I know this question gets asked a lot, but everyone's situation is a little different and I can use some advise for mine. I'm new to photography and have taken a Photo 1 class at uni where I used a 35mm film cam with a 50mm/2.0 lens. I bought a Nikon D50 a while ago and bought the 18-135mm lens to replace the kit lens.

I haven't used the D50 in a while and don't really remember well how I felt about the zoom range the 18-135 offers. I also don't really have a photographic style yet, so I don't really know what I need. And I can't play with the lens and camera at the moment because it's in another country for now.

So, I can't decide between the Nikon 18-200, 16-85 or Tamron 17-50 VC. I will be using this lens to shoot irreplaceable photos while traveling, so I want good image quality. Would the Tamron plus my 18-135 be a good combo, or would the 16-85 and 18-135 be more useful, or should I just get the 18-200. I don't really have the experience to know if the Tamron's 2.8 aperture is essential for me or more useful than the 16-85's extra range. Or maybe even the Tamron plus a Nikon 70-300mm? The decision is feeling quite overwhelming.


Does anyone have some suggestions?