What to Keep, What to Sell...

[cfitz7111]

Let me first say, that I am in no way a great or even average photographer. I take pictures mostly of my family on vacations, or the kids sporting events.

I have been fortunate enough over the years to receive hand me down cameras and lenses from my father. My father has now gone the way of a micro 4/3 camera and has given me his DSLR. Now I have two DSLR's, and 6 lenses. For my needs, I do not need two bodies or 6 lenses. What lenses from the list below would you keep, Im looking to keep 2-3, the D90 is a no brainer over my current D50 as far as which body to keep.


Nikon DX 55-200
Nikon DX 18-55
Tamron 18-250 f:3.5 - 6.3
Opteka 100-300 f:5.6 - 6.7
Nikon DX 18-105 f:3.5 - 5.6
Nikon Nikkor 50 f:1.8

Besides eBay, are there any good sites that will buy equipment, I know glass, or at least good glass (I think most of mine if good) is always in demand.

Thanks for your help.

 

[fitshaced]

Let me first say, that I am in no way a great or even average photographer. I take pictures mostly of my family on vacations, or the kids sporting events.

I have been fortunate enough over the years to receive hand me down cameras and lenses from my father. My father has now gone the way of a micro 4/3 camera and has given me his DSLR. Now I have two DSLR's, and 6 lenses. For my needs, I do not need two bodies or 6 lenses. What lenses from the list below would you keep, Im looking to keep 2-3, the D90 is a no brainer over my current D50 as far as which body to keep.


Nikon DX 55-200
Nikon DX 18-55
Tamron 18-250 f:3.5 - 6.3
Opteka 100-300 f:5.6 - 6.7
Nikon DX 18-105 f:3.5 - 5.6
Nikon Nikkor 50 f:1.8

Besides eBay, are there any good sites that will buy equipment, I know glass, or at least good glass (I think most of mine if good) is always in demand.

Thanks for your help.

Can't advise based on the quality of these lenses as I've never owned them. But from the perspective of looking to keep certain focal lengths, I'd keep the 18-55, Opteka 100-300 and the 50 1.8 (I think its important to have at least 1 fast lens).

That selection doesnt cover everything but its what I'd keep.

 

[flosseR]

Nikon DX 55-200
Nikon DX 18-55
Tamron 18-250 f:3.5 - 6.3
Opteka 100-300 f:5.6 - 6.7
Nikon DX 18-105 f:3.5 - 5.6
Nikon Nikkor 50 f:1.8

Besides eBay, are there any good sites that will buy equipment, I know glass, or at least good glass (I think most of mine if good) is always in demand.

Thanks for your help.

Ok, are all these AF lenses? What other features do the lenses have? There is big variation.Definitely keep the 50mm. I think you should also keep a very wide one. So keep the 18-55 (Which version is this?).
Yes keep the D90 over the D50, no question.
If you want to keep the least amount of lenses for maximum cover:
Get rid of the tamron and the 18-55 and the 55-200... IF the opteka is AF!
If you want more versatility:
Get rid of the tamron and the 18-105, keep everything else IF the opteka is AF!

If the opteka is NOT AF, sell it, sell the tamron, and sell either the 18-55 or the 18-105. This way you are still covered from 18-200mm.

But as I said, the recommendation is nothing as we don't know what type of lenses they are..

 

[cfitz7111]

Sorry. I should have mentioned if they were AF or not, like I said I am not even a good photographer, trying to get better and learn.

All the lenses with the exception of the Opteka 100-300 are stamped AF.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[steveash]

I would say that you should try all of the lenses and see what suits you and what you like doing. Just because I or someone else thinks any one of those lenses is good or not doesn't mean that you will. They're all designed for different people in different circumstances you need to find out if they fit with you.

Don't be in a rush to sell and don't sell to a retailer they will give you half the going rate of Ebay.

 

[Bear]

If not all the lenses are auto focus, that could affect which ones you keep. Also, play with the lenses see which ones you like.

Also, Nikon only guarantees autofocus will work on lenses that have a aperture of f/5.6 or larger. The Tamron and Opteka if they are AF lenses may have issues with autofocus due to the f/6.3 and f/6.7 aperture at the longer focal lengths.

 

[Artful Dodger]

Do what others have mentioned to me to see what your needs are as follows:

1) look up and see what focal length you shoot most of your photos at "and" what lens did you use at that time (if you have that info stored in the Exif data) such as your 18-55 or the 18-105 and so on.

2) what photos do you want to be taking such as landscape, action (sports), maybe if you have kids their plays or just static objects. This will help give you a better idea for a prime lens such as the 50mm you have or maybe you need some good distance, in comes the Tamron.

3) do you shoot you stuff in good light or low light, maybe you want to start shooting in lower light so the 50mm would be a keeper.

If you are able to go through and answer some of these questions it would give you a better idea of the direction you wish to go and then it helps remove some lenses that you don't need.

