I have recently been shopping for a new lens for my camera, something to extend my range and give me some new  perspectives to work with. I have been looking for decent deals, but have discovered that with my camera, that may not be easy. For my to use a lens on my camera that can be focused by the camera, I have to use the AF-S series of lens, because my camera does not have an AF power drive motor. For the most part, this has not been a problem when looking at  lenses in the past, because I have either been in the lower series of Nikon lenses, or I have been looking at lenses that are completely manual. Now that I am looking at the Nikon 70-300mm range, I am finding there are options. At a cost of $150, there is the standard 70-300mm Auto Focus lens, unfortunately, that becomes manual focus on the D60 because of the absence of the motor drive (not having the motor drive makes it more energy efficient, as well as lighter and smaller). So, I must look at other options, and the only other option Nikon offers is the 70-300mm AF-S lens, at a cost of about $550, much of the cost due to the integrated servo focus mechanism.  The lens I looked at also has the problem of being a different filter size, at 67mm (compared to 52mm for my current lenses and 55mm for the Fuji). For the type of shots I would be doing with it, I don’t anticipate really needing filters though, since the 55-200mm that I have currently would still be the most versatile of the set.

The whole idea of adding a new lens to my set is probably a little crazy, but I am finding that some of my subjects are just barely out of reach, something that 100mm more (150mm comparable to 35mm) would resolve quite nicely. I have tried my 500mm lens in a variety of situations and I can not keep the shake down enough to make it work for general purpose, and of course, focus is not something easily done through a viewfinder.