equipment recommendation - Should I get a kit or separate lens for my D7000?

I am set on getting a D7000 and am drooling already to get one. My only hurdle left is to determine whether the kit lens is good or if i should get the body only and put the 300$ difference between the body only and the kit towards a better lens?

The kit the comes with the camera is 18-105mm and from what I can tell is the same lens that comes with the D90 kit. I had the d90 kit and found i was not able to get good depth of field control.

Based on this I was thinking to get the body only and look at somethign like this 55-300mm for $350: Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR Zoom Lens

Is this a good choice? What else would be a versatile lens that's a step up from the kit lens that I should look at? I want nice low light images and want a lens able to harness the ISO range of the D7000, so that i can sit in my seat at a party and get nice shots close up to subjects on stage... as well as nice shots of my kids indoors and out, and portraits of my beautiful wife.

Answer

55-300 is a telephoto zoom, not the most versartile lens for shooting indoors as it's relatively slow (doesn't let in much light). It's fine for outdoors/nature though. I would recommend getting something wider, especially if this is your only lens. 55mm on the d7000 is around a portraiture focal length, meaning it's usually used for close ups of people. If you attempt to shoot groups of people you'll find yourself backing off a long way to get everyone in!

Unfortunately shooting parties and telephotos don't mix very well due to the combination of low light, small aperture, camera shake and limited flash range. I would definitely recommend you getting a 50 f/1.8 lens as well as / instead of the kit lens. The 50mm will let in about 8x as much light as the 55-300 or the kit lens (it's about three stops faster). This comes in very handy shooting at parties.

However the 50mm isn't the most flexible lens, it suffers the same problems as the 55-300 in that it's not wide enough for many uses. I would still get one if I were you, but pair it with a standard length zoom. I'm not that familiar with the Nikon range but I'm sure someone here could suggest a few options.