I recently bought a Nikon D7000. I am a novice who loves to take photos of my daughter's dance team and my garden, etc. I now want to really learn more than just to use my camera as a point and shoot (which I had been doing the last couple years.)

I upgraded cameras to hopefully get some great shots of my daughter's last year on her high school dance team, and use my Tamron 70-200 lens and it's working out great. I'm still learning about ISO, shutter speeds, and aperture, and want to learn more.

We are going to the Mall of America soon and I am thinking about bringing a smaller lens than the Tamron because I don't want to lug it around all weekend, and will hopefully be able to get closer to the action, so I won't need it.

Do you have any recommendations for me? Of course there will not be much light in the middle of the mall. What about the 50mm F1.8? or 1.4?

Any other ideas for a lens that would be great to take on trips and travel?

Probably best to keep all the responses in the other active thread:
http://www.nikonians.org/forums/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=135&topic_id=62135&mesg_id=62135&page=

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Joseph K
Seattle, WA, USA

D700, D200, D70S, 24-70mm f/2.8, VR 70-200mm f/2.8 II,
50mm f/1.4 D, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 DX

I have the 35mm F1.8 and I love it. IMO it is better than the 50mm for a walk around lens because on a DX body (the D7000) 35 mm is equivalent to about 50 mm on an FX body.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

OK Steve, since I am new to the terms and new to all this photography jargon, (and I want to learn all of this, so be patient with me!) please explain what the DX body is compared to the FX body. What does that mean?

It has to do with the size of the sensor. The D7000 which is a DX body has a smaller sensor than a full frame camera such as the D600/D700/D800. If a 35mm lens is used on the D7000 it will have an apparent field of view of 50mm. If the same lens is used on a D800, for example, it's field of view will be 35mm. When you are considering lens to buy the field of view assumes it will be used on an FX body. If you are going to use it on a d7000 you should multiply by a factor of 1.5. So the tamron 70-200 is really like a 105-300 on the d7000

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Thanks so much for the explanation. I did know my camera is not a full frame and has a smaller sensor than the full frame cameras, but it makes sense in these terms!!

Just to add, the 50/1.4 Nikon or Sigma variant is a great option, but remember, wide-open at 1.4, the depth of field is very shallow. So for instance, in a close-up portrait, the eyes might be in focus, but the nose and ears won't be. This is a great effect, but just know that there is always a trade off when shooting at large apertures.

The original Tamron 17-50/2.8 is a phenomenal lens (the one without the built-in motor). I've had mine since 2007, and it works like a charm on the D7000.

It may make more sense than a single focal length (30 or 50) at this stage.

www.billkeane.zenfolio.com

Another vote for 35mm 1.8. Great walk around lens, though I am biased towards prime lenses. Super price too.

The 35mm is a super bargain and I love to use it to shoot in the woods. It's super sharp and weighs next to nothing. I zoom with my feet.

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There are also places you can rent lenses to try out, I have found that very useful over the years.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

>There are also places you can rent lenses to try out, I have
>found that very useful over the years.
>

Really good suggestion. I plan to rent lenses a good bit.


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I have the 50mm 1.8D lens and I shoot with it a good bit - more than my 18-200 by a good bit. I am really impressed with it, especially given the low price of $135 US new!

-James

If you are going to be indoors and working around a stage or something similar I would recommend the Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 HSM. They are a fantastic lens for this type of work.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I usually pack the 18-200, and throw the 50mm 1.8 in the bag-covered.

In my opinion Tamron 18-270mm is a good option for single lens. In DX format it will be 28-420 mm(approx).Weight of this lens is 420 gms.