Drab said:
Can this be the default answer to all such threads?

+1

That would bring the topic to, "this is my issue, shooting x. Will <insert lens> work effectively in this situation with <insert body>?". Then people who have used that body/lens combo could speak directly to what they are trying to do.

spraynpray said:
The < insert zoom lens OP currently has > is all you need until you know what dings your bell then you will not need advice, you'll know what to get.

Can this be the default answer to all such threads?

spraynpray said:
The 18-105VR is all you need until you know what dings your bell then you will not need advice, you'll know what to get.

That is what I was going to say (well, I would have used different words, but...)

Someone at work asked me what other lenses she should get for her C@n0n. I asked her what her current lens was limiting her from doing. She said nothing that she knew of, so my comment was that she didn't need another lens.

I have always found that my next purchases are always based on a limit I have hit when trying to shoot something that I like to shoot. I have two sons, one is a percussionist and the other is in ballet. Both require me to shoot in venues that are poorly lit for the amount of motion going on. They also tend to be a fair distance away from where I can shoot from and neither are where I can use a flash. That led to faster lenses (f/2.8) and a faster body. The distance issue has led to the a long zoom and a mid-range zoom for smaller venues. Each selected to overcome physical issues that I was up against.

Until/unless you find that there are shots that you can't get with your current lens, it becomes rather pointless to get another lens. Until you know and understand the requirements of the shot and the limits of your gear, it is pretty much speculation on what to get next.

There, the long winded version of spraynpray's answer

spraynpray said:
The 18-105VR is all you need until you know what dings your bell then you will not need advice, you'll know what to get.

well said

The 18-105VR is all you need until you know what dings your bell then you will not need advice, you'll know what to get.

Its hard to know what exactly I like, since i have only had a chance to play with the one lens. I am still all over the place with photos. Right now my main goal is to find a new lens to have fun with and expand my photography skills/capabilities and try new things.

I ordered some extensions tubes so that should take care of the macro urges.
here are some of my experimental shots so far http://www.flickr.com/photos/devenpics

mrdeven said:
For a second lens (to a 18-105) Would you recommend going with a 35mm or a wider lens like a 12-20mm ish

You have 35mm covered, just slowly (When I say slowly I mean your 18-105 has a small physical aperture at 35mm, meaning not as much light gets in necessitating longer exposures).

Do you like the 35mm focal length? Do you want to shoot more at 35mm but with faster shutter speeds? Only you can know.

You have 18mm covered as well. Do you like playing with those wider angles? Would you like to go even wider?

For a second lens (to a 18-105) Would you recommend going with a 35mm or a wider lens like a 12-20mm ish

My first shot.

Got another tip from Jonny, if display? on the LCD, then press ? for assistance... thanks buddy... hi..hi... simple but never though of that.

Ask away, Napala. No one is going to make fun of you.

napala turki said:
Hi thanks Jonnyapple... for warmed welcome.

The question might be dumm, I'm a slow learner, still lots more to explore on this new toy. Slowly builtup knowledge using the user manual, will get help if I'm stuck.

Regards.

If you ever see a question mark flashing, just hit the question mark button on the camera, usually it'll try to help you out with whatever problems you are having at that point.

Hi thanks Jonnyapple... for warmed welcome.

The question might be dumm, I'm a slow learner, still lots more to explore on this new toy. Slowly builtup knowledge using the user manual, will get help if I'm stuck.

Regards.

angellisa,

The 35mm f1.8 lens will provide you with the ability to take available light pictures that the lens which came with the camera will struggle with. (It is capable of taking pictures in low light, but because of the speed of the lens you will be at a very slow shutter speed and will have trouble with people moving and being blurred...using a flash helps if that is allowed though.

You may find yourself wanting to get the 55-200mm lens also at some point (I have one and find it to be a very good lens for the price). Like the others, I very strongly recommend the VR (Image Stabilization) version. It is light, fairly compact and easy to carry in a small bag along with your other things. You will not regret getting the 35mm f1.8. It will be useful in many circumstances. Read the manual on how to set the ISO speeds on your camera if you intend to do available light photography in low light situations such as clubs, meetings or whatever. Having your camera set to one of the higher speed settings makes a huge difference in what you are able to do.

Enjoy your new camera!