I would keep the 18-105 if it is newer than the 18-55 (if this is the lens that came with the D50). Then for distance and this would depend how sharp either lens is, keep the 55-200 or the Tamron since the Tamron gives you a bit more reach, not much but it might be the extra you need. Then (even though I don't like this lens myself) keep the 50mm for now as it is a nice fast lens and would be nice in some low light areas.

Sell the rest and hang on to the money and wait for your next set of needs as you get better.

I went from a D50 with the kit 18-55, then added the 18-200 thinking this would fill my distance needs (not long enough) to learning/knowing my shooting habits where I've built a nice line-up. The 16-85 for my walk around and most stuff, 70-300 for distance and some sports and the 35mm which I will use over the 50mm every time as I really like it but everyone is different. These are all Nikon lenses but to me use what works and you can afford until things change.

Hope everything folks have mentioned helps

 

[cfitz7111]

Thanks for all the input, there is certainly a lot to learn and research.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[ChrisA]

Nikon DX 55-200
Nikon DX 18-55
Tamron 18-250 f:3.5 - 6.3
Opteka 100-300 f:5.6 - 6.7
Nikon DX 18-105 f:3.5 - 5.6
Nikon Nikkor 50 f:1.8

I'd get rid of these. f/6 is just way to slow and as I remember the bodies are not even spec'd to auto focus with such a slow lens

• Tamron 18-250 f:3.5 - 6.3
• Opteka 100-300 f:5.6 - 6.7

Keep this one for sure. You need a fast lens

• Nikon Nikkor 50 f:1.8

Put the 18-55 on the D50 body and sell it as a set. keep the 18-105
sell the 55-200. Every beginner thinks he needs a long slow lens and then later never uses it.

With the funds raised (plus maybe some more) you can get what ever you need. But look at your photo library and see what kinds of shot you've missed or aviod and buy something that solves a purpose you can point to. Likely lighting, get a bounce flash setup. Or mayube all you images are at high ISOs. If so get a better (faster) lens

 

[admwright]

sell the 55-200. Every beginner thinks he needs a long slow lens and then later never uses it.

I would not just blindly sell this one. If it is the VR version then it is a great light weight lens. If all you need is up to 200mm then you would be hard pressed to get much better without doubling the price. If you need longer then consider the 70-300VR and above that it is serious money.

All the best
Andrew W.

 

[AgRacer]

Nikon DX 55-200
Nikon DX 18-55
Tamron 18-250 f:3.5 - 6.3
Opteka 100-300 f:5.6 - 6.7
Nikon DX 18-105 f:3.5 - 5.6
Nikon Nikkor 50 f:1.8

Besides eBay, are there any good sites that will buy equipment, I know glass, or at least good glass (I think most of mine if good) is always in demand.

Thanks for your help.

Hate to break it to you but none of those lens is particularly good (assuming they are version 1) Consumer good, yes, but that's about it. That being said, you want to maximize the $$ you get and keep the good stuff.

Keep the D90. No brainer.
Keep the 18-105. It's a decent lens and will give you a nice carry around lens for the D90.
Keep the 50 f1.8. It is a great lens.

Package the D50 and the 18-55 and 55-200 put them on e-bay. It will give you a nice package to sell and likely net you more $$ than if you separate then. Neither of those lenses are over $100 on e-bay by themselves. They are "kit" lenses and there is simply no demand for them. The D50 seems to be going for around $150 by itself. I think packaging them together give you a more compelling sale than any of them all alone. If you get anywhere close to $300 for this consider it success.

What is an Opteka? I've never even heard of them and google does not appear to have either? I'm guessing it's worth almost nothing, esp. if it's a manual focus lens. I doubt a shop would even want to buy it from you.

Tamron 18-250 - which one is this? The DiII or the early model? The DiII model is a decen lens, but extemely slow at the long end. Unless you shooting in bright sunlight, the zoom is not very useful, and at F6.3 you're not going to get images that really stand out. See Nuclear Option below;

BH Photo and Adorama buy used stuff, but you'll have to send it to them. Their is likely a local camera store in your area that buys used equipment. Call them and see if they're even interested.

FINAL NUCLEAR OPTION:

Sell what I noted above AND the D90. You could net ~$1,000+ for all of it. Scrape together some more cash and buy a D7000. It will take a while to figure out all the bells and whistles, but when you do, you'll be extremely happy you upgraded.
So D50+18-55+55-200 = $250
D90 ~$600
Tamron 18-250 = $250 (assuming it's the DiII version - maybe package with D90)
Cash $150

Buy D7000 + new 8gB SD cards..win, win, win.....trust me. I upgraded my D50 to a D7000 a year ago and I love my D7000.

If you find a local shop willing to deal, see if you can work a swap for your stuff and the D7000. Only bring what you want to sell though b/c they'll want whatever you want to keep.

EDIT: Sorry, I see the D7000 is in short supply. If you want to go this option, post and I'll find my receipt at home and tell you where I got mine. It was a small shop on the East Coast somewhere last spring when no one had D7000's in stock. I got the name from Nikonians.org forums and DP Review forums. They had virtually no online store so I called, they had it, I ordered it and it showed up a few days later.