and while I like taking pictures at no point will this turn into a career. So top-o-the-line stuff isn’t really needed or in my budget.
Yeah, the 55-200 is really nice. Do you think you’d use the extra range? If so, it’s probably the best bet for you. Otherwise, there are a lot of options if you ditch the 18-55 and want to just go to one “walkaround” lens.
yeah 18-200 lenses get pretty damn expensive tho. It will eventually be something i’ll get because there are just so much easier to deal with when out on a random shoot.
Try Amazon and other online sites, you’ll find lenses for much cheaper.
It’s hard to focus properly when you are trying to get a quick shot of something. The camera does it in a fraction of the time I ever could, and I’ve never had a problem. 95% of the time, I use AF. unless doing real close shots.
Make sure you get the VR if you can afford to, it’ll help with the longer focal lengths and vibration. Unless you use a tripod all the time, or put the camera on something to steady it, you will need VR at 200mm.
You need good eyes and generally some modifications to the camera to make manual focusing efficient. The camera is designed to autofocus, so it works best when it can.
I’ve done a few shots using manual focus, but generally only macro stuff where the AF motor starts to hunt. For what I’d want to use the longer lense on like fast motion wakeboarding/tubing manual would be a real pain. Not to mention it would be friends or my wife shooting me on the board so I need it to work like a point and shoot.
The 55-200 I’m looking at does have VR so that’s a plus.
Anyone have some 200mm dSLR shots they could upload and tell me the approximate range they were shooting from so I could get an idea what kind of zoom 200mm gets me?
I was on the top row of stands on the front straight in Indy, that is pit lane. It’s slightly cropped, but the size is still very similar to the original.
Hard to estimate distance, but at least a couple hundred feet.
Good points. I was just wondering if it would give you a wider variety of lenses to select from w/out the cost going bonkers. Guess it doesn’t really fit the situation.
