lens advice, nikon d40x

[bass7858]

have had my 40x for about 10 days now and have been really experimenting.
i have the kit 18-55 and the 55-200. and of course no vr. have read many reviews of the new 18-200 with vr at about $700. (the do all lens)
here is what i think i am looking at or at least think i need. i got grandkids that can move and juke faster than a jack rabbit. so i am thinking i good fast lense maybe in the 18-55 range ( a lil zoom is nice with family and kids) i dont really think it would need vr since most of the pics would be trying to keep up with the kids. (snap shooting)
i would like to able to do semi decent portraits of family and kids. maybe the above lens or one of my kit lenses are capable of that. or is there a better lens? that particular would not necessarily need the auto focus deal....for just sitting pics/portraits. just my opinion and i surely dont have very much experience.
lastly...i kind of fell into shooting birds the last couple days. i used my kit 55-200. with cam in the program mode i actually got several good shots. not great, but good. was using my monopod....breathe and hold....squeeze (rifle shooting technique). question here the best shots look really great...except when u zoom in real close....like feather detail etc. is there a better lense for this type of work? have read some about the 70-300 vr.
have also read some about other mfg's who make lenses that work with d40-40x.
any thoughts and advice would greatly appreciated.
thanks

[WestCoast]

I can't believe that they include the 55-200 without VR. That sucks.

If you want a wide-angle lens for action shots, I'd consider the Nikkor 50 mm f/1.8 prime ($100). It won't autofocus on your D40x, but you seem to indicate that that's not a problem.

If you want to shoot anything telephoto (especially birds), I'd strongly recommend the 70-300 mm VR ($450-470). I use it for bird photography and can tell you that it's about as good as you're going to get before having to pay for professional glass.

I haven't used the 18-200 mm VR, but dpreview.com said that it's somewhat soft and has chromatic aberration issues. Somebody here who owns one might be able to give you better info on how bad it is and whether or not it makes much of a difference to the average user. One thing to consider is that the "do-all" lenses with massive focal ranges tend to have image quality issues... and that's basically the trade-off that one makes for the convenience of that long zoom range.

[bass7858]

thanks west coast. any tricks u have picked up with the 40x yet? i started playing around in the manual setting to nite in low lite trying to see the effect of f-stop/shutter speed/iso setting. have not yet viewed the card on the puter yet. results were interesting on the lcd.
me thinks this could be mucho fun!!

[tim11]

----
If you want a wide-angle lens for action shots, I'd consider the Nikkor 50 mm f/1.8 prime ($100).----

Wide angle at 50 mm? It's fast prime lens but it's hard to imagine someone run around trying to focus manually on moving kids. If using indoors, you will have to back almost the wall for that. I doubt if 18-200 VR is faster than your 18-55, since it also starts from F/3.5.
There is Nikkor 17-55 F/2.8 that comes with a premium. I have a Sigma 18-50 F/2.8 that works very well for me though I am not sure if it works on D40/40x.

[tombo]

bass,
the d40x is great congrats on your pickup.
In reguards to the 18 - 200 i would suggest trying one out on your camera first, i had money in hand ready to buy one buy was very put off by the weight after feeling it in person. Its far far too heavy for the d40x in my opinion. As far as a lens for the kids running around i think speed isn't really an issue, you could get a 2.8 or even a 1.8 lens but i don't think shallow depth of feild is what you are always after in a shot like that.

That said i do highly reccomend getting the 50mm 1.8, its a fantastic lens for portraits and some macro and after a little practice you can focus remarkably fast with it.

i say stick with the 18 - 55 a little longer until you are positive of what you need from a lens., i have taken close to 25,000 shots on mine and it continues to suprise me with how good it is.

[K1W1]

Bass7858

I think that you will get a much better response to your query if you post in the Nikon DSLR section of the Forum.