Lens purchase - the agony of choice

As I have already written elsewhere, you should look at the lenses synonymous other manufacturers. I have selected three almost identical lenses from the focal length range here. I chose this as an example for the manufacturers' hyperzooms. These lenses are also called travel zooms or "always on shards". This is because they cover from the wide-angle range 18mm to the higher telephoto, here up to 300mm or the Tameron 270mm any focal length. In addition, they all have an image stabilizer and a built-in motor. At Nikon, the VR image stabilizer is called Sigma OS and Tamron VC.

I have commented on some of my lenses under Lenses.

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18–300 mm 1:3,5–5,6G ED VR (is no longer built)

18-300 mm focal lengthf3.5-5.6 light intensity 77 mm filter diameter 0.45 m minimum focusing distance Image stabilizer, integrated motor control Price: about 970 Euro (as of 10/2017)

There is now only the slightly weaker version than Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-300mm f / 3.5-6.3 G ED VR Nikon DX, the price is around 480 euros.

Sigma DC 3,5-6,3 18-300mm OS N/AF HSM Macro

18-300mm focal length 3.5-6.3 light intensity Filter diameter 72mm ?? Minimum focusing distance Image stabilizer, integrated motor control   Price ca: 375 Euro (as of 3/2020)

Tamron 3,5-6,3/18-270 DI II N/AF VC PZD*

18-270mm focal length 3.5-6.3 light intensity 62 mm filter diameter 42cm close-up limit Image stabilizer, integrated motor control   Price ca: 280 Euro (as of 04/2018)

 *Meanwhile, there is still a 16-300mm from Tamron and 18-400

Now you are spoiled for choice!

It is good in forums or in tests to inform yourself about the quality and imaging performance of the lenses. Of course, the price also plays a role.

Here everyone has to decide for themselves which lens he uses.

The website http://www.pixelpeeper.com can help you to find the right lens for you. There you will find all possible lenses from various manufacturers with sample photos on various cameras.

My wife and I have 3 of these always on lenses:

Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm f / 3.5-5.6 G ED VR (the old version VRI). In the meantime there is a new VR II version which is even better. Sometimes a few mm focal length is missing around the top.

Sigma 18-300mm F3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM Contemporary

Tamron 18-400mm F / 3.5-6.3 Di II VC HLD

We are very satisfied with all 3 lenses. Since the Sigma has a very good macro function, which the other two lenses do not offer, this lens would be the first choice for me as a beginner lens.