Hey guys, i'm new here. As the title says, i just jumped ship from owning a pentax k-x to nikon. I just bought an allmost new (5500 actuations) Nikon D80 with a Hahnel grip and a brand new 50mm 1.8 AF-D lens. I know that this is an outdated body, but i had only about 800$. So good old body + good lenses is better than new body (d90, d3200, d300) with no lenses or kit lenses. That's my opinion. So after i purchased the d80 and the lens, i'm left with about 500$. What do you guys recommend? what lenses i need (or maybe flash) to complete my kit. I usually take landscape, street and portrait photography, i have no studio, so no professional lights system, and my budget will be about 600-700$. And what do you think about the 85mm f1.8 AF-D?

I'd say shoot with the 50 for a while. get an idea if its not wide enough, or too wide for your style of shooting. for landscapes and street scenes you may want to go wider, while for portraits you may want something a little longer. Though its not the perfect lens for any of the 3 catagories you mention, the 50 is versitile enough to be acceptable for all of them.
another thing to consider for all 3 catagories is a tripod. While its a very capable camera, the D80 doesnt have the high iso performance some of the more current bodies have, meaning lower iso's and longer shutter speeds and/or wide apertures. My experiences with the D80 early on, iso 400 to 600 range and nail the exposure for noise control. iso 800 with effective use of noise reduction software and even then not perfect.

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When no one is looking, Pigs can walk on they're hind legs

If the only lens you have is the 50mm, I would consider a zoom before I would purchase an 85mm. Both the 50mm & 85mm are a bit long for general landscape.

I have the 16-85VR on my D80 and it is considered one of the best consumer lens from Nikon. If that is a bit too much money, the 18-105mm would be my next consideration. Either of these will cover the areas of interest you listed. I do not do portrait but if I did, I would consider an 85mm after the zoom. However, you will also need lighting, flash, tripod, etc. if you get serious about portrait photography.

Jerry Jaynes
Great Smoky Mountains
of North Carolina

http://www.flickr.com/photos/by_jerry_jaynes/

I'm with Jerry on this. The 18-105 will give you a good idea which focal length of a fixed focal length lens might be correct, or even if you should go wider. You should be able to get a very good used 18-105 for $300 or less.

If you are going to studio shooting, for sure you will need a lot of things which should include some kind of lighting.

For the D80, you will probably need a tripod for either landscape or portrait work.

Welcome to the bright side!

Charlie

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Hi Cornel,

I have several primes including a few 50mm and an 85mm and I use my zooms much more often. The reason is the versatility that the zooms provide.
Good Luck and Enjoy your Nikons!

Best Regards,
Marty