Camera lens suggestions? (Nikon D80)

[hbelkins]

I have recently come into possession of a Nikon D80. I need to get a battery for it, but once I do, it will be good to go. I'll also need to download the owners manual so I can familiarize myself with how it operates. The camera has a lens attached, but it's an 18-55. I typically shoot at the 100-135-150MM range, so I will need to find a zoom/telephoto lens. Can anyone suggest something reasonably priced, and also how much I should expect to pay? I don't need anything fancy, just functional, especially given my limited budget. This is my first foray into the DSLR world, and every SLR film camera I ever used back in the day did not have autofocus, so this is all new to me.

I'm really surprised at how light that camera is. I would have expected something much heavier.

[formulanone]

Congratulations!

I have recently come into possession of a Nikon D80. I need to get a battery for it, but once I do, it will be good to go.

You'll probably want a second battery, as well. DSLRs each use their own special batteries, and it's tough to get spares just anywhere.

I'll also need to download the owners manual so I can familiarize myself with how it operates.

https://kenrockwell.com/nikon/d80/users-guide/controls.htm -> a good place to start.

I'm in the Canon camp; like different auto brands, the controls and model names may be a little different, the parts are largely incompatible, but there's some universal terminology that's the same.

The camera has a lens attached, but it's an 18-55.

This is what the (D)SLR folks calls a "kit lens", because it usually comes with the camera. It's a good starting point, but there's sharper and higher-performing lenses if you want. Like any technical item, you usually spend 50-100% more for [arguably] 10-25% better, but it also depends on your specialty.

On the other hand, if you dive right into digital photography discussions, be prepared that many folks will call the kit lens is "garbage" compared to the $800-2000 one they own. It's mostly comprised of plastic and can wear down internally after 30K-50,000 shots. Some of these folks are professionals, some are serious hobbyists, and others just want you to click-though as much as possible so they get something from your purchases. Don't sweat it at first.

But for roadgeeking, it's a decent all-round lens. Based on your Flickr pics, you're shooting through a windshield half the time, anyhow.

And in that case, I'm going to recommend a circular polarizer to reduce windshield and window glare. It will darken your photos a little, but you can compensate that by over-exposing a little, if you desire. A good one is $30-60 but it's as essential as batteries in this hobby.

I typically shoot at the 100-135-150MM range, so I will need to find a zoom/telephoto lens. Can anyone suggest something reasonably priced, and also how much I should expect to pay?

Keep in mind that a DSLR lens is much longer and bulkier than a point-and-shoot camera. The lens weight, length, and diameter is going to be a bit heavier than the kit lens. It may have several glass lenses on the inside, which add heft. There's also some physical limitations to what a lens can do in the range from wide-angle range (18-35 mm) to zoom (100-150+ mm), thus the size. You'll probably want one along side of the kit lens.

Most zoom lenses come in ranges that are fairly typical from one brand to another. It's also not unusual to see some non-name brand lens which might offer most (or sometimes more) than what the name-brand lens can do. And in some cases, used isn't a bad way to go at first; I think I bought used for the first 20 years I'd been shooting. On the other hand, this is where is gets tricky...there's lots of model terminology which sounds a lot alike or isn't quite intuitive.

...for example, this model (18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S DX) means that:

It has a range of 18-135, a common range for many DSLRs. You might see 17-85mm, 55-210mm, 55-250mm, or 70/80-300mm, et cetera. There's also wide-angle stuff in lower ranges, like 10-18mm (fisheyes for fun!) and 18-35mm which have their purposes for landscapes and architectural photography.

The widest f/stop opening is 3.5 at 18mm, but won't open as much (f/5.6) you zoom in. That's okay, it's tough to get a sharp focus when shooting at f/3.5 in a moving vehicle.

ED-IF means that there's reduced chromatic aberration and internally-focusing elements; the former is where undesirable high-contrast color fringing occurs due to lens coating quality (so you want to reduce it) and other is where the lens barrel doesn't move around when focusing (nice to have when using a polarizer).

AF-S auto-focus, naturally. The "S" means it's quieter, but it's only as quiet as your lens.

DX is the type of sensor (the electronic "film" behind the shutter) inside the camera body (the main unit of the camera, without any lenses or external things, like flashes). DX is the basic range, and FX means they're a larger sensor, so they absorb more light and color range. The basic DX (you'll see the term "crop sensor" a lot) photography is fine for what we're doing...in short, the latter is for the professionals.

This will help when shopping around... https://photographylife.com/nikon-lens-nomenclature

I don't need anything fancy, just functional, especially given my limited budget. This is my first foray into the DSLR world, and every SLR film camera I ever used back in the day did not have autofocus, so this is all new to me.

I'm really surprised at how light that camera is. I would have expected something much heavier.

They've made some improvements. Keep in mind there's also lots of plastic and to get a good camera bag with a little padding. Spending $40-50 to protect $1000+ in goods is a wise investment.

Finally, I'd like to also mention not to get your expectations up too high at first. For the first few weeks, you'll be fumbling at new controls and experimenting with what works for you and your subject matter. Sometimes you'll want to experiment and go beyond what the little sensors tell you how to shoot, and there's all sorts of creativity ranges for you to go nuts with. I think it took me a good year or so (or 20?) to get used to all sorts of conditions. Practice makes perfect, as they say.

[kevinb1994]

Congrats H.B. on your recent purchase! I have a Nikon D3100 that I got on sale for a great price back in February 2014. I also have a Nikon Coolpix L120 that I got on sale for a great price back in April 2012 at Costco.

Although you think you need a better lens for roadgeeking, keep in mind that you'll be shooting through the windshield about 50% of the time. The standard Nikon kit lens that came with your Nikon D80 should be enough to get you by for now. You'll get used to the DSLR controls over time; it took me awhile just to learn how to shoot in manual mode!

