Lens advice sought

[jupiter618]

Hi guys, I'm new to the forum and still have a lot to learn. I need some advice on lenses and what follows is my predicament described;

I recently got a D7000, and have the following lenses;

micro nikkor AF-S 105mm f/2.8 VR (my pride and joy)
Nikon AF 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 G
Nikon AF 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 VR

In May we are going on a trip to visit Mt. Lamington National Park, World Heritage area of legendary beauty and I'd really like to have the kit to do it justice. The dilemma is that I've blown my photography budget pretty much for the next 6 months. I can't afford to buy an expensive lens at the moment. However, I've been reading that the cheap little "kit" lens, the 18-55mm VR, is actually very good optically giving good sharp pictures. You can buy these new for around $100 which is absolute peanuts! My question is; would the 18-55 be noticeably better than my mediocre 18-105? Is it worth buying the 18-55 as a general purpose zoom for this trip? I also read that it focuses at 11.5cm from the front of the lens giving quite decent macro capabilities. I'm getting most of my info from here -*removed : see site rules 3-7: admin*
Comments? Suggestions?

[jim]

With what you've got you're probably good to go for most photographic situations. As the esteemed Mr Rockwell would tell you, you shouldn't sweat too much over lens quality. Better to put your effort into learning to get the most out of what you have (they're all perfectly capable lenses) and think about adding or upgrading lenses or other equipment when what you have is starting to impose limits on what you want to do.

[I @ M]

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/18-55-ii.htm

Comments? Suggestions?

First comment -- ignore K Rockwell

First suggestion -- ignore K Rockwell

he lives purely to attract people to his site in order to justify his existence on the planet to advertisers.

On to the sensible stuff.

Your 105 mm will deliver if you get everything right. No ifs, no buts, no maybes.

Likewise your 70-300

That leaves the wide end of the spectrum and your 18-105 whilst having the "normal" limitations of a wide to moderate telephoto lens will do a good job as an all rounder "if you get everything right" so at this stage I would not recommend spending money ( however small ) on another lens that is not significantly better in the IQ dept.

Go on your trip and use your gear to its full potential before you consider buying new gear, then start to think of lenses with better IQ and faster apertures ( at a dearer price :( ) such as the 17-55 DX or 17-35 FX Nikkors or the well regarded Tamron 17-50 ( non vc ) to expand the wide ( but not ultra wide ) field of view. :)

[Darey]

For what it's worth my advise is to stop worrying about buying a new lens and work harder on getting more out of the good kit you already have.

I suspect the lens you will use most as a walk around lens (80% of the time) is the 18-105mm so I would suggest you set it on an aperture between f5.6 and f8 (the sweet spot for the lens), focus carefully on the interest point of your shot, expose for the interest point of your shot (I tend to use center weighted average) and most importantly KEEP THE CAMERA STILL. To do this I suggest you use a good tripod (with the center columd down), a bean bag or and available steady rest.

I think the majority of the rest of your time (20%) you will use the beautiful Nikon 105mm. What I said above still applies but maybe with smaller apertures (f8 to f16) for greater DoF.

The most important thing is take plenty of shots and enjoy that beautiful park.

[knumbnutz]

Lamington Nat Park equals rainforest, waterfalls, scrub turkeys, parrots and lots of rainforest.

Ok, Most shots under the rainforest canopy is in low light, so remember to up the iso and get some speed back otherwise you will have lots of blurry animals, make sure you bring a tripod especially for the waterfalls.
Circular polarizing filter is a good addition to the gear.
Desiccant gels in the camera bag to deal with the humidity.
Weatherproof camera bag, the "rain" in rainforest is there for a reason.
Enjoy the place it's beautiful. Bring comfortable boots too.

[rodw]

Another vote not to bother on buying another lens now, spend your $100 on accessories. Maybe some ND filters for the waterfalls.

Long term, save up for a low light lens and if landscapes are your scene go wide. I have the FX 17-35 Andrew referred to. It rarely leaves my DX format D40.

Like others have said, you have to take KR with a grain of salt. However, I do agree with some of his advice but maybe not the delivery.

[jupiter618]

Thanks guys, sound advice. I'm very familiar with the importance of a steady camera. Motion blur is the bane of the macro photographers life. I am blessed with a steady hand.

I'm going to go with the gear I have and try to do the best I can with the kit.

[ricktas]

Thanks guys, sound advice. I'm very familiar with the importance of a steady camera. Motion blur is the bane of the macro photographers life. I am blessed with a steady hand.

I'm going to go with the gear I have and try to do the best I can with the kit.

Then if you are going to buy some gear, get a tripod!

[jupiter618]

Thanks guys, well that settles it, I'll stick with what I have in terms of lenses for now. I'd love some faster glass but that might have to wait until my birthday! :)

Good advice rick, I have a cheapy tripod which is broken and drives me nuts. I need a new one. Appologies for the link, I'll keep it in mind in future - no hyperlinks in posts.

Cheers.

[ricktas]

Thanks guys, well that settles it, I'll stick with what I have in terms of lenses for now. I'd love some faster glass but that might have to wait until my birthday! :)

Good advice rick, I have a cheapy tripod which is broken and drives me nuts. I need a new one. Appologies for the link, I'll keep it in mind in future - no hyperlinks in posts.

Cheers.

Unfortunately we have people join up and say stuff like " Just about to buy from yyy store, are they good, etc. When in reality they work for that store. As we have no way of knowing who does or doesn't we have a rule about posting links till you get 30 days membership and 50 posts. Once you reach those targets you are free to link to relevant sites as you wish, within the rules (ie you cannot blatantly post commercial stuff, or link to other photography forums saying join this site, etc).

All good, enjoy the new tripod.