Lenses

[TinkerBell]

Hey Peeps,

I am now in the market to get a camera, and a new lense. I have opted for the Nikon D60 (Sorry all you Canon fans!!) which will come with the Nikon 18-55mm VR lens. I would also like to have another lens which can be used at race tracks among other things, so I have been thinking about getting the :-
Nikon 55-200mm f4-5.6 G AF-S DX VR IF-ED Lens.

I was sure that I heard somewhere that tamron were a bad brand for lenses, but Paul was saying that he had heard the opposite, bar one lense. So I was wondering whether they are any good, and whether there is a similar lense out there for less than the Nikon. Also I am sure that I have heard that Sigma aren't bad for lenses, so was wondering if anyone here has had good experiences with them?

Any help would be really appreciated :)

[Dee]

www.talkphotography.co.uk

Go here Tink, you'll find what you need :)

[divine]

All my stuff is Nikkor or Sigma. Tamron are ok, they've released a couple of very good lenses recently (albeit ones beyond your price range at the moment I suspect).

Sigma is generally good but they can often have quality control issues that Nikon/Canon dont tend to suffer from so much, leading to some lenses being brilliantly sharp whilst someone else with the same lens being pretty disappointed. Everyone seems to rave about the Sigma 70-300 APO for example (which, afaik, won't autofocus on your D60 so ignore it anyway) but my copy is awfully soft and I barely use it because it's just rubbish.

I've not really looked at telephoto lenses for a while, as I don't really use them much but what you should know when looking for them is with Nikkor always look for AF-S and with Sigma, look for HSM. You'll need these for the lens to autofocus. Pretty much all Nikkor stuff will be AF-S now i expect, Sigma stuff you'll need to keep an eye on.

The link Betty posted will be a good place to ask though.

FredMiranda is also ok for lens reviews, though bear in mind a lot of people there have a tendency to compare a £250 'Consumer' Lens to a £2500 'Professional' Lens and mark it down for not being as good.

[TinkerBell]

Awesome, thanks for the help peeps :)

Will have a look at that forum Dee, I am sure that it will be of use.

Have had a look at a Sigma, and this seems to be the equivalent of the Nikon lense:-

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/product/default.aspx?sku=1019582

Do you agree?

Thanks for letting me know the equivalent meaning for VR on the Sigma lenses, do you also know what would be the equivalent for the tamron lenses?

Kitten, those pictures look awesome :) Maybe I was wrong with my assumption!

[TinkerBell]

Wooo thanks hun :)

I have got the lens now but I have a distinct lack of camera! Although it is on order from warehouse express :) Can't wait!!