helloI have always been interested in photography. Its just interesting and I enjoy seeing nice pictures. I bought the Nikon D7100 for my very first camera. I have watched a lot of reviews on it and decided it was best for me. What I plan on doing with the camera is taking it hiking, fishing, hunting, and just have it for fun pretty much. So basically a lot of outdoor pictures and some indoor pictures. I do want to shoot some night pictures as well, but that won't be happening to often. I need figure out which lens I should get that will cover what I need to do. I've had several people tell me to go with the 70-200mm lens. I know I will eventually need multiple lens's to do what I want to do, but just for a first lens what should I go with? The 70-200mm? I know everyone says use your feet to get close but there's times i'm out hiking I want to take pictures of birds, deer etc..and you can't just simply walk up close to them.What do you guys think? I have a budget of 500-600.00 for my first lens.In a few months I would be open to buy another lens.Any help would be appreciated it. Again, this is my first camera and I've had several people tell me I'm an idiot for buying the D7100 for a first camera. eh, that's their opinion tough. Hope no one here gives me crap for buying it

For my D7100 I bought the Tamron 17-50mm f 2.8 lens for $300 new it's a great lens nice and sharp and is my main lens for everyday shooting like people and scenery. I also bought the Tamron 70-300mm VC lens $386 and that is a very sharp lens right out to 300mm. So for $586 you have all your focal lengths covered and the combination is much better IQ wise than getting a super zoom like a 18-200mm lens.

rpps wrote:For my D7100 I bought the Tamron 17-50mm f 2.8 lens for $300 new it's a great lens nice and sharp and is my main lens for everyday shooting like people and scenery. I also bought the Tamron 70-300mm VC lens $386 and that is a very sharp lens right out to 300mm. So for $586 you have all your focal lengths covered and the combination is much better IQ wise than getting a super zoom like a 18-200mm lens.Thank you! I will look into those lens's. Heck I never thought I could get two lens's for around 600.00. That makes things much easier.

Not sure how many different 70-200s there are, but the ones I know of are very big, very heavy and very expensive. 70-200 is also a tele, which is great for smaller stuff further away, but not suitable for bigger stuff closer by.You can basically optimize for size/weight, quality, speed or reach. There are no lenses that are small and light, very good, with a wide aperture for good low light performance and also a zoom range from wide angle to tele. You'll have to choose what's most important to you. (And what you can afford.)Many people get a standard zoom for their first lens and a tele zoom for their second. The cheapest and lightest way to go would be the 18-55 and the 55-200 or 55-300. Another popular option is the 18-140, which gives you the most important part of the tele range without having to change lenses. Or the 18-200 or 18-300. But remember, with one of these you may not use the 200 mm end in many cases but you will be carrying it every time.In my opinion, it's hard to go wrong with these three lenses on a D7100: the 18-55 VR II, the 55-200 VR or 55-300 VR and the 35 mm f/1.8 DX. This will give you some reasonable wide angle, pretty good tele and the 35 mm lens for shooting moving subjects in low(er) light. The optical quality is only slightly less than that of "better" lenses, but these three together cost about the same as one of those, they're light and if you want to travel even lighter you can take just the 18-55.

rpps wrote:For my D7100 I bought the Tamron 17-50mm f 2.8 lens for $300 new it's a great lens nice and sharp and is my main lens for everyday shooting like people and scenery. I also bought the Tamron 70-300mm VC lens $386 and that is a very sharp lens right out to 300mm. So for $586 you have all your focal lengths covered and the combination is much better IQ wise than getting a super zoom like a 18-200mm lens.I'd go with the 17-50 F2.8 like mentioned above, it's a solid lens in a focal length that you'll definitely need. Where I differ is that I'd shoot with it for a few months and see what you wish it had. Based on that then decide on the next type of lens you want.

Most people start with a "normal zoom"; for DX that is a zoom that includes 35 mm. There is a reason kit zooms tend to be 18-xx for DX.A smaller number would choose 35 mm/ 1.8.I would not choose 70-200 for a first lens.

Thanks for all of the advice !

new7100 wrote:Thank you! I will look into those lenses. Heck I never thought I could get two lenses for around $600.00. That makes things much easier.You can save quite a bit by getting 3rd Party lenses such as Tamron and Sigma. In some cases they are better than the equivalent Nikon lens.I use a Nikon 18-140mm on my D7100, also a Tamron 70-300mm VC.Another lens to consider is the Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 which also does a pretty good job of close-up work. It's darn near as good as the prime lenses that I have. It's almost permanently on my other camera.The D7100 is a great camera. It may take a while to get the best from it, as there are quite a few options. If you develop some settings that seem to work for you, save them to U1 and U2 so that you can have them ready for immediate use. I have U1 for landscape and U2 for sports and flash.One tip for you. Some main settings, such as Auto Focus and Auto Exposure are only adjustable using the external controls together with the top LCD. However, some of the finer details for these also appear as menu options and, unless you are experienced, the meaning of these details may not be apparent to you.

