Nikon D-5000, 12.3 megapixel DSLR- what lenses should I use? (beginner)?

Hi, I recently bought a NIKON D5000 DSLR body only, without the lens. What lens should I use, for the purpose of simple, clear and in-depth photography? Nothing too fancy…
(And with a lsimple budget- I'd like to pay up to $100 dollars)

The kit lens that usually comes with it is a good start but since you got the body only, I would suggest buying a f/1.8 50mm lens. It should cost you less than 100 bucks but the images are quite sharp. That's a great start to learn photography. Have fun.

ANY Nikkor AF-S lens will work perfectly with your camera.

Here is a link to those lenses

http://www.nikonusa.com/...index.page

You will see that a budget of $100 will not buy you much.

You are in the big time now.

Look for a 18-55 mm lens. You should be able to find a used one for under $100. Just be patient

Get the 18-55mm vr 3.5-5.6 lens. It's cheap, it's pretty sharp and versatile since you'll have the 18mm for wide angle and the 55mm end for mid zoom.

From there you will probably start to notice what kind of lens you would prefer in the future. It's a good gateway lens.

PiCi suggested the 50mm/1.8 lens. I'd adivse against it. It's a good lens, but it's not very versatile, and it just may be the wrong lens for your purposes. It's good for low light situations and portraits or other work with blurred backgrounds, but it's a light telephoto lens and does not change its zoom range at all (it's a so-called prime lens). If you want to take wide angle shots, then it's of no use to you.

Also it comes in two versions, the older 50mm/1.8D AF which costs $140 or so and will NOT autofocus on your camera, and the newer 50mm/1.8G AF-S which coss $225 and will autofocus.

I'd advise that you get the standard 18-55mm kit lens. New you won't get one for $100 either, look for a used one. Prefer the VR version if you can get it, its image stabilizer is quite useful.

Better get used to spending a lot more money on lenses. Good lenses are more important than the camera body is, and often just as costly or even more expensive.

$100 doesn't buy much of a lens!
The standard kit lens 18-55mm is a great starter lens. If you had bought it with the body you would have got it for around $50, buying it alone will cost much more than that.