[M35]

Originally Posted by Rohan24

Currently have the basic 18-55mm Kit lens that came with my D3300. My photography mostly includes landscape and astrophotography.

I had a Samyang 14 f2.8 when I used to shoot a lot of landscapes with my FF bodies. Great lens, but manual; but then you don't need AF for landys and astros. There is also a new AF version launched this year, but I would recommend the manual and focusing is a breeze too after the initial learning.
have a look at some of the images taken with it: here

Since I am not getting enough time, sold off my FF gear, but kept a Rokinon=Samyang 85 1.4 monster, another gem of a lens.

You can buy used ones on JJMehta

Since you are mostly in to Landscapes + Astro, you might want to consider getting a used FF like, D700 or D6xx as well.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Couple of shots from my D5600. It ended up almost entirely in my kids hands. All pics by the children.



Sunset at Karkala



The Tunga (or is it the Bhadra?) at Sringeri



Another view of the river.



Attempt at night photography - the Murudeshwar Gopuram 35mm f/1.8 Nikkor lens. No tripod.



The beach at Murudeshwara



The beach at Murudeshwara

[M35]

An ISO 20000 shot from an APS-C Nikon.
An evening scene from the city of Shenzhen. The skyscraper cutting through clouds and some dramatic colours as well. Didn't have a tripod and this is how it came out.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by Rohan24

Hi, bit of a "noob" here at purchasing lenses and photography as a whole. Currently have the basic 18-55mm Kit lens that came with my D3300. My photography mostly includes landscape and astrophotography.

I will seriously consider replacing the basic optics with something like 18-140mm. The basic zoom does not cost much so it will not break the bank. Give it a thought.

[M35]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I will seriously consider replacing the basic optics with something like 18-140mm. The basic zoom does no cost much so it will not break the bank. Give it a thought.

Nikon 18-55 with Nikon 18-140?
For Landscapes or Astro, what advantage does the latter bring to the table ?
Both of them start @18mm + f3.5. Both are budget kit lenses. If you think 18-55 is basic, so is the 18-140. At the right hands, both can produce equally good images though. I would pick the little 18-55 for landscapes over the 18-140 any day.

[Aroy]

18-55 is a much better lens optically compared to 18-140. The only advantage of latter is its wider zoom range.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by Aroy

18-55 is a much better lens optically compared to 18-140. The only advantage of latter is its wider zoom range.

Remember one of his specialities is astrophotography. Here even 140mm may not be long enough.

[Aroy]

For Astrophotography, manual focus wide angle are most used ones, as they
. Cover a wider field of view
. Have faster optics - F/1.4 to F/2 compared to budget zooms which are usually F/3.5 or more.
. You need a hard stop for infinity focus, which is normally absent in zooms and AF lenses. Hard stop ensures that you are focusing at infinity and not beyond (that will mean stars are out of focus)

[M35]

Originally Posted by Aroy

18-55 is a much better lens optically compared to 18-140.

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Remember one of his specialities is astrophotography. Here even 140mm may not be long enough.

??
I think the OP is talking about night sky/milky way type, the nightscapes

Originally Posted by Aroy

For Astrophotography, manual focus wide angle are most used ones, as they
. Cover a wider field of view
. Have faster optics - F/1.4 to F/2 compared to budget zooms which are usually F/3.5 or more.
. You need a hard stop for infinity focus, which is normally absent in zooms and AF lenses. Hard stop ensures that you are focusing at infinity and not beyond (that will mean stars are out of focus)

f3.5 is good enough for the night shots. Samyang 14 f/2.8 is my pick for the purpose.

[Rohan24]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Remember one of his specialities is astrophotography. Here even 140mm may not be long enough.

I think you have mistaken my requirement, sir. I don't mean the zoomed in images of nebulae or say, the moon. That's caused the confusion I think.

Originally Posted by Aroy

For Astrophotography, manual focus wide angle are most used ones, as they
. Cover a wider field of view
. Have faster optics - F/1.4 to F/2 compared to budget zooms which are usually F/3.5 or more.
. You need a hard stop for infinity focus, which is normally absent in zooms and AF lenses. Hard stop ensures that you are focusing at infinity and not beyond (that will mean stars are out of focus)

Originally Posted by M35

I think the OP is talking about night sky/milky way type, the nightscapes

Yes, this is what I meant. Mostly looking for wide angle.
Anyway, for the moment I think I'll stick to the kit lens, used ones aren't available right now and new one is exceeding budget a bit. Experimented a bit again last night with trails and quite satisfied with the results. I shall share the pics later when I get back home.
Thanks for all your responses.

[sumathindra]

To all the camera gurus out there, i need some guidance here.

Its time I move from crop to full frame and I have an offer of a Nikon D3 for 70K in a very good condition. My question is should I go for it as I am not really up to going for a new one (cost being one of the factors). Once I get used to this I can think later.

For now is this a good buy? Please suggest and recommend...

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by sumathindra

To all the camera gurus out there, i need some guidance here.

Its time I move from crop to full frame and I have an offer of a Nikon D3 for 70K in a very good condition. My question is should I go for it as I am not really up to going for a new one (cost being one of the factors). Once I get used to this I can think later.

For now is this a good buy? Please suggest and recommend...

D3 though a soild body, is now quite old and newer models are much superior. If you want just full frame (and not a professional grade body that can stand a lot of abuse) a new D750 is a much better buy. At a pinch you can even go for D610, but D750 is much much superior.

At nearly 1,10,000/ it is much better buy than D3 at 70,000/

https://www.amazon.in/Nikon-D750-Dig...70_&dpSrc=srch

https://www.flipkart.com/nikon-d750-...meyhh3sm7xehva

https://www.snapdeal.com/product/nik...-120/967456760

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by sumathindra

To all the camera gurus out there, i need some guidance here.

Its time I move from crop to full frame and I have an offer of a Nikon D3 for 70K in a very good condition. My question is should I go for it as I am not really up to going for a new one (cost being one of the factors). Once I get used to this I can think later.

For now is this a good buy? Please suggest and recommend...

I write this purely based on what you have mentioned - no real specific need but maybe a case of "upgrade itch".

D3 is a 10+ year old model. Everything in the camera is that much older. AF system, sensor, shutter mechanism, everything. Whats worse is, Nikon may stop any sort of service/part-replacements for it soon (speculating here). Just like Canon did for 5D a few years back. It would be better to wait for a few more months and pickup a new D750 as Aroy recommends, or even a used one at similar prices.

Originally Posted by Aroy

D3 though a soild body, is now quite old and newer models are much superior. If you want just full frame (and not a professional grade body that can stand a lot of abuse) a new D750 is a much better buy. At a pinch you can even go for D610, but D750 is much much superior.

+1

[Rohan24]

These are a few pics taken with my 18-55mm Kit lens on a D3300.

Muckross Lake, Kerry, Ireland :


Yelagiri ghat :


Some trails I experimented with yesterday near the airport :


Attempt at astro in Chikmagalur :

[fine69]

I have a Canon 550D and I shoot a lot during my road trips. The kit lens, 18-55, has served me well however a wide angle lens was always missed.

I wish to get a wide angle lens as I do 60-70% landscape photography but since I'm also keen in video shooting I was thinking a 10-18mm f4.5/5.6 should work for both.

Given the limited research I did this seems to be a good lens for my needs but wanted to check with the experts.

EDIT: The Canon EF-S 10-18MM f/4.5-5.6 IS STM Zoom Lens has a super quiet motor so autofocus during video shooting would be a great help. The kit lens sucks at autofocus with too much noise during video shoots.