WryCuda wrote:new7100 wrote:Thank you! I will look into those lenses. Heck I never thought I could get two lenses for around $600.00. That makes things much easier.You can save quite a bit by getting 3rd Party lenses such as Tamron and Sigma. In some cases they are better than the equivalent Nikon lens.I use a Nikon 18-140mm on my D7100, also a Tamron 70-300mm VC.Another lens to consider is the Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 which also does a pretty good job of close-up work. It's darn near as good as the prime lenses that I have. It's almost permanently on my other camera.The D7100 is a great camera. It may take a while to get the best from it, as there are quite a few options. If you develop some settings that seem to work for you, save them to U1 and U2 so that you can have them ready for immediate use. I have U1 for landscape and U2 for sports and flash.One tip for you. Some main settings, such as Auto Focus and Auto Exposure are only adjustable using the external controls together with the top LCD. However, some of the finer details for these also appear as menu options and, unless you are experienced, the meaning of these details may not be apparent to you.Thanks a bunch! I may end up sending you a private message asking more information. Hope you don't mind.

rpps wrote:For my D7100 I bought the Tamron 17-50mm f 2.8 lens for $300 new it's a great lens nice and sharp and is my main lens for everyday shooting like people and scenery. I also bought the Tamron 70-300mm VC lens $386 and that is a very sharp lens right out to 300mm. So for $586 you have all your focal lengths covered and the combination is much better IQ wise than getting a super zoom like a 18-200mm lens.http://www.amazon.com/Tamron-17-50mm-Vibration-Compensation-Digital/dp/B002LVUIXU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399259061&sr=8-1&keywords=nikon+tamron+17-50mmhttp://www.amazon.com/Tamron-70-300mm-4-0-5-6-Digital-Cameras/dp/B003YH9DZE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399259282&sr=8-1&keywords=nikon+tamron+vc+70-300mmthese two, correct?

new7100 wrote:Thanks a bunch! I may end up sending you a private message asking more information. Hope you don't mind.Pleased to help if I can. I have written up some notes on the D7100 (mainly for my own reference) and you would be welcome to have them. My emphasis is on landscape and general holiday photography, with a bit of sports and portrait work.

new7100 wrote:rpps wrote:For my D7100 I bought the Tamron 17-50mm f 2.8 lens for $300 new it's a great lens nice and sharp and is my main lens for everyday shooting like people and scenery. I also bought the Tamron 70-300mm VC lens $386 and that is a very sharp lens right out to 300mm. So for $586 you have all your focal lengths covered and the combination is much better IQ wise than getting a super zoom like a 18-200mm lens.http://www.amazon.com/Tamron-17-50mm-Vibration-Compensation-Digital/dp/B002LVUIXU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399259061&sr=8-1&keywords=nikon+tamron+17-50mmhttp://www.amazon.com/Tamron-70-300mm-4-0-5-6-Digital-Cameras/dp/B003YH9DZE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399259282&sr=8-1&keywords=nikon+tamron+vc+70-300mmthese two, correct?I have this Tamron 17-50mm lens it's the non VC version apparently it's suppose to be sharper than the VC.http://www.amazon.com/Tamron-AF17-50mm-Aspherical-Nikon-D-Cameras/dp/B000EXV0QQ/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1399274448&sr=8-6&keywords=nikon+tamron+17-50The 70-300 is the correct one that I have.I just shot a couple of photos one was taken with the D7100 and the Tamron 17-50mm lens the other one was with my D600 and the Nikon 28-105mm lens, not much in it as far as sharpness goes but if you zoom in to the vine running down the middle you will notice you can see more detail on it with the Tamron lens.

What type of pictures do you intend on taking?  For general stuff and street photography I use the Nikon 18-70mm DX and this covers the 28-105mm range on full frame photos.  You have a real good camera, so don't go cheap on the glass.  Check out the reviews on this website or the "other" strictly Nikon forum for suggestions also.  Hell, my first lens was a 50 mm and I used that for a year before purchasing more glass.IMHO, get a medium zoom.  There are plenty of gadgets you may want to budget for as you gain more experience.  Speedlight, tripod, filters, bag, software, etc.The main thing is have fun.

Funzi wrote:What type of pictures do you intend on taking? For general stuff and street photography I use the Nikon 18-70mm DX and this covers the 28-105mm range on full frame photos. You have a real good camera, so don't go cheap on the glass. Check out the reviews on this website or the "other" strictly Nikon forum for suggestions also. Hell, my first lens was a 50 mm and I used that for a year before purchasing more glass.IMHO, get a medium zoom. There are plenty of gadgets you may want to budget for as you gain more experience. Speedlight, tripod, filters, bag, software, etc.The main thing is have fun.I'll be taking a lot of pictures outdoors. Animals, trees, sky, water towers, old barns, railroad tracks, bugs, little flowers, cars, birds, farm equipment, would like to take pictures of a combine dumping corn into a semi (I farm part time),  water etc....I really don't plan on doing a people pictures unless my friends want me to take pictures of them for fun.thanks for the info