new lens for my d40... HELP!

[speedfreek88]

im looking at lenses for my nikon d40 and need some help narrowing it down from some of you photo guys. ill be using this lens mainly for wildlife and sports photography so id like a telephoto with VR (vibration reduction). im on a budget and would like to resonably stay under 600 bucks...

here are a couple i found... if you have any suggestions please let me know!

- [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-55-200mm-4-5-6G-Vibration-Reduction/dp/B000O161X0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1249489982&sr=1-2]Amazon.com: Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR [Vibration Reduction] Zoom Nikkor Lens: Electronics[/ame]

- [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-70-300mm-4-5-5-6G-Digital-Cameras/dp/B000HJPK2C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1249490027&sr=1-1]Amazon.com: Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras: Electronics[/ame]

 

[cobra_matt]

The 55-200mm VR is pretty popular for sports and wildlife, and is relatively inexpensive. I plan on buying that lens to go along with my 18-55 pretty shortly. Unless you absolutley need the 300mm, I'd go with the 55-200.

 

[Fordman9870]

Purchase the best lense you can afford. you may try to find a lense that has a better f stop than 4.5 especially for sports action. On a bright day the f4.5 are ok but f4.0 or less is awesome. I use canon and got the f4.0 IS 70-200 with a 1.5 teleconverter. The difference between my consumer 75-300 f4.5-5.6 and this f4.0 is like night and day.
it was also about 1g to get though.
Also for wildlife 400mm are good but the downside, you sometimes need more f stop and that can be pricey for that high of mm. A lot of the best wildlife pictures are taken in low light conditions when they are more active (sunup and sundown).
Sporting events indoors are hard to take pictures with the high f stop (4.5 and up) without uping the ISO a ton with the f4.5->. also if they are outside and it is in twilight some pictures tend to be blurry. (i use to do Soccer pictures indoor/outdoor for my sons team) hope this helps a little good luck!!

EDIT: try beach camera, this is where i buy my lenses. the first of the 2 lenses you chose is cheaper here, the other isnt.
http://www.beachcamera.com/shop/Sea...scs=true&kwd=Nikon+55-200mm+f/4-5.6G&x=19&y=9

 

[RDJ]

BHPhotovideo is the best place to buy camera stuff I have found so far. I will have to check out Beach tho don't think I have checked with them. the 55-200 is a good lens but if you are looking for a good all around lens try this one:

Nikon | 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S DX VR Autofocus | 2159

considerably more expensive but a much better lens since is is 3.5. it is the next lens on my list. I already have the 18-55 and the 70-300 along with a couple of other lenses.

I only mention this because you didn't say what your budget was either of those lenses are great tho. personally I also stick with nikon lenses with my D70s

Edited to add: here is a good review of the lenses. http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/18200/versus-55-200mm.htm

 

[50 Proof]

I think the D40 has the smaller DX sensor? If so, the 200mm lens will be more like 300mm if you have the small sensor with a 1.5x crop factor.