DSLR – Which Lens

The AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED (7.5x) although the AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED (11.1x) came an incredibly close second!

For those that like the technical details here they are:

* 18-135mm focal range (7.5x zoom) for use in a wide variety of situations (equivalent to a 27-202.5mm lens in the 35mm format)
* One ED glass and two aspherical lens elements
* Incorporates a compact SWM (Silent Wave Motor) for quiet focusing
* Two focus modes, [A] and [M], are available
* Enables focusing from as close as 45cm (17.7 in.) from the subject through its entire focal range
* The IF design provides a constant lens length and eliminates rotation of the front lens element, facilitating the use of circular polarizing filters
* Seven-blade rounded diaphragm opening

Why this lens?

Actually it was a pretty easy decision at the end of the day:

1. At this stage I only wanted to have one lens that I could keep on the camera all of the time until I had got used to the camera and had really worked out where I was going with it and what I would need,
2. I didn’t want to buy anything that had a high probability of becoming redundant in the future. My ‘concern’ with the 18-200mm lens was that I know that in the future I will want to go beyond 200mm, say 400mm so I wasn’t convinced that the 135-200mm range would be worth the extra at this time?

I fully intend to get a wide angle lens as well as a telephoto so the lens I decided upon seemed to be an affordable, all rounder that left me room to add a couple of future lenses without making it redundant.

So there we are, add that to the D80 and I have a new camera. Of course, that still leaves a couple of things to sort out; software, workflow and not least ……… using it!

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