Help with lenses for my Nikon D40

I'm no expert when it comes to this stuff, so hoping you can help point me in the right direction. A while ago, I bought my Nikon D40 since I wanted to get into the Digital SLR thing - and since I'm not that good decided with the entry level model than anything higher. I know that the D40 doesn't have a drive motor in the body, and therefore lenses that don't have a drive motor are effectively fully manual for me in that there is no auto-focus. Currently, I have the standard 18-55mm Nikkor that came with the camera and I then bought a Sigma 70-300mm APO lens - which as I mentioned doesn't have a drive motor for auto-focus, so all is manual. This I suppose, is good in a sense as means I learn a bit more control. Now, I'm looking about buying the Nikkor 55-200mm AF-S lens which is similar in respects to my 18-55mm. I'm wondering, would this be a good buy? The VR lenses are expensive so have ruled these out since my camera body is only entry level and not a D70 or higher. I'd be interested in your thoughts, or other suggestions/recommendations than compatible lenses as I know most are OK for it.

I'm no expert when it comes to this stuff, so hoping you can help point me in the right direction.

A while ago, I bought my Nikon D40 since I wanted to get into the Digital SLR thing - and since I'm not that good decided with the entry level model than anything higher.

I know that the D40 doesn't have a drive motor in the body, and therefore lenses that don't have a drive motor are effectively fully manual for me in that there is no auto-focus.

Currently, I have the standard 18-55mm Nikkor that came with the camera and I then bought a Sigma 70-300mm APO lens - which as I mentioned doesn't have a drive motor for auto-focus, so all is manual. This I suppose, is good in a sense as means I learn a bit more control.

Now, I'm looking about buying the Nikkor 55-200mm AF-S lens which is similar in respects to my 18-55mm. I'm wondering, would this be a good buy? The VR lenses are expensive so have ruled these out since my camera body is only entry level and not a D70 or higher.

I'd be interested in your thoughts, or other suggestions/recommendations than compatible lenses as I know most are OK for it.

Ian - have a look on the News pages of the website Sigma are about to release new lenses with motors for use withall Nikon cameras.

Ian - have a look on the News pages of the website

Sigma are about to release new lenses with motors for use withall Nikon cameras.

All of the Sigma lenses with HSM will work on the D40/60 as well as some of the new cheaper ones that are marked 'for Nikon'. Ian

All of the Sigma lenses with HSM will work on the D40/60 as well as some of the new cheaper ones that are marked 'for Nikon'.

Ian

I'm just wondering, are the HSM the new type of lens from Sigma that has the built-in motor?

I'm just wondering, are the HSM the new type of lens from Sigma that has the built-in motor?

Had a look at the sigma website, they have a special list for D40, so that clears it up a little bit. Any ideas on the Nikkor that I mentioned previously? Is it worth it, or better to go for third-party like Sigma? Anyone had bad experiences with that particular Nikkor lens?

Had a look at the sigma website, they have a special list for D40, so that clears it up a little bit.

Any ideas on the Nikkor that I mentioned previously? Is it worth it, or better to go for third-party like Sigma? Anyone had bad experiences with that particular Nikkor lens?

If you are ever thinking of updating your (camera)body then it will not matter if it had a motor or not. The VR lenses are very good with good quality glass. Autofocus is not the be all and end all and at times (low light/low contrast) it can be a waste of time. Learing to focus manually is a good skill that will always serve you well as you will be able to selectively focus faster than faffing about choosing the right focus point in auto. Choose the lens by glass quality not if it has a motor or not

If you are ever thinking of updating your (camera)body then it will not matter if it had a motor or not. The VR lenses are very good with good quality glass.

Autofocus is not the be all and end all and at times (low light/low contrast) it can be a waste of time. Learing to focus manually is a good skill that will always serve you well as you will be able to selectively focus faster than faffing about choosing the right focus point in auto.

Choose the lens by glass quality not if it has a motor or not

[quote]Now, I'm looking about buying the Nikkor 55-200mm AF-S lens which is similar in respects to my 18-55mm. I'm wondering, would this be a good buy? The VR lenses are expensive so have ruled these out since my camera body is only entry level and not a D70 or higher.[/quote] 1. I notice that the 55-200 is listed at £149 on the warehouse express website. The 55-200 VR is £179...only £30 more. I'm not sure you'll get a better lens for the money. 2. I'm not sure why you think your 'entry level' body should be restricted to lower quality lenses. From what I understand, the D40 should capture images just as good as the D70, maybe even better. Mike

Quote:Now, I'm looking about buying the Nikkor 55-200mm AF-S lens which is similar in respects to my 18-55mm. I'm wondering, would this be a good buy? The VR lenses are expensive so have ruled these out since my camera body is only entry level and not a D70 or higher.

1. I notice that the 55-200 is listed at £149 on the warehouse express website. The 55-200 VR is £179...only £30 more. I'm not sure you'll get a better lens for the money.
2. I'm not sure why you think your 'entry level' body should be restricted to lower quality lenses. From what I understand, the D40 should capture images just as good as the D70, maybe even better.

Mike

Thanks for all your input everyone, really appreciate it :-) Hi kaybee, I have been doing OK with the Sigma that I manually focus with, since I have no other choice :-). A kind friend did point out to me that I can tell when it's in focus by the green dot. Up until that point I hadn't seen it, and was kind of guessing. Now at least I know about that green dot, it's been a bit easier :-) Currently I'm not very hot on focussing manually very quickly. I'm hoping it will get better over time. flyingseale, I too noticed that the 55-200 VR wasn't much more, so have been looking into this today as it seems as it has the VR function it could be of use for handshake. My main reason for not wanting to purchase high-quality lenses that cost an arm and a leg, was purely because I suppose I should really use pro lenses with a pro body - even though there's no real rule saying I should or shouldn't do it. For now, I'm just buying what's best price-wise for me that will help me improve at least photography wise.

Thanks for all your input everyone, really appreciate it

Hi kaybee,

I have been doing OK with the Sigma that I manually focus with, since I have no other choice . A kind friend did point out to me that I can tell when it's in focus by the green dot. Up until that point I hadn't seen it, and was kind of guessing. Now at least I know about that green dot, it's been a bit easier

Currently I'm not very hot on focussing manually very quickly. I'm hoping it will get better over time.

flyingseale, I too noticed that the 55-200 VR wasn't much more, so have been looking into this today as it seems as it has the VR function it could be of use for handshake.

My main reason for not wanting to purchase high-quality lenses that cost an arm and a leg, was purely because I suppose I should really use pro lenses with a pro body - even though there's no real rule saying I should or shouldn't do it.

For now, I'm just buying what's best price-wise for me that will help me improve at least photography wise.

Just wanted to update you all: I bought a Nikkor 55-200 AF-S DX VR 55-200mm. Had a brief try with it so far, and it seems quite good. Auto-focus pretty good. Not used the VR function too much, but will have to read up on a scenario where this will be handy for me. The price was relatively good for me too and wasn't much more than the standard Nikkor 55-200mm without the VR feature. Now, just got to put it into practice.

Just wanted to update you all:

I bought a Nikkor 55-200 AF-S DX VR 55-200mm.

Had a brief try with it so far, and it seems quite good. Auto-focus pretty good. Not used the VR function too much, but will have to read up on a scenario where this will be handy for me. The price was relatively good for me too and wasn't much more than the standard Nikkor 55-200mm without the VR feature.

Now, just got to put it into practice.