Recommendation For D40

[Mitch45]

Can anyone recommend a lens thats very fast and has a wide range say 24-400 is there a lens out there that would work with my d40?

[deckcadet]

I'm afraid there's no one lens with that range, fast or slow, available from any brand right now. If there was, it would undoubtedly cost several thousand dollars and using it with a D40 would be...well... unusual.

The closest you'll come would probably be the Nikon 18-200mm VR, which isn't extremely fast, but has an equivalent range of 28-300mm on film. It has some compromises, but given the range it's a fantastic lens and while it's expensive for most beginners, it isn't expensive compared to what it used to cost to get that range.

Canon, for example, had the lens closest to what you're asking for, again, not very fast, a 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6, which replaced a 35-350mm. Neither of these lenses is known for being truly excellent, both are slow, and the 28-300 sells for over $2000.

Tamron has a 28-300mm with VC (their version of VR) coming out with a built in motor for the D40, but it will probably be around $600 (like its already released Canon mount version) and it is slow- f/3.5-6.3.

They also have released an 18-250mm with built in motor, again slow at f/3.5-6.3, and optical quality will probably not be exceptional. It lacks VR but it's cheaper at about $480.
Hope this helps

[Mitch45]

ok well what is a fast lens that has long range is the biggest 200mm?

[deckcadet]

If you give us your budget we'll be a lot more able to suggest options. Also, how fast do you really want?

[Mitch45]

as dast as there is and under 1200

[Mitch45]

as fast sorry

[deckcadet]

For that price range you will need to buy third party lenses, and if you want reasonable speed, you need to go for a two lens setup. I would suggest either the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II with built in motor or the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM for the wide lens, and either the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM or the recently announced but not yet shipping Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD with built in motor for your longer lens. This should come in around your budget and if you want you can add a teleconverter like the Kenko Pro 300 DG 1.4x down the line for about $200.