Can someone recommend a lens....

[J Brooks]

Hey guys, I tried to search for this and really didn't find anything to help me out, but could anyone recommend a good lens for lightning photography? I wasn't sure if there was a specific type of lens that would be good for this purpose, so I figured you guys could send me in the right direction. I've been looking for one for my Nikon D3000 that I bought back in January. I was planning to upgrade to a better mid-range Nikon at some point, but I figured it would be more beneficial to focus on good lenses first. Right now all I have is the stock 18-55mm lens. I'm looking to spend around the $400-500 range or maybe a little more if that's possible. What kinds of lenses do you guys use for lightning?

Any help at all would be great. Thanks


Jason Brooks

 

[Greg Campbell]

You might consider grabbing some old manual focus Nikon glass. A 28/f3.5 and 50/f1.8~2.0 would be very sharp, dirt cheap, and about the right focal length for lightning. Positive focus motion and fewer elements (for less flare) are other advanatages. You'll seldom be shooting lightning any faster than ~f/4, so the lens' full aperture speed is pretty much irrelevent.

 

[John Vandehei]

Unless you typically shoot lightning that's far away, your lens has a good focal length range for lightning. Also, even though the stock lenses typically have small apertures (often referred to as slow lenses), lightning is usually bright enough that your lens should be sufficient for the task. If it's just lighting that you're concerned with, I would start with the lens you got and see how it works for you. Then, if it doesn't work out, you can decide what you need (i.e., wider lens, longer lens, faster) before you spend your money on an upgrade. There are way too many lens choices out there, so you should figure out what your specific needs are before you actually spend money on a lens.

 

[J Brooks]

You might consider grabbing some old manual focus Nikon glass. A 28/f3.5 and 50/f1.8~2.0 would be very sharp, dirt cheap, and about the right focal length for lightning.

I was actually looking at getting the 50mm 1.8 for playing around with some portrait photography, so if it would be good for this also then that'll be great.

There are way too many lens choices out there, so you should figure out what your specific needs are before you actually spend money on a lens.

Yeah, I should have been a little more specific on this aspect. I've been looking at lenses and I'm looking at an 18-105 or 18-135 mm lens for general storm photography, so I guess what I'm asking is will this be sufficient for lightning also? I think based on what you guys have said it will be just fine, but I want to be sure before spending that kind of money.

Thanks guys

 

[Lanny Dean]

I was actually looking at getting the 50mm 1.8 for playing around with some portrait photography, so if it would be good for this also then that'll be great.
Yeah, I should have been a little more specific on this aspect. I've been looking at lenses and I'm looking at an 18-105 or 18-135 mm lens for general storm photography, so I guess what I'm asking is will this be sufficient for lightning also? I think based on what you guys have said it will be just fine, but I want to be sure before spending that kind of money.

Thanks guys

The 18-105mm lens is really not a bad lens for being a kit lens. I don't really use mine all that much anymore but for general all around shooting it can't be beat.
The 50mm 1.8 is on my D90 more often than not and it is a very good lens for being somewhat of an outdated lens. It produces very nice bokeh when used correctly and is one hell of a nice portraiture lens as its true focal length in 35mm terms is close to 75mm for APSC size cameras (crop cameras) However, you will have problems with this lens on a D3000 as it will not autofocus. You will have to jump to the D90 or higher to take advantage of the in camera motors but if you learn to focus with it manually on your 3000 it will work wonders!
The real key to this lens is the fact that it is a really superfast lens and will no doubt help you in low light shooting situations.

As far as the 18-135mm lens, you will be hard pressed to find the Nikkor anywhere excluding used due to the fact that Nikon stoped making this lens with the outing of the D80. When I had the D80 I loved the kit lens....for being a slow kit f/3.5 5.6 it did a really nice job.
You can still find the 18-135 third party glass but I would really think about looking at some faster glass...for example, Tamron makes a very nice 17-50mm f/2.8 lens and the cost is not all that bad.
Sigma also has a 10-20mm f/3.5 that would be great for wide angle landscape stuff. I guess what I am saying is don't overlook the third party glass especially those that are pretty fast.

Good luck with your search!

 

[Brandon Goforth]

There's nothing wrong with the lens you currently own. You don't need a "special" lens for lightning, and you don't even need a fast lens because if you're wide open you'll blow out most lightning shots anyway. Obviously you can buy more expensive lenses to increase overall quality, but the lens you already own will start you off fine.

 

[J Brooks]

Thanks for all the replies. I have some good info to work with now without second guessing what I should be doing. I was wondering if Tamron was a good 3rd party to go with, so I'll start looking into that one more. Thanks again.


Jason Brooks

Edit: I suck at spelling today.