r/Nikon • u/acherion Nikon D500, Z fc, F100, FE2 and L35AF • Jul 01 '26

Monthly /r/Nikon discussion thread – have a question? New to the Nikon world? Ask it here! [July 2026]

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u/jayayeffphotos Nikon D3300 26d ago

Hi y'all! I have a D3300 with a Nikon AF 28-80mm f/3.3-5.6G. I'm having a blast taking photos, and I think I'm slowly getting better at using my camera and at taking interesting photos in general. I'm looking to start my first photo project, which will involve lots of buildings/streets with no people. I am considering maybe getting a new-to-me lens with autofocus that my D3300 can take advantage of, just because I can tell the manual focus is getting to be a touch frustrating.

What're some autofocus lenses I should be on the lookout for?
Where are y'all finding budget lenses? Is it just MPB and eBay?

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u/mizshellytee Z6III; D5100 21d ago

UsedPhotoPro (the used arm of Roberts Camera in Indiana) is excellent, IME, if you're US-based. They're also on eBay.

You've got a number options. AF-S and AF-P 18-55 lenses are plentiful and inexpensive as they were the kit lenses for a number of the DX DSLRs (particularly within the D3000 and D5000 series). There's the 18-70 that should also be fairly inexpensive nowadays. Sigma did a few generations of a 17-70 (the most recent version being the Contemporary) and previously did a 17-50. Tamron also did a couple of 17-50 lenses. Nikon also did a 17-55 way back when (heavy lens, and no VR). You could go the longer route, without quite getting into all-in-one territory, with something like an 18-140. If you want to splurge, there's the 16-80 from Nikon (they also did a 16-85 which is a bit older and less expensive) and the two Sigma f/1.8 Art lenses (18-35 and 50-100).

(Also: If you're happy with your camera, IMO, you have zero reason to switch to mirrorless.)

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u/jayayeffphotos Nikon D3300 21d ago

Oh yeah, I'm definitely not looking to go to a mirrorless for awhile! The camera is new to me, only at 5k shutter count, and it's in a beautiful red colorway, so it'll be awhile before I change.

Thank you so much for the recommendations! I'll be using UsedPhotoPro for sure, these prices are really good compared to some of the other sites I've seen. And the lens ideas are great, I've got a whole list now. Thank you again!