Recently purchased DSLR. Need recommendations/opinions for lenses...
I recently purchased a Nikon D3100 with the kit lens (18-55mm).
My primary interest right now is close-up photography, i.e., flowers, insects etc. I want to be able to achieve a very shallow depth of field - blur or fade out the background. The largest possible aperture on the kit lens is 5.6 and if there's any way of working with depth of field on that, I don't know how to achieve it.
What would be the most versatile fast lens that I could get to give me depth of field functionality as well as a good walking around lens? Preferably in the $200 range. I'm not looking for professional quality in the optics. Should I try to sell the kit lens and get something that has more all-around utility?
As an aside, I used a film SLR back in the day, but I'm having difficulty with all the digital stuff. Any ideas?
= new reply since forum marked as read
The kit lens isn't bad. It's a good little lens for going out and about -- it's basically a 35mm equivalent of 27mm - 80mm (roughly). I have the same lens and find I can do better "macro-ish" shots with it than other lenses in my arsenal. I generally save my macro-ish shots for my Lumix GX1 and it's 17mm (34mm equiv) pancake lens.
Example of 17mm 2.8 lens bokeh and close up ability:
Also, another thing you may lose, depending on how old you go for manual lenses, is metering. You may have to do that on your own too. 
I've been practically in tears from time to time. Here's one major issue:
The flash function. It appeared, from the menu, that there were several modes where it wasn't possible to turn the flash OFF. Well, that wouldn't work in situations where flash is not allowed, like in a church etc.
So I went online and found that there were a boatload of entries from people who couldn't figure out the flash. It took me about two hours and actually constructing my own flowchart to figure it out. Yes, the flash can be reliably disabled, but it takes different techniques to do it.
What's annoying is that I could write better documentation than what Nikon has on this.
I wonder if Canon is better in this respect.
Thanks for the link.
I bought the Nikon b/c it was less expensive. End of story. Maybe having second thoughts, I don't know. 
ETA> Took a quick look at some of your pics. Extraordinary! Love the snake/ lily pads one.
Short on time right now, but will come back later to view them all. 
I read it and then spent about two hours last night following one link or another and trying to educate myself about all this. Eventually, my brain turned to mush and I gave up and went to bed.
So, I'm back, and here's what I know so far:
Here are the 3 nikon lenses in the article -
•Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
•Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.4G SIC SW Prime Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
•Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor AI-S Manual Focus Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
The f/1.4 & the f/1.2 are $439. and $719 respectively. Way out of my price range. The f/1.8D is $128. and seems like a very nice lens.
This is probably the place to say that the small pictures to the left of the screen on Amazon where various lenses are shown are EXACTLY the type of pics I'm interested in (closeups of leaves, pets etc.), so I guess I'm on the right track.
I spent a LOT of time looking up lens acronyms and various definitions, i.e., sensor size, crop factor, dx vs. fx and on and on.
I found some other lenses, too...
This: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-35mm-1-8G-Digital-Cameras/dp/B001S2PPT0/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1368323672&sr=1-3&keywords=nikon+50mm+f%2F1.8
and this: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-50mm-Nikkor-Digital-Cameras/dp/B00005LEN4/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1K6PN9KTPQT6G&coliid=IP9Q8MBG205MZ This may be the same as one above, I don't know.
I guess my D3100 is a DX format (thus the 'D' ) with a crop factor that makes a 35mm effectively like a 50 mm? 1.5 magnification?
So, would it be better to look for a 35mm as the poster below suggests?
Does it really matter if the lens is auto-focus? I mean, with my old film SLR I always had to focus manually.
Do you have any preference with the links I've given? I don't know how anyone ever manages to purchase the appropriate lens.
Any further help would be most appreciated. There's a butterfly exhibit going on at my local arboretum for the next few weeks, and I'd sure like to get some decent pics there. Thanks again.
The D in D3100 stands for "digital". 
For the size, weight, sharpness, and price, the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 is a great buy. The 35mm is a more natural length (the "normal" lens) on a DX camera, while the 50mm can be used as a short portrait telephoto on a DX camera. Your shooting style comes into play here as to which would be more useful. For me, if the 35mm DX lens had existed when I was still using a DX body, I would have gotten that one instead of the 50mm, which I use a bit more now that I have gone full-frame.
For most DSLR users, auto-focus matters. For the youngsters because they don't have the manual focus experience. For us old fogies because the focus screens in DSLRs are not made for manual focus and lack all the focus aids that film SLRs had. (Alternative focus screens for some DSLRs can be purchased from third parties.) Regardless of the lens you get, I recommend the AF-S version for the D3100 and any other body without a focus motor in it.
