Which camera lens?

alositha

Hi
I am planning to buy Sony DSLR A200K 10.2 Megapixel Digital Camera deal posted on HUKD site. reading the comments there and other forum I gather the lens comes with it is not a good one. therefore thinking of buying a lens as well. Can someone advise me to select one of these lenses please. as I don't know these features it would be helpful if you can explain what these terms are as well please.
Tamron 55-200mm f/4-5.6 Di II LD (Sony) Lens
TAMRON SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Aspherical
SIGMA AF 18-50mm f2.8 EX DC Macro HSM
Sigma 55-200mm f/4-5.6 DC (Nikon AF)

depending on "mm" range how would you decide which one is better.

Your advise is much appreciated.
Thank you very much

sevlow

The lenses you need/require will depend upon the type of photography you do, and your budget.
I don't know about this particular camera or kit lense but most kit lenses will be fine as a genearl walk about lense and produce good results. Reviewers will do a lot of tests to determine sharpnesss and chromatic issues but frankly for most of us most of the time the kit lense is a great starter. So my first advice would be get the camera, start shooting and see for yourself.

Lenses can be either zoom or prime. Prime lenses have a fixed focal length for example 50mm. These lenses can be very good values and of high quality. This is because it's easier to make a high quality lense at a fixed focal length.

A popular kit lense is 18-55mm zoom. You may wish to add 55-200 and 70-300mm t0 give you greater flexibilty to suit your particular situation. You can also go the other way and add wider lenses for landscapes etc perhaps starting at 11mm, say 11-17mm. Of course all this means that you have several lenses which you have to carry or select before a shoot.

Some manufacturers therfore produce zooms covering larger focal ranges 1.e 18-200 or 18-300mm. This gives you greater flexibility but there is usually a trade of somewhere in performance - so at full zoom a particular lense may be "soft". This does not make the lense bad it just means that you have traded off something for a bit of flexibility.

The f 2.8 or f 4-5.6 refers to the maximum aperture the lense can provide. The lower the number the bigger the aperture and thus the more light a lense will allow in.

A lense with a single figure say f2.8 will be able to provide a maximum aperure of f2.8 whatever the focal lenghth(zoom). In other lenses the maximum aperture will change depending on the focal length and that's why you have two figures (i.e between f4 and f5.6)

Faster lenses (f2.8 and lower) will give you more flexibility in determining the correct exposure in low light conditions.

I

Lyrrad

Just get the camera and don't worry. If you find you are unhappy with your pictures it will most probably be your technique rather than the lens. There are loads of lenses to choose from. I would recommend a fixed 35mm lens as your next purchase. Let your legs be the zoom. it will make a better photographer of you. A non zoom lens will nearly always be a better quality than the same priced zoom. Look around for a Minolta 35mm lens when you need it and you won't go wrong. Your kit lens will be fine though.

Marty_J

Any particular reason for going for that specific camera?

I only ask because the Nikon D40 can be had from Amazon for £272, and Nikon have a mail in offer on at the minute whereby they'll give you £30 back. so it'll end up costing you £242.

It comes with an excellent 18-55mm kit lens, and you can use the money you save to put towards a bigger lens should you decide you need it.

I have one myself and it is a great little camera.

mr_fishbulb

Another vote for the Nikon D40.

Great 18-55 kit lens and you can pick up and equally good 55-200 VR (Image Stabilising) lense for around £130