Nikon D40 - which lens

HI there

The price you have been quoted is reasonable, but you are buying a lens that is not VR rated. I've just picked up a 55-200 Nikon lens via amazon for £132 plus postage via one of there sellers - did come from New york US, but pleased with it

All the new VR lens have vibration reduction, not sure how much difference this makes

I found Jessops quite expensive in comparison to Amazon or Ebay

The 55-200 lens would be a good option and can be had for £137.95 delivered from purelygadgets here:
http://www.purelygadgets.co.uk/showp...5788&wysiwyg=9

You can get 2% quidco from them too.

thanks for your help - i'll take a look. (when OH isnt around!)

Also worth looking at the Sigma range of lenses that are compatiable with the D40. Can pick up a decent Zoom for around £100. If you look at Sigma's You need to go for the USM (think thats the right one) range as they have the motor built into the lens.

The 55-200mm VR lens is a very good partner to the standard kit lens if you are keeping it, and not looking to replace it. The VR is definitely worth having as it means the shots will be sharper on the telephoto lens when zoomed right in, and also means you can use the lens to take sharper photos when there is less light. I don't think Purelygadgets have a very good rep - I wouldn't buy from them myself. Also if looking at Sigma lenses you want want a HSM lens (not USM) so it will autofocus on the D40. You can get better lenses than the 55-200mm, but they cost a lot more money. It's very good value for money...

Best deals i can find for Lenses for D40 are:

Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED AF-S DX NIKKOR - OneStop Digital - £129.99
Sigma 55-200mm f/4-5.6 DC / HSM - Jessops/Digital Camera Company - £149.99

As an alternative to the official Nikon lenses Sigma have always had an excellent reputation for lenses.

Koma Toes is right, there are better lenses than the 55-200 but you'd have to be willing to send double/triple the price. Normally if you have the money it's better to buy more lenses to cover a focal range than one lens...i.e. if you want to cover 18mm - 300mm buy 3 or 4 lenses to cover this range rather than one lens as the image quality and performace tends to be slightly better then a lens that is designed to work across that whole range.

However if price is more important than look for a realiable make that covers the focal length that you require.

Hope this helps

thanks for all your advice. I am going to opt for the Sigma from jessops as they have 10% off, and if its not right i can easily take it back to the store. thanks for all your help !

If buying a Sigma I would get one with OS (equivalent of Nikon's VR). It would cost more, but would be worth it...

hi Koma Toes, I am looking at the sigma lenses at Jessops, but can't get my head round the
descriptions. I can't see the "os" you mentioned - any chance you could point me in the right direction? I assume i need the ones which say (Nikon) after them? thanks.

Hi Joanne. This is a list of all Sigma lenses compatible with the Nikon D40. Not all of them will have OS though - only the newest telephoto lenses will have it. Personally I wouldn't get a new telephoto lens without some sort of image stabilisation, but as I said before it does add to the price unfortunately... By far the cheapest telephoto lens with stabilisation is the 55-200m VR from Nikon. Yes you need a Nikon compatible lens from Sigma to work with the D40.