Nikon D90 + Sigma 18-200mm lens

[Urban Camo]

I have been seriously into photography for about two and a half years now and i currently own an Olympus E510. I feel i have taken my photography as far as i can with this camera and have been thinking of upgrading. I have been offered a Nikon D90 with a Sigma 18 - 200mm Lens. It still has a years Nikon warranty left and has only taken around 800 photographs. I have been offered it for £650.00 and am after opinions on both camera and lens.

[ALwin]

Hi, the Nikon D90 is a great mid-level range camera, I've used them for nearly 2 years before upgrading to the D700 recently. Looking at what you are offered for the price of 650GBP:
- D90 body with 1? year warranty and a shutter count of ~800
- Sigma 18-200 lens
it seems like a good deal to me, however I would advise you to take a look at it, inspect every nook and cranny you can, perhaps take a few test shots to see how good the lens is before you buy.

Buying a new D90 with a Nikon 18-200 kit lens would probably cost you around 1000GBP in the UK so the price of the used kit seems like a great deal. If you could get the body only for less price I say go for it, the only thing I am not sure about is the lens whether it lives up to certain expectations or not. I'm always careful when buying used lens and I do thorough inspections and tests before buying.

[Sid]

I would tend to agree. I've had a D90 with 18-105mm kit lens for just over a year and I can't fault it.
Haven't used the 18-200mm lens so I can't comment on that.
Have a look at Camerabox (see link). They are selling a new D90 body for £540.00 inc VAT and Delivery so the price you have been quoted seems pretty good.
http://www.camerabox.co.uk/product.asp? ... uctID=5761

[ALwin]

Sid, if I had to choose between the used D90+lens for 650 vs the Camerabox price of a new D90 body only of 540 I would probably go for the new body and get lenses separately. Plus with the new body from Camerabox they are giving a free 5 year warranty.

Sigma has some nice lenses like the 50mm 1.4 which I love but I don't have a good feeling for the 18-200. It also depends on which version of the Sigma 18-200 lens they are offering used: the earlier version which doesn't have OS (Optical Stabilization) or the newer version which does.

PS: some recommendation of lenses to use with the D90
- ultra wide angle >>> Tokina 11-16 f2.8 ATX (DX lens) the best there is, optically better and cheaper than Nikon's 12-24, but the range is shorter
- On a budget? Nikon 50 f1.8D prime (FX lens), 35 f1.8 G DX lens is also good but slightly more expensive
- Budget portrait lens >>> Nikon 85 f1.8D (FX lens)
The Nikon 50mm and 85mm f1.4 lenses are also great but they are more expensive compared to the f1.8 versions.

(depending on your budget and what you want to do)
- mid range zooms
>>> 16-85 VR DX lens, 18-105 VR DX lens, 18-200 VR DX lens, 17-55 f2.8 DX lens, all good
- longer telephoto zoom >>> 70-300 DX lens

However, if you plan to become even more serious about photography in the future and have a feeling that you may upgrade to 35mm/Full Frame/FX consider your purchases carefully. Also think about re-sale value (where I live Nikon and Canon equipment can be re-sold easily compared to Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, etc).