Please do a forum search and read up on the D90 or whatever lens/camera you are considering. Lots of discussions already exist.

Heggl geggl inb4 thread closed. You will be asked to do a forum search by a moderator shortly.

To answer your question, if I had to buy /one/ lens with my D90, I would get a Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 fixed ap. non-VC It's a great 'meat and potatoes' lens, pretty fast, pretty sharp although quite slow AF.

If you can't quite swing it for the price, try looking into a used/refurb body and/or lenses. That will give you a lot more breathing room.

55-200mm VR is a fun lens. VR makes all the difference handheld, though. You really need the VR version to see the lens shine (in my experience). I don't know about getting /just/ that lens though. For being new into photography you might realise that you shoot more on the wide end than the zoom end.

A pretty okay choice for beginners is the 18-55mm VR 3.5-5.6 coupled with the 55-200mm VR 4-5.6 just so you can find out what focal lengths you use without compromising too much on image quality.

I am looking at buying my 1st DSLR and have decided on the Nikon D90. When I was looking at kits I found a couple but am unsure as to which I should buy. I would just be using this camera for landscape and people portraits. The 3 kits are all around the same price (see links below). Ive also thought about just buying the body & picking out a lens for it.

*Links Removed*