I have done a lot of shopping around and know that this is an awesome deal but one of the things I can't decide on is if I should stick with the Nikon - 55-200mm Vibration Reduction Zoom Lens for Nikon DX SLR Cameras lens that comes with the deal or if I should see if I can upgrade to the Nikon - 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Telephoto Lens instead. I love nature photography (bugs, flowers and so on...). Budget may be an issue so I am not sure if I will be able to swing the upgrade but is that lens good for my shots or is it really more aimed at sports, etc? What do you think?
See if you can upgrade the lens, if you can afford too. I'd love to get a lens with 300 mm capability. Do you have any nikon lenses already? 200 mm is nice and I have an old 200 mm but I'd love a 300 mm for moon shots, or birds etc etc.... Looks like a good deal!
Well I can tell you from experience that neither of these lenses are aimed at sports. The aperture is too small and the autofocus is way too slow.
I have used both of these lenses when I was at UNC Wilmington in their Photography Club. They let us use these lenses for weekend projects. They are pretty decent for shooting flowers and butterflies, but you won't be shooting high-flying birds or far-off locations. These lenses just aren't sharp enough to capture really great detail.
I would say stick with the cheaper of the two lenses and save your money. You'll still get great shots with in the 55-200mm range, which when you consider the D5000 sensor has a 1.5x crop factor that means your 55-200mm lens is actually a 110-300mm lens.
Just for comparison, I took the photo below at the Cherry Point Airshow last year. I used the Nikon 300mm f/2.8 lens to capture this photo. Even if you had the 70-300mm lens, you would not have been able to capture a photo this sharp or fast enough.
I bought that lens for the nature shots, as well as sports, and I really like it! My Manfrotto tripod will be arriving today, but I've mostly been using it handheld and it's been really good up to about 200-250mm. I'm thinking that between the VR and a good solid tripod I'll be getting that last bit of reach nice and sharp as well! Check out my February 16th moon shot which was done at 300mm with a decent tripod.
I have the 70-300mm, and it is NOT too slow with autofocus for daytime sports. I shot auto racing and drifting with it, which is well, fast. Now, the f4-5.6 DOES suck for indoor sports, so that's why I have a 80-200mm f/2.8 for indoor/night events and weddings. The 70-300mm focuses a lot faster than the 80-200mm actually... and it's an incredibly sharp lens. When I was in school for photography I did a lot of my film work with that lens, and I enlarged stuff larger than nearly anybody ever would, and it was tack sharp. If I can get racing images published in magazines taken with a 70-300mm, it can't be that bad of a lens unless you're a gear whore ;)
@lislee75 I am shooting with a Nikon P90 so this will be my first DSLR. The P90 has been a fantastic camera but I am ready for more control over my shots. Even switching to manual I am still relying on the autofocus and I miss shots because it does not want to cooperate. I am giddy about the idea of being able to manually focus my lens! =D
@jasonbarnette Thanks for the info! I think I am going to go to Best Buy and see if they will let me try each of the lenses. What better way to know then to play with them (even if only in store). =D
@hmgphotos Thanks for the feedback! I am not a gear whore but I am trying to limit the amount of extra gear I am getting so if it ends up that I am really going to want the 300 anyway, I would rather get it right off the top and bypass having the 200 sitting and collecting dust so to speak. I want more control over the photos I am taking and am not worried about how much gear I can buy and have to try and haul around with me. I know the kit lenses is great for landscapes so I am really focusing in on the "zoom" for flowers and insects and so on. If you browse my albums you get a pretty good feel for what I like to photograph. =D
I don't have the 55-200 but I do have the 70-300 VR land I honestly love this lens and I use it a lot. I'm a complete amateur/hobbyist when it comes to photography but I've been extremely happy with the results I get with this lens other than sometimes it's just not quite long enough....of course I'd rather have a 200-400 but that's not happening unitil I win the lottery! :)
I was able to get the package yesterday! Woohoo!!! Unfortunately, I was not able to get the 300mm lens but I know I can upgrade to it in the future. Better to stay within the budget. =D I got to take my first couple of shots last night and it felt so good to be able to control the shot properly!
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I have used both of these lenses when I was at UNC Wilmington in their Photography Club. They let us use these lenses for weekend projects. They are pretty decent for shooting flowers and butterflies, but you won't be shooting high-flying birds or far-off locations. These lenses just aren't sharp enough to capture really great detail.
I would say stick with the cheaper of the two lenses and save your money. You'll still get great shots with in the 55-200mm range, which when you consider the D5000 sensor has a 1.5x crop factor that means your 55-200mm lens is actually a 110-300mm lens.
Just for comparison, I took the photo below at the Cherry Point Airshow last year. I used the Nikon 300mm f/2.8 lens to capture this photo. Even if you had the 70-300mm lens, you would not have been able to capture a photo this sharp or fast enough.
I was able to get the package yesterday! Woohoo!!! Unfortunately, I was not able to get the 300mm lens but I know I can upgrade to it in the future. Better to stay within the budget. =D I got to take my first couple of shots last night and it felt so good to be able to control the shot properly!