Help with a new lens please

Hey guys,

I bought the Nikon D5000 just after Xmas and love it. I'm still very much in the learning phase but i think i'm getting there.

Anyway at current i only have the kits lens which is the 18-55mm. I recently borrowed my Brother in law's 55-200mm lense and liked it for the extra zoom so now want to add something similar to my bag.

The main reason for wanting another lense in the bag is that I want to be able to take good action shots of my dog probably from a fair distance i.e running shots. I also like to take wildlife shots so want to be able photograph birds etc from a distance but i'm just not sure what I should be looking for to achieve this.

I'm probably willing to spend up to £200 on a new lense so was hoping you good people might be able to help me out with some suggestions as i still require a fair bit of guidance!

Thanks in advance!

If £200 is your budget, that's prob the best zoom lens for the money

For action shots however, you want to try and get a 'fast' lens, those with low f numbers - as they need less light to work with so can take better 'free frame' shots in lower light conditions.

You could have a look at the Nikon 70-300mm non VR version which sells new on e-bay for around £90

Link

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-NIKON-70-3...item45f00cfb6a

I have made several purchases from this company without a hitch

Its a very good lens, only reason I sold mine to Phil is because I wanted the VR version. Phil's earlier pictures he posted were taken with this lens

If your taking action shots from a distance there is less chance of blurr than there would be with a close up shot
Bazza

Thanks for the replies and cheers for the link Bazza, seems like quite a good company and a good price.

Azz, how much do you reckon i'd need to up my budget in order to get something that meets my criteria??

Esmed, all my bird pictures are taken with my 55-200mm, infact nearly all my animal shots . For the price, it is a bargain!

It is cheap, but it's a good lens. I have been impressed with it

( I bought it as I wanted to see if I would use a zoom, before spending more, I'm still undecided if I will upgrade, as there are other things I need first)

Esmed
Its not always the lens that makes a good picture, its the person behind the camera that makes the difference.

Bazza

I'm screwed then in that case!!

Quote "I'm screwed then in that case!!" unquote

Honest officer I was never near her

Bazza

Hmm, just been having a look through your natural world shots and they're all pretty nice!

I take it you take the photos from a distance then zoom in and crop them afterwards. Excuse my stupidity if i'm completely wrong!

Got it in one, only over cropping can cause pixalisation "noise". So its best to make a copy of the original photo and work on that. If you mess it up you still have the original to make another copy from to have another go

Bazza