As far as lenses are concerned, there are basically 3 types.
1) A variable aperture zoom lens. These are the entry level lenses you will get with this camera. Variable aperture means that as you "zoom in" that your minimum aperture will change from something like f/3.5 to f/5.6. Basically, you are cutting the amount of light coming into your camera in half. This is fine when you are in bright sunlight. Indoors, this is not so good.
2) next you have fixed focal length lenses. These are also called primes by many people. They do not zoom (your feet are the zoom). The 35mm lens I mentioned before is an entry level Nikon prime lens at $199. While the so not zoom, they let in a LOT of light. That 35mm is a f/1.8 lens. That means it lets in 3x the amount of light as the 18-55 kit lens at the same focal length. This is good for darker areas or areas you can't bounce a flash (or maybe even used with a flash). Nicer primes start to cost more money, and on the Nikon platform they need to have AF-S focus systems to work with your camera, and not all do (example: 50mm f/1.8 AF that is popular due to its $100 price point will not autofocus on the D3200).
3) last, you have non-variable aperture zoom lenses. In these the minimum aperture is usually f/2.8 and stay so through out the zoom range. These lenses are VERY expensive to the tune of $1800 or more new and are generally used by professionals.
As with anything on a budget, camera equipment becomes a lot of trade offs. Unless you have a specific need for telephoto I'd personally skip the 55-200 for the time being and get just the 18-55, plus the 35mm f/1.8 and an SB-700 flash. This will give you the greatest flexibility on a budget.
1) A variable aperture zoom lens. These are the entry level lenses you will get with this camera. Variable aperture means that as you "zoom in" that your minimum aperture will change from something like f/3.5 to f/5.6. Basically, you are cutting the amount of light coming into your camera in half. This is fine when you are in bright sunlight. Indoors, this is not so good.
2) next you have fixed focal length lenses. These are also called primes by many people. They do not zoom (your feet are the zoom). The 35mm lens I mentioned before is an entry level Nikon prime lens at $199. While the so not zoom, they let in a LOT of light. That 35mm is a f/1.8 lens. That means it lets in 3x the amount of light as the 18-55 kit lens at the same focal length. This is good for darker areas or areas you can't bounce a flash (or maybe even used with a flash). Nicer primes start to cost more money, and on the Nikon platform they need to have AF-S focus systems to work with your camera, and not all do (example: 50mm f/1.8 AF that is popular due to its $100 price point will not autofocus on the D3200).
3) last, you have non-variable aperture zoom lenses. In these the minimum aperture is usually f/2.8 and stay so through out the zoom range. These lenses are VERY expensive to the tune of $1800 or more new and are generally used by professionals.
As with anything on a budget, camera equipment becomes a lot of trade offs. Unless you have a specific need for telephoto I'd personally skip the 55-200 for the time being and get just the 18-55, plus the 35mm f/1.8 and an SB-700 flash. This will give you the greatest flexibility on a budget.
Same here. I'm just trying to justify the expense in my head. I know I'll get use out of it but I don't have the first clue on using one of these things, thats why I haven't brought one yet.
