I am new to photography and am going to get a new SLR. I was wondering if anyone knows what a good lens would be to start with for my endeavors. Would the standard 18-55 mm be good? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

The 18-55 focal range covers alot of the "landscape" widths, but kit lenses are (generally) not of the greatest quality. Not to say that they're horrible, just more of a Chevy than a Ferarri.

Some popular lenses that won't set you back a huge fortune belong to the third party brands, such as Sigma, Tokina, and Tamron. Depending on the camera you purchase, and it's proprietary mount, a fairly wide selection is out there.

Browse through the more popular photo retailers' sites, such as adorama.com, bhphoto.com, etc. Check out prices, look for lenses with reviews, compare specs, etc.

Browse the galleries here. See a shot you like? Most members are more than happy to share the related info, such as camera and lens, setting, etc.

Have fun, and good luck.

Check out my gallery to see some of my wide stuff, most was done with an 18-55 or my 17-35(i sold the 18-55)

Ok sounds good, thanks for the help. i appreciate it a lot.

Not sure how much you want to spend but I would Highly Recommend a Nikkor 18-200mm VR F/3.5-5.6G Lens. This Baby just about covers everything. Check out Spanish Moss which was shot at Full 200mm. Then Curves of Commanalty shot a 18mm. I 've tried other lenses but keep going back to this One. Little Pricey, around $750-$800 but Worth every penny. I use this lens on a Nikon D300. Bought it as a Kit. Just One Mans Opinion. Hope this Helps you and Not Confuse you.
Have A Great Day !

E J

Great shots. They really help to see results. Thanks a lot for your input.

I will put that on my wish list Frogz. It does appear to be a great lens.

Tick

If you're new to the game you should do just fine with a kit from Canon, Olympus, or Nikon. The ones I've seen come with a short lens and a long one. The short one generally goes up to about 50mm and the long one goes up to about 150mm. Since these are digital and not 35mm film. the focal length to sensor size ratio can be roughly doubled depending on the size of the sensor. Though Third_eye is right about the *relative* quality of the kit lenses, they should work OK and give you plenty of satisfaction. Most of my work I shoot with the kit lenses that came with my Olympus e-Volt E300 four years ago or so. I recommend that you get a kit from one of the major manufacturers above, and worry about specialty lenses when the need arises down the road.

Actually, I have to agree with Regmar. The two-lens kit that comes with many Olympus DSLR's are indeed a pretty good set. I'd been thinking more of the Canon, Nikon, etc set of brands when I posted my first comments.

Awesome thanks for the input.