Hello all, I am going to purchase a D50 body and am looking for a lense to go with it. I have narrowed it down to two choices, the Nikkor AF-S 18-70 f3.5-4.5 or the Tamron SP AF 28-75 f2.8. I currently have a Nikkor 28-80 which came with my N65 and a Nikkor 80-300 (or something like that) both in the f4 to 4.5 and up speed. I am usually photographing land scapes and am getting the digital set up to take on a trip with me to the Carribbean. Of those lenses, which is the better bang for the buck or is there a better lense out there in that price range I should be considering?

Thanks

Joe

I've got the Sigma 28-70 F2.8 lens, and I'm deeply in love with it. I use it for about 80% of my shots. I had the 18-70 f3.5-4.6 lens and I liked it until my camera did a nose dive when someone knocked my tripod over and the repair cost is to high, so its just sitting around. Sometimes though I wish I would have a wider lens when I do some landscapes. Enjoy the D50!

If you're used to the 28-80 range on a film camera, then I'd go for the 18-70. Nikon digital SLR's have a smaller sensor than a frame of film, and the 28 won't seem so wide anymore - multiply the focal length by 1.5 to get an idea of the coverage. The 18-70 is a step up from the D50 kit lens and I've heard it's very good, but haven't used it myself. I know that Tamron 28-75 is excellent, but again it's not very wide on a DSLR.

Hello all, I am going to purchase a D50 body and am looking for a lense to go with it. I have narrowed it down to two choices, the Nikkor AF-S 18-70 f3.5-4.5 or the Tamron SP AF 28-75 f2.8. I currently have a Nikkor 28-80 which came with my N65 and a Nikkor 80-300 (or something like that) both in the f4 to 4.5 and up speed. I am usually photographing land scapes and am getting the digital set up to take on a trip with me to the Carribbean. Of those lenses, which is the better bang for the buck or is there a better lense out there in that price range I should be considering?

Thanks

Joe

I've used the 18-70 a lot and I can't think of anything to criticise. Performance is persistently good at all apertures and focal lengths. This lens is the equivalent of a 28-105mm in 24x36 film terms - the most useful range of focal lengths.

If you take the 28-75 f2.8 you've got a better maximum aperture - but this is less important in digital where you can adjust the ISO. However you've lost the wide-angle setting - the 28mm is the equivalent of a 42mm in film terms - pretty poor for landscapes.

Personally I'm looking at the new 18-200 VR. One lens to do everything from 28-300mm (equivalent), stabiliser to reduce the need to carry around a tripod.. Of course I'm not expecting it to be perfect in all circumstances, but for lightweight holidays it would be great.

Charles