Lens help

Caitlyn598

I currently have the D3200 model with an 18-55mm lens and a 55-200mm lens that I bought in a bundle. I very much enjoy both of them, however working as a journalist it is very hard for me during events to change lenses; sometimes I'm far away and need pictures up close and other times I'm too close. If i'm using the 55-200mm lens I need to back up but I cant, so I'm looking at buying a lens for my camera. I would love to have the 18-300mm because even at times the 200mm isn't close enough. So my question is how much does one run for my model and could you please attach a link for the specific lens because I'm not for sure which one is correct. Thank you so very much.

bruto

One of the most reputable vendors is B&H, and their prices will be about the lowest legitimate prices you'll see, along with Adorama and a few others. When shopping for this or other lenses, make sure the vendor you're looking at tells you whether it's a US or "gray market" version. Both can be sold legally, but Nikon USA will never service a gray market lens, in or out of warranty. If it breaks, you must find someone other than Nikon to fix it, and they're getting fussier about supplying parts to third party repairers too. The US warrantied version of this lens runs about $1000. It's pretty big and heavy too, so if I were you I'd try to handle one before diving in. The D3200 is a pretty small camera, and you might not like the way it handles.

Of course what you like will depend a lot on how you do things, and what you can carry, as well as what you can afford. If you already have an 18-55mm and a 55-200mm, remember that you could buy a second camera body for much less than the cost of this lens, and if carrying two bodies is not too difficult, you get an advantage over the super zoom, which even when it's a good one involves some optical compromises.

It generally seems to get pretty good reviews for performance, though, and there's no disputing that it covers just about all the range you're likely to need.

(see here)

bruto

By the way, if you are really determined to get this lens, and don't mind used, KEH.com has excellent used examples of this one for $730 and up. KEH is very reputable, and their grading is conservative. Unless it's specified in the listing, you probably will not get caps, hoods, cases, etc. with a used lens, but if they list it as excellent, it will be, and you'll probably never notice the difference from new. They have a warranty too. They also sell new, but their new prices are generally a little bit higher than B&H and Adorama. They ship promptly, but B&H is the champion of prompt shipping. I think they have their own UPS depot.

(see here)

Caitlyn598

I ended up getting this one because my boss purchased it. I'm used to my lens auto focusing, so I've never used one where you have to manual your focus like this one in the link below.
(see here)

Do you have any information I need to know, like if it's different when using a manual focus lens, and any settings I have to use?

Caitlyn598

What is the VR setting they refer to in the ratings and reviews tab on the bottom?

Caitlyn598

"First of all it does not have VR and won't auto focus on D3100." What is VR and does that mean it would auto focus on mine?

bruto

VR is vibration reduction. On a VR lens it is possible to hand hold at slower shutter speeds. That is very handy for longer lenses. The original VR was good for about 3 stops, later ones closer to 4.

The lens in question is good and sharp, and will meter correctly with your camera, but, as noted, it will not autofocus because the D3200 has no built in auto focus motor, and autofocuses only with lenses which have their own motors built in (AFS lenses). It also has no vibration reduction. On the plus side, it's lighter and smaller than many other lenses, including the 55-300 DX, and of course it's about $800 cheaper than the 18-300mm!

This particular lens is usable on both DX and FX (full frame) cameras, and supersedes an earlier D lens which had an aperture ring. As it happens, I have one of those, which my wife bought many years ago for her F100, and which I have used on my F4 after she upgraded. It's a decent lens, nice and sharp, and it stays reasonably sharp all the way to 300mm, but it's happier on a tripod or hand held on a big heavy machine like the F4. I've used it on the D3200, and it does a creditable job, but I sprung for the 55-300mm, in order to have the auto focus and VR for traveling.

Your challenge here will mainly be to get good sharp focus manually, and to keep your shutter speed high enough to avoid camera blur. You'll likely need to keep the shutter speed up close to 1/500 when shooting at the longest zoom length to avoid camera shake.

Depending on how reliably you can shoot this thing at 300mm, you may find that you're as well off using the 55-200mm and cropping. The D3200's dense sensor gives you a good bit of leeway for cropping, so you'll have to do some experimenting here. If the 200mm gets sharper focus and has VR, it might have an edge cropped to the equivalent of 300mm.

The tradeoff is variable and depends on many circumstances. In the days of film it used to be a general rule that you'd do better with a longer lens than with a crop, even if the longer lens was less sharp. Now, it's not always the case, but you'll only know for sure after you've used the lens for a while.

If you're not used to manual focusing, it can take some practice to get good at it. In the viewfinder window, at the left, is a little dot that will illuminate when the chosen focus point (the one that is lit in the viewfinder, usually the center) is in focus. It doesn't tell you which way to go, though. If you go to the SETUP menu, you will find an option labeled "Rangefinder". If you enable that, then the bar at the bottom of the viewfinder, which usually is the exposure meter, will function instead as a rangefinder, which hits the central zero mark when the chosen focus point is in focus. This is a very big help for manual focus lenses that support it (which this one will). The rangefinder functions in most modes, but will not appear in M (manual) mode, where the bar displayed will always be the exposure meter.

Make sure you know which focus point is being used. On the D3200 it's easy to move the point off center by accident. Use the [OK] button to recenter it. The focus aids for manual focus always use the chosen focus point.