Need a zoom for my D300s

[hoakin1981]

I have a D300s which apparently it is here to stay. So, in order to spare everyone from a lengthy post I will go straight to the question.

If you wanted a mid-zoom for a cropped sensor body like the D300s BUT with good enough IQ for some serious work, which one would it be? Imagine for example that you want to do travel photography but you expect your shots need to be of adequate quality to end up in magazines etc.

I would stay away from FX options since they are both out of budget and the focal lengths are not so good for DX bodies IMO.

Thanks!

 

[OzJohn]

I have a D300s which apparently it is here to stay. So, in order to spare everyone from a lengthy post I will go straight to the question.

If you wanted a mid-zoom for a cropped sensor body like the D300s BUT with good enough IQ for some serious work, which one would it be? Imagine for example that you want to do travel photography but you expect your shots need to be of adequate quality to end up in magazines etc.

I would stay away from FX options since they are both out of budget and the focal lengths are not so good for DX bodies IMO.

Thanks!

It may be a bit longer than you're looking for but it's hard to beat the 18-200mmDX on a D300s. Great single travel lens and better than average optical quality for a DX zoom. I have this combination and I've also seen lots of images others have taken with the setup. But IMO no DX will ever come up to the optical quality of the fast FX zooms. OzJohn

 

[omaha]

I love my 18-200. Only zoom I use on my D7000.

 

[Bruce]

Agree on the 18-200 lens. I use it almost always on my D300 Nikon camera

 

[L Gebhardt]

I guess I tested a bad 18-200mm but I would skip that lens. The 18-70 was surprisingly decent, but if I kept the DX camera I would have bought the 16-85mm. The wider view alone would be worth it for me, but overall the lens has better image quality than the other options (except the 17-55mm).

 

[omaha]

The 18-200 (and more recently, the new 18-300) are certainly special case lenses. It is the lens you use when you only want to carry one lens. It is the lens you use when you don't know what lens you will need. Its the Jeep of lenses: Never the prettiest, but always gets you there.

 

[indigo]

How about the 17-55mm f/2.8.