All gurus,

I am beginning to learn photography with DSLR, my current compact camera can not give the effect I want. Things that I like to shoot are:

1. Random objects

2. Landscape/scenery

3. Portrait

One thing that attracts me into photography is Depth of Field. I really like to shoot things above with nice DOF effect.

So, camera body choice on my mind is either Canon EOS 400D or Nikon D80.

But I am quite lack of knowledge on choosing the right lenses for my shooting purposes. Can gurus here give me some suggestions? Lenses below 1K are most preferred, and with low f-number, something like f-1.8.

And how worthy is Nikon D80's kit lens, 18-135mm? Is it worth investing into? Should I buy something else to replace it?

Thanks so much for all the suggestions!

Getting a lens which can produce shallow depth of field is a must to me.

1. Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 seems like a must-buy thanks for it's relatively low price (~RM350?).

Review of this lens based on D200.

2. 18-200mm VR is too pricey because spending ~3.4K for D80 is already a lot for me, though it is indeed an all-rounder.

Nikkor AF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G IF-ED VR II DX Review / Test Report

3. 18-70mm f3.5-4.5 (D70s kit lens) seems like not a bad choice for a beginner with a sacrifice on far zoom, so long it can give sharp image on subject with DOF effect.

Nikkor AF-S 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 G IF-ED DX Review / Test Report

4. 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6, which is a D80 kit lens leaving me very undecided becasue of it's focal length 135mm. And it looks quite suitable for traveling? It also can produce DOF effect as in the review below.

Nikkor AF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 G IF-ED DX Review / Test Report

Did I overlook something else?

In a nutshell, I need to do lots of homework for selecting right lenses as I am planning to get D80 end of this year or early next year, probably 2 lenses, which can serve my purpose and with a tight budget as well.

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Added on August 16, 2007, 12:19 amSomething like having sharp focus on tree leaves while the building in the background nicely blurred...

This post has been edited by TYK: Aug 16 2007, 12:19 AM

Indeed 18-200mm is recommended by a lot of people, only downside it is too pricey and I've learnt that it is quite hard to get one due to scarce supply.
Quote from the guy below:
KenRockwell


I have always thought to get shallow depth of field, the aperture has to be big (f-number small) and long focal length. What are pentagons or hexagons for the bokeh? Any sample pictures?