I could use a spare battery myself, but it's not like I use my Nikon D3100 much nowadays due to having an iPhone SE and an iPad 2017. Keep in mind that DSLRs do not use alkaline batteries as they are much more advanced and draw more energy than your standard point-and-shoot cameras (like the Nikon Coolpix L120 that I also have).

I should also mention that my Nikon D3100 came with an additional 55-200mm lens (f/1:4-5.6G ED AF-S DX). This lens is great for the hobbyist in me, as it allows for longer-range shots when standing from a longer distance than I would normally be at when using the standard Nikon kit lens that would've been the only lens I have had I not gotten the bundle!

As for accessories, if you're shooting through the windshield about 50% of the time, chances are that you're going to be dealing with at least some windshield and window glare. I will recommend a circular polarizer that will darken your images a bit, but if you wish to do so, then you can make up for that by using just a little over-exposure (just be sure not to over-do it).

[hbelkins]

I'm going to ask my brother about lenses. He's the one who gave me the camera. He has two other Nikon DSLRs so this one was a spare and was gathering dust. Looks like I can find batteries around $9 on eBay, but he said he's never had an issue with batteries losing charge, even on long trips. (Conversely, my current Canon uses AA batteries and goes through them at a decent rate.)

My first 35mm camera was a Pentax K1000. Totally manual. It got me through college photojournalism classes and my first few years in the newspaper business. I ended up buying a Minolta 35mm camera, a motor drive, and a couple of lenses from my brother when he -- a much more serious photographer than I am -- bought some Nikon stuff. That camera got me through the latter part of my journalism career and my first roadgeek photography forays. My first digital camera was a Sony Mavica that saved images on floppies, and I've been fairly well pleased with the Canon I have now. It's one step below a DSLR. On our recent trip, I just took a little point-and-shoot camera because I didn't want to risk damaging that Canon. He asked if I had a DLSR and I said I didn't, so he said he had one to spare.

[formulanone]

Yeah, the pre-autofocus days were frustrating; shoot at 1/500 at f/8.0 meant using ISO 400 film, but you could get most objects in focus if moving. Just as today, you can get better results when standing out in the open...with the benefit of getting 40 shots with all sorts of angles, color-correction, and exposure bracketing.

Another item I hear a lot of photographers like is a lens hood, especially for a zoom lens by his adds to the overall clumsiness, but they add almost no weight. Seems a bit unnecessary to me if you're in the vehicle. I found a universal-mount screw-on hood on Amazon for $5; it was made of rubber and could fold up nicely or compress as needed against a window. (Unfortunately, I left it in a rental car.)

[Throckmorton]

   
I was recently given an Exakta VX IIa 35mm SLR camera. A great piece of equipment in it's day but, boy, what an antique! I may shoot some E6 with it and develop it in the kitchen sink.      
   
   

[OracleUsr]

I use a 75-300mm telephoto lens (Canon but still) for my road sign photography.  Get a polarizing filter for it as well.  My 80D came with an 18-135mm lens but I prefer the longer focal length of the 75-300mm.

[hbelkins]

My brother suggested Lew Rockwell's site, which I was aware of but had forgotten about. That site basically said the Nikkor 18-135 isn't the greatest value and I might be better off sticking with the 18-55.

I don't really need autofocus and honestly, for my on-the-road photos, I will probably stick with the Canon I have with manual focus set to infinity. Sometimes autofocus gets distracted by spots or glare on the windshield.

[formulanone]

My brother suggested Lew Rockwell's site, which I was aware of but had forgotten about. That site basically said the Nikkor 18-135 isn't the greatest value and I might be better off sticking with the 18-55.

I don't really need autofocus and honestly, for my on-the-road photos, I will probably stick with the Canon I have with manual focus set to infinity. Sometimes autofocus gets distracted by spots or glare on the windshield.

Hmm, usually the spot metering on my Canon is great at detecting my desired subject. I can't imagine the D90 would be any worse, as that model Nikon is comparable to the 50D to 70D-series Canons. I only have the lower-end Eos 1100D.

I have gone through two kit lenses though; they lasted a little over two years before the AF stopped working properly. That could just be a fault with the lower-end lenses, because a prime (non-zoom) 50mm lens has lasted me over five years without failure to focus.

I don't use the zoom as much when driving, because the depth of field has to be a bit wider for accuracy, and it magnifies windshield distortion. Personally, it's tough to hold the camera steady and get accurate/desirable results over 70mm.

I splurged on a mid-market 17-85mm f/4-5.6 lens for $350. The optical quality is nicer at higher ISOs, but it's about three times heavier than the kit lens. Nikkor makes their own version of this lens, as do Tamron and Sigma.

[hbelkins]

Got a couple of batteries off eBay, downloaded both the Nikon manual and the Rockwell user guide, and am ready to try this baby out. I don't think it will be my primary roadtrip camera, though, because I haven't yet found a way to compose the image in the LCD screen. Indeed, I don't think it's possible. While it's true that years ago, I took road photos while driving with a 35mm film camera with a 135mm lens, using the viewfinder to compose the shots, I don't think I'm up to doing that now.

[AsphaltPlanet]

If you want to not use autofocus all of the time, you can set one of the rear buttons on the camera to "autofocus-on" and then turn off the "autofocus with shutter" feature of the camera.  If you are using your 18-55 kit, so long as you set your aperture for f6.3 or smaller, if you focus once a third of the way through the frame, the rest of your shots should remain in focus.

For me, I set my camera to spot focusing mode, and then focus on the sign using the back button of the camera to get everything as sharp as possible.

Using a shutter speed of 1/500 or faster should eliminate almost all motion blur from your photos.