New lens

ajsaunders

Hey guys I want to buy a new lens and take some shots at animals and long distances things. Obviously a zoom lens is what I need but can I have some advice on what is the bet lens for this please.

bruto

Possibilities are nearly endless here, but it depends partly on budget. In the Nikon category, one might consider one of the new 70-300 P lenses. There's one for DX that is said to be pretty good, and it's compatible with the D3300 if the firmware is updated (not at all with D3200 and below). I think they come both with and without Vibration Reduction (VR). I would look only at the VR version.

There's a 55-300 DX lens that's decent, for a list of $400, often discounted. I have this one, and it's pretty good for wildlife, though its relatively slow aperture and slow AF make it less so for sports. It's reasonably sharp, and the VR is good.

If you don't need the full 300 mm. range, there are some very good bargains in 55-200.

The 55-200 or 300 lenses make a nice complement to the 18-55 kit lens.

Third parties make a bunch, and there are of course some faster and more expensive ones from both Nikon and others. Although more reach is always nice with wild life, 300 gets you pretty far, so I'd not look too hard above that unless you're ready to spend some serious coin for longer reach. I do, for example, have the Nikon 200-500/5.6 zoom which is grand, and a bargain for its type at $1400, but hardly what you'd call cheap. Sigma and Tamron make some super zooms too, but even the least expensive are pretty high up there.

When shopping for a lens, if you buy used or third party, make sure the AF is compatible with a D3300. It must have a motor of its own, and older AF and AFD lenses from Nikon, and some other Mfr's AFs that require an in-camera focus motor will not work fully. In Nikon gear you want AFS, or the new AF-P.

ajsaunders

Thankyou so much for that. That is amazing info and will help me so much in buying my next zoom lens. Much appreciated