Which lens to buy?

Busymomof3

Hi all, I have the D3200 and the 2 lenses that came with the package at time of purchase 18-55 mm and 55-200 mm. I was going to buy some of Moose’s cheat sheets and it says buy 2 get 1 free. I am still new to this and honestly don’t understand the difference in lenses yet so what should be my next lense purchase and thus subsequent free 3rd cheat sheet?

I have 3 kids, we like to travel and I like taking pictures of pretty much everything. Including xmas lights, Christmas trees, moons, etc. but I’ve never been able to figure out how to get any of that right with a standard camera. This is my first fancy camera.

Plus Pinterest is wonderful (terrible) with providing me with lots of cute pictures kids/babies that I want to duplicate and hope to figure out.

My daughters first birthday is on Thanksgiving so I’m also trying to learn as much as I can so I can get awesome pictures of that too.

Thanks for any insight!!

Carrie

bruto

Since you have the basic range pretty well covered, I'd vote for a good normal focal length prime lens. The 35mm 1.8 DX is a great bargain for all around use and low light, nice and sharp. If you find yourself currently leaning more toward the long end of your 18-55 zoom, the 35/1.8 (typo - I meant the 50/1.8) is another bargain, with a somewhat narrower view, especially nice for portraits.

There are, of course, plenty of other lenses that are nice, especially if you're in the mood to drop a lot of money, but I think one of those two would be the best next step. A normal focal length 35 on that body will provide nice sharp well rendered images, and it's not that uncommon for a photographer to find that normal perspective so appealing that it becomes the "go-to" lens much of the time. If your other lenses disappeared and you were left with nothing in your bag but a good 35, you'd still be well equipped. In terms of "bang for buck" it's hard to beat.

Busymomof3

Thank you! I will look into those.

bruto

By the way, I made a typo in the above, but figure if I just repair it without explanation it might go unnoticed. I meant to say that as an alternative to the 35/1.8 you look at the 50/1.8! The 50 is also a good bargain. That's normal on full frame, but on a DX it's a very slight telephoto. Good portrait lens, and still quite versatile. But the coverage of the 35 is likely to be more useful, as you can crop if it's too wide, but you can't widen if it's too narrow.

I'll correct the above now, but just wanted to warn of it.