lens genuine or not

[richardc43]

can some one tell me, i am fairly new and very green to photography, i have a Nikon D3000 with a 18-55mm and 55-200mm nikon lens, plus i have a sigma 10-20mm. i would like to know should i stick with Nikon lens? or is it ok to purchase lens like Sigma? does it matter to someone like myself that only really uses his camera on Holidays? i am looking at a 70-300mm the price difference is $350. i am not even real sure why i want to purchase another lens, maybe i should just get to understand the unit i currently have.

[old dog]

You last sentence makes the most sense at this stage. Get used to your camera and use the 18-55 mostly as this is the most usable everyday focal length range. I have the 17-55 f2.8 lens and it stays on the camera most of the time. Read the New to Photography forum/tutorials and you will learn a lot. Put your best pics on here for critique and learn.....and most of all have fun.

[swifty]

You need to judge each lens on its own merit regardless of whether it's original manufacturer branded or third party.
There are excellent Nikon lenses for your Nikon as there are Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Zeiss etc. branded ones for your Nikon. Just check the compatibility (eg. AF will only work with lenses with in-lens AF motors).
Then check the feedback on the particular lens you're after and how it stacks up against the Nikon equivalent to see whether the difference in price is worth it for you.
Sometimes the quality difference will be big but sometimes a third party lens can equal or even beat Nikon ones, for the same/more but usually lower price.

- - - Updated - - -

FYI, the Nikon 70-300 (with VR) is a highly rated, good bang for your buck lens.
The non-VR Nikon 70-300 is rated quite poorly. I don't have any experience with the non-Nikon 70-300's.
But considering a gray version of the VR Nikon version is about $510, and the Sigma version with VR (OS in Sigma talk) is about $400 at the same internet site, there's not a lot of price difference. Which further reinforces my original point, don't worry about the brand, judge the particular lens.
I'm not sure where you got the $350 price difference from but make sure you're comparing apples to apples ie. the Nikon VR version to the Sigma OS version.

[MattNQ]

Yep, what they said

In terms of choosing the lenses you need, it is not until you take heaps of photos & go through them that you begin to see where you mostly take your photos (focal length-wise and lighting-wise).

Two examples.

If you never take a photo greater than 150mm, then no point getting a lens that goes to 300mm...but if you are always hitting 200mm and wishing you had more...then your question is answered.

Your current lenses will be heaps wide enough for holiday pics, but if your holidays tend to include wandering through european cathedrals & palaces where you usually can't use a flash, you might want to direct your lens budget to a wide angle lens with a larger aperture so you can hand hold in lower light.

[ameerat42]

...plus i have a sigma 10-20mm...

Just on this bit, use it for sure. You've got quite a good starting range. And I agree with the other comments.
Am.

[ving]

if you have a 55-200 do you find yourself wanting more length? if yes then i'd sugest you look at some reviews. I have the sigma 150-500 which i use for wildlife, but i also use it for sports in sunny weather. its cheap and it works but its slow. it comes down to what you want it for i guess.

[arthurking83]

Lenses are harder to justify when going beyond the 200mm focal length, as already said .. do you find that you find yourself wanting to go longer?

But!! .. on the other hand, once you get a super wide angle lens like a 10-whatever mm then this extra wide point of view can be addictive ..... and you seem to want more and more!

I'd say go with a 10-20mm Sigma. They're very good lenses for the money.

[J.davis]

Just because the label says SIGMA doesn't mean its a bad lens most people cannot tell the difference between a named brand lens and a 3rd party one.

[reaction]

brand matters not at all. each lens has different features which may be important for your use.
I wouldn't buy grey import new. Any issues are a pain to get fixed, but the main thing is that it comes in the mail. You don't test it for obvious issues before you get it, and you have to ship by reg'd post to get it fixed.