Going with a Nikon D750 for my first foray into DSLR cameras. With that said, I could use some guidance for lens selection. Uses will be general photography (family portraits & outings, landscapes, occasional kids soccer game, etc). From what I understand, the 24-120mm is good, but not great, and I'd be better off buying the body, and a separate lens.





I'm considering the 50mm F1.8 as a daily use, and something in the 300mm later if I need zoom options. What sayeth the hive?
 

The 24-120mm f/4 is a pretty good lens actually, and fairly cheap when you get the kit. The Sigma 24-105mm is also pretty good from what I've seen.

24-70mm f/2.8 is really good but bigger, heavier, and much more expensive. Maybe not worth it unless you really need the extra stop of aperture. There are Sigma and Tamron alternatives that are also really good lenses at a lower price.

The 50mm f/1.8 is a great lens too, but you're going to need something wider if you want to do landscapes, and something longer if you want to do portraits.



If it was me, I'd get the kit 24-120mm (or Sigma version) and then decide what lenses I really need next based on what aspect of the kit lens I find limiting.

Otherwise I'd get a few primes. Probably the 50mm f/1.8G, something like the 24mm f/2.8D for wider shots like landscapes, and maybe the 85mm f/1.8G for portraits. Even then I think I'd still get a decent zoom lens because I like having normal and wide focal lengths in one lens for the kind of shooting I do.

The 50mm f/1.8 is always a great option for the price.

The 24-120mm will work fine for your "family portraits & outings, landscapes".
For the kid's soccer games you are going to need something like the 70-300mm VR (on the cheap end). That is assuming you are shooting from the sidelines and not the stadium seats.

Lenses are a "right tool for the job" kind of item. Stick with the consumer-grade kit lens, which is a very good lens, until you figure out what is holding you back from getting the shots you want.

See if you can get a discount for not getting the crappy tripod.

Since you are starting out, use the 24-120 for a while and figure out if you want to stick with it and/or what you think you are lacking. Buying gear is fun, but not the solution to good photos.

http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product/Camera-Lenses/AF-S-NIKKOR-28-300mm-f%252F3.5-5.6G-ED-VR.html

It's hard to beat the versatility of this lens. It is priced competitively to the 24-120mm and these two lenses get the same rating on DxoMark.com. With the extra reach of the 300mm, that would be my recommendation for your scenario.

Looks like I'll be getting the kit version. No dice on a discount for removing the tripod, but free never hurt.



Kudos on the info. Looks like I have some more reading to do. I didn't notice there were different grades to the lenses at first.

huzzah, UPS man has arrived!

I was going to tag this thread but I'm way out of my league.
The 50mm f1.8 is a great choice.  
I sold the 50 in favor of a 35mm f1.8.  I like it better for the type of shooting I do.  YMMV.

Take a look at a wide lens.  Something 12mm or under at the wide end.
I rent the Tokina DX 11-16 from time to time (Yes I know it's a lens for a cropped sensor)
I really enjoy the ability to go really wide without a fisheye.  Landscapes especially.
I can go down to 18mm with my widest lens and that's not always enough.
I think? Nikon has a couple of FX lenses that are really wide.

FWIW I'm a lowly DX shooter. (shuffling back to the kiddie table in the corner)

I almost forgot, a small flash.  I have the discontinued SB-400.
This time of year I use it a lot for fill flash when the sun won't move where I want.

Any advice is appreciated. In terms of photography knowledge, I'm still very much new to it all. I just only settled on what camera after months of research.  I'd wager you take much better pictures with your "lowly DX" than I can with my camera.



Gonna takes lots of pictures and have many more months of read-ups and then...even more practice!

hobbez84: Take lots of photos. Professional photogs take thousands of photos and the general public only see's a very small percentage of the photos. And see which ones that you like.

Personally, since you are a newbie, I would get just the basic outfit and use the max out of it. I have and still use a Nikon D40X, but I have outgrown my D40X(poor low-light performance), and have moved up to a Nikon D5200, I think my next step will be the just introduced D7200. I have shot more than 200,000 photos in the past 7 or 8 years. The Nikon shutters are built like tanks. I like the DX(cropped sensors) rather than the FX cameras because years ago, I carried a film-based Nikon F(which weighted a ton.)

The Nikon 24MB DX cameras will print a 13"X20" photo at 300DPI,

I would try to take a class in photography at the local community college etc, to learn more of the technical aspects.

I love this camera...took some outside shots over the weekend, and it's 99% easier to take a outdoor shot compared to my older Panasonic. Heck even the auto puts out great pictures.







I'm signed up for a local class at a community college to get a better idea of photography. Can't wait for July to roll around.

Come on over to Nikonians.org (http://www.nikonians.org)
Lots of knowledgeable, friendly people on all things Nikon.

Hope I'm not sidetracking but I've seen a lot of people complain about Nikonians because they charge for memberships.  

I've thought about joining but just never got around to it. I don't mind paying for something worthwhile to me ie this site. but just want to make sure it is worth it before I do.

I deleted my account after a couple weeks of getting an email almost every day telling me to post and earn more points.



 

The basic membership is free.
Paid membership ($25 yearly) gets you some added features, most noticeably the inlining of pictures in your messages and a gallery to upload pictures to.

The basic membership is "free" and active for a certain amount of time. You have to post stuff to get more days of membership. So you can't lurk and get information. Some people just plain don't like posting stuff.