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Hi! So sometime I’m gonna want to get a new lens for my Nikon D3100. It is probably not gonna be in the near future when I get one, but I want to start looking. At the moment I have a Nikkor 18-55 f/3.5-f/5.6, and a Nikkor 55-300 f/4.5-f5.6. I would need a lens compatible to the Nikon f-mount, (and preferably low price 😉 ) and maybe something with a lower f-stop, maybe a prime lens? Any thoughts?
Hi @jinnyschober,
Here are a couple of questions that might help the rest of us on the forums to better help you…
What exactly are you wanting the new lens to do that your current lenses don’t? Is it a question of zoom range, focus speed, f-stop, quality, weight? What would you be using this lens for?
Hey! I’d want one with a lower f-stop for sure, f/2.8 or lower, which would be the main reason for getting a new lens anyway. I would want one capable of taking portraits, or shooting indoor events. Which would mean the lowest possible mm would be 55mm. The focus speed is not a big deal, since I manually focus. I would be interested in trying a prime lens, but it is not a requirement. The heaviest would be 4ish lbs.
It all depends on your budget, of course, but the lenses that come to mind immediately are:
- – the Nikkor 50mm 1.8 af-s (217 USD at B&H; also available at B&H “open box” for 170 USD): I really like mine. It’s great for portraits and just about anything people-related, as long as you are able to get decently close. You can’t beat the price, even if it is a bit more than the Canon equivalent!
- – the Nikkor 85mm 1.8 af-s (477 USD at B&H) A bit pricier, but still a great price if you don’t want to pay 1200$+ for a 70-200 2.8 zoom lens and you need that extra length.
- – the Nikkon 60mm 2.8 af-s (597 USD at B&H) I have heard good things about it, and seen some really nice results. (see this post for example)
- – the 50-100 Sigma 1.8 (1100 USD at B&H) would be another lens to consider, but be aware that it is a crop lens and will not work if you upgrade to full-frame. At that price, I would be more inclined to buy something like the Tamron 70-200 2.8 (1300 USD) which is a bit longer, but has vibration reduction.
Something you definitely might want to consider once you get past 50mm, especially when shooting handheld, is to look for a lens with vibration reduction (VR). None of the lenses listed above have that. Just for the record, it is also called optical stabilization (OS) or vibration control (VC). (or image stabilization (IS) in Canon lenses)
Here is a link to B&H that lists some possible stabilised lenses…
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?setNs=p_POPULARITY%7c1&Ns=p_POPULARITY%7c1&ci=274&srtclk=sort&N=4288584247+4108103566+4109120026+4109120025Just my 2 cents… I would start with the nikon 50mm 1.8, and possibly look into speedlights if you take a lot of indoor photos.
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