I'm thinking of buying my first DSLR, (maybe D90, T1i or D5000) and after reading a lot of materials on cameras and lenses, i've noticed that most people replace their kit lens (usually 18-55) with a better quality lens. So I'm thinking of buying just a body and buy a lens sepratly, I've been thinking of the Sigma 17-70 which is about 400 dollars about twice the price of the kit lens. Is this a good decision or should i get the kit lens because its saves a bit of money.
By no means an experience photographer (I still just have the kit lens) the best advice i recieved was - get the kit lens and then use it for a bit and see what you're missing out on. You'll soon get a feel for whether you need a wider / longer, higher / lower apature, better bokeh... etc, etc... and can then make an informed purchase! RwD
I can highly recommend the Sigma 17-70 as a starter lens. Whether I'd recommend you buying camera body only though is another thing as you don't always save much money buying the body alone. If you save more than say $200 (half the 17-70 price) buying body alone then it's a good nod in the direction of getting the 17-70 right away. If we're talking $100 or so... then you get a really cheap kit lens and might as well make your initial experience with that. You can always try to sell the kit lens and get the Sigma instead And as RinSewand mentions you will soon enough get an idea of how you'd like to improve your glass.
If you're going Nikon the 18-70 DX would cover pretty much everything you'd need to start shooting, or keep the kit lens and get the Tamron 55-200 as a starter zoom lens
For a decent starter lens, none come close too the Tamron 17-50 f2.8, optically its up there with the big boys, its over half the price of the big guns the build quality isn't quite with them but then for the price you can't complain it also doesn't have a HSM/USM motor but its still quick to AF and again Optically its spot on.
if youre thinking on d90 then you have an option of 105mm lens which turned out to be really awesome for me coming from the old 55mm of the old d40... that extra 50 mm really gives you some room to play, its also rather fast, atleast im totally happy with it not to mention it has a discount if you buy it as a kit., Only reason to get a replacement for that in my eyes would be to get an 18-200mm but thats a bit too crisp on the price for me :/ hope you'll get smth ńice that will make you happy
Sigma 17-70 is nice but it's not really an upgrade not from IQ standpoint anyway. and it doesn't have a fixed aperture. it's better than the kit lens but not by that much when i got into DSLR i got myself a tamron 17-50 which is great for it's price. another option which i think is best for you since you're a real beginner, start with the kit lens, add a mid tele-zoom like the 55-250 and you're covered for pretty much every type of photography once you get some experience and know what exactly you're looking for, start investing in quiality glass
if it were me i would stick with the kit-lens. I have had my dslr for almost 2 years now and i still find the kit lens handy at times. even though i have about 4 other lenses at the moment. but something like a 17-80 would be a more useful zoom range the normal 18-55. Also sometimes the kit's also have IS.
for a beginner I'd either keep the kit lens and grab a new or second-hand Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 APO version. or get rid of the kit lens and get a Sigma 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 DC lens with OS. then once I've worked out which range I use most look for new lenses whether that's a better telephoto, wide angle or standard zoom. there is also the sigma 18-50 f2.8 its normally the same price if not slightly cheaper, optically very similar to the Tamron and, on the Nikon at least, it has HSM
Would probs second the comments above r.e grabbing a telephoto over the stock lense replacement. Once you know what you'll be shooting/which lense/range gets the most use look to upgrade to better glass then if you decide its required.
Yep, keep the kit lens and get something in the 55-250 range. That way you have additional options with which to grow on. If you must replace the kit right away, the Tamron 17-50 is well regarded, as previously mentioned.
Yeah, keep the kit. I still use the kit lens on the Canon Rebel XSi although I have a TON of EOS lenses from the 90s...
Thanks alot for all the info, but unfortunately I'm going have to wait a while for the purchase. Even so I'm pretty sure ill get a 18-55 with a D90 or T1i, for now ill manage with my FZ28