I'd second the 35/1.8. It's small, light, sharp, focuses quickly and closely. It will also give you the opportunity to work with available light and shallow depth of field.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pictureted/4174032269/meta/in/set-72157622886711048

Welcome to the forum, Napala. Ask whatever you want here and enjoy that new camera.

Hello there, Im newbie in DSLR, just bought D3000 with lens 18/270 VR, still in exploring the buttons, I'm much fimilar with Canon AE Auto previously...

Still learning the correct way of managing this DSLR..

Will need assist later...

Warmest Regards.
Napala Turki

I would get the 35mm f/1.8. It has fast focus and solidly constructed. My 55-200mm is ok but I am finding it has a tough time focusing in low light. I had a hard time focusing outside in cloudy weather during the Chinatown Chinese New Year Parade. :-(

angellisa you seam new in photography so you really need to explore and find for your self what is your thing.
You now have 18-55 and this little lens will give you very good images all the way from fairly wide up to portrait. 35 F/1.8 will give you a bit better images, but it seams to me that for you the ability to explore and play with photography is much more important.
You say you arte interested in close ups and outdoor so 55-200 VR will give you that and you could learn something about telephoto lenses and that is important.
Also, if your budget permits, you could get an older Sigma 10-20.
That set will give you everything you need to learn, and that is probably the most important thing for you at this stage.

Mostly, choice of lens depends on what sort of photography you want to do.

If you really just want to learn photography, then you can't go wrong with the 35mm 1.8 dx for $200. Photography has a lot of ins and outs. The best way to learn it is to take one thing at a time. The 35mm just works, and gets out of the way as soon as you slap it on your camera. Its sharper than every one of Nikon's kit zooms. It's low 1.8 aperture will allow you to experiment with bokeh, and depth of field. Its tiny, just like the dD3000. Together, they are only a little larger than the point and shoot super zooms (a rediculous class of camera, but I digress). I also like the focal length, because it closely approximates the way everything looks to my eyes.

Eventually, you will also want a little bit of telephoto. For that I would recomend the 55-200.

Until you can figure out how to use these lenses, you won't get any mileage out of the higher end stuff.

AaronFoto said:
Why buy twice? I think it's sound advice to tell someone getting into photography to just get the good version of a lens up front because they'll be mad at themselves for going cheap the first time. Since multiple people were recommending recommending the Nikon 105 it sounded like this lens may be in the budget. But as you can see, my true recommendation was for a large aperture 35 or 50. Great choice Angellisa!

It is a good point, about buying twice, and I would agree in cases where either the costs of the lenses are more similar, or the person knows exactly what they want to do. The thing is, here you are comparing losing about $250 for a lens one would probably still use occasionally, even with a 2.8 zoom (light, easy to carry, etc.) vs. spending $1000 on a lens with no experience with that sort of weight and focal length and DoF. Still, you are right, I should have been less... aggressive with my response, and you were right to bring up the possibility of getting one.

Also, you are definitely correct in that everyone should have a nice big aperture prime in their kit.

ShadeofBlue said:
I really doubt that someone who is just starting to use DSLRs is going to want to buy a massive 80-200 f/2.8 (which is much more expensive than a 55-200, and the AF-s version doesn't sell new anymore). I think it's much better to take things one step at a time. The 55-200 is cheap enough that it's no problem to replace down the road, if you eventually decide you want to use big, heavy professional equipment :).

Why buy twice? I think it's sound advice to tell someone getting into photography to just get the good version of a lens up front because they'll be mad at themselves for going cheap the first time. Since multiple people were recommending recommending the Nikon 105 it sounded like this lens may be in the budget. But as you can see, my true recommendation was for a large aperture 35 or 50. Great choice Angellisa!

I'll bet you'll love it, angellisa. It takes beautiful pictures and you'll be amazed at how much light you can get through it if you've only used the kit lens. I think that's a good choice.
edit: here's a discussion we had about it http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=1146

Hi again everyone, after some thought, I think I am going to go ahead and buy this one next:

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-35mm-AF-S-Digital-Cameras/dp/B001S2PPT0

It seems fairly cheap, and definitely something that I'd get a lot of use out. I really thank you all for the suggestions! feel free to post any other advice/suggestions on here though! :)

angellisa - it's not silly to buy more than one lens, even when some of the lenses have similar fields of view, and especially when You buying zoom and prime. 35/1.8 will give You a lot of freedom (it's small and light on one hand, but very fast on the other) while zoom is more dark, although more universal.