Nikon Lens Question

NeilMc

NeilMc

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Guys moving from Canon to a Nikon D7000 I've found understanding the Nikon Lens range a nightmare.

I want to buy the best quality, ideally Professional quality, Prime lens be it a 35mm f1.8 or a 50mm

I picked the D7000 up at a bargain price but when I get my PPI claim paid I want to step up to full plate so any investment in a prime lens must be made with the view to it being used on an FX camera in the future.

Any help gratefully received
 
The 35 f1.4 and both the 50mm f1.8 and f1.4 are all designed for the FX models but will also work on the DX models. The 35mm f1.8 will not.
 
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From my own purchases nikon do both 35 and 50 in either a D or a G model.

The G being the higher and normally the newer of the two with better quality optics.

I have the 50 1.4g and its fantastic.

Clarke.
 
Hi Neil,

Any lens with 'DX' in the title is made for the crop sensor, so will not fill the sensor on a full frame (FX) camera. If it hasn't got DX in the title, it will work fully on a FX camera.

The FX camera will have a mode where it will reduce the sensor size to utilize the image from a DX lens, but if you definitely will upgrade to full frame, then there is no reason to buy a DX, other than cost.

The 35mm f1.8 is a DX lens, I have one and it is brilliant. It was designed to emulate the field of view you get with a 50mm on full frame - if you are going full frame anyway, you would probably be best either skipping this lens, or buying second hand and selling later.
 
I also have the 50mm 1.4 G. I use it on a DX format, mainly for head shots but it will be great on FX. Its a cracking lens and would get my vote.
 
Tunbridge said:
I also have the 50mm 1.4 G. I use it on a DX format, mainly for head shots but it will be great on FX. Its a cracking lens and would get my vote.
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Agree got that lens as well

Realspeed
 
Obvious choice would seem to be either the 50mm 1.8g AF-S or 50mm 1.4g AF-S. Both are FX compatible, and both excellent. It's probably easiest to make a case for the 1.8g as it's meant to be every bit as good as the 1.4 but just over half the price. I have the 1.4 and am very happy.

The 35mm 1.8g is designated DX only though there seem to be a lot of people happily using it on FX with a bit of vignetting. Never tried one on FX myself.

Nikon do a 35mm f/2 as well but I personally don't rate it particularly highly. The 35mm f/1.4 will cost you four figures....
 
NeilMc said:
Guys moving from Canon to a Nikon D7000 I've found understanding the Nikon Lens range a nightmare.

I want to buy the best quality, ideally Professional quality, Prime lens be it a 35mm f1.8 or a 50mm

I picked the D7000 up at a bargain price but when I get my PPI claim paid I want to step up to full plate so any investment in a prime lens must be made with the view to it being used on an FX camera in the future.

Any help gratefully received
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Skip the 35mm 1.8 in this case. It's designed for DX only. You can use it on FX but it's not worth the bother. The 1.4, unfortunately, is very expensive. As are all Pro lenses - no matter the make. If you're going FX, the 50mm 1.8G is cheap as chips and perfect on FX. I use one on the D800 and it's great. The combination is a hell of a lot lighter than when I stick the 24-70 on [though I love that lens, I'd say it's sharper than the 50mm]

I wouldn't go buying any pro FX lenses until I had the body to stick them on.
 
I wouldn't go buying any pro FX lenses until I had the body to stick them on.
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when you say pro lens ,do these have a letter(like canons l, and red ring) to recognise them are is that just on price?
 
Nikon's best zoom lenses or long focal primes have N for nanocrystal coating. those are probably equivalent to Canon L series.

(sorry j07cmt, my mind went blank when we were talking about Nikon L equivalent during our last meet, you were completely right)

as a Nikon to Canon switcher, i found the L red ring business a scam. almost all Nikon lenses are top notch and fantastic. Canon non-L lenses just feel cheap and much much inferior, much more plasticy. (eg. nifty fifty vs 35mm f1.8G or 50mm f1.8D)
 
niko said:
when you say pro lens ,do these have a letter(like canons l, and red ring) to recognise them are is that just on price?
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A gold ring often adorns some of the higher end lenses but this actually refers to them having low dispersion glass I believe. I'm not sure that any Nikon lenses have 'pro' distinction as such though some do have pro features such as weather proofing, all metal construction etc.. Personally I wouldn't get hung up on the whole 'pro' thing, just buy on each individuals lenses merits. Most of the them will qualify for NPU membership anyway. I see plenty of pros using a £300 plastic 50mm lens alongside their £1500 zooms...
 
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wuyanxu said:
Nikon's best zoom lenses or long focal primes have N for nanocrystal coating. those are probably equivalent to Canon L series.

(sorry j07cmt, my mind went blank when we were talking about Nikon L equivalent during our last meet, you were completely right)

as a Nikon to Canon switcher, i found the L red ring business a scam. almost all Nikon lenses are top notch and fantastic. Canon non-L lenses just feel cheap and much much inferior, much more plasticy. (eg. nifty fifty vs 35mm f1.8G or 50mm f1.8D)
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thank you
 
gad-westy said:
A gold ring often adorns some of the higher end lenses but this actually refers to them having low dispersion glass I believe. I'm not sure that any Nikon lenses have 'pro' distinction as such though some do have pro features such as weather proofing, all metal construction etc.. Personally I wouldn't get hung up on the whole 'pro' thing, just buy on each individuals lenses merits. Most of the them will qualify for NPU membership anyway. I see plenty of pros using a £300 plastic 50mm lens alongside their £1500 zooms...
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thank you ,i was just wandering what Cagey75 meant by pro lens.
i might still stick with canon (i am undecided )
 
niko said:
when you say pro lens ,do these have a letter(like canons l, and red ring) to recognise them are is that just on price?
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That was going to be be my next question.... thank you for asking it.. glad to know I'm not the only one bemused by the whole Nikon lens range.

I do like the nice simplicity of the Canon stuff.



Thanks for the feed back so far guys, very helpful.


The other thing I find a little puzzling, AF and AF-S

Whats that all about ???
 
AF means autofocus using camera's built in motor. a technology from around 1990. instead of ditching lenses design all together (Canon FD to EF), Nikon added in-body AF motor for compatibility.
AF-S means it will autofocus using lens's built in motor, usually SWM (equivalent for Canon's USM)

you can usually associate AF-S with USM for Canon. but cheap lenses like 18-55mm kit lens is marked as AF-S, yet it focuses really slowly.
 
NeilMc said:
That was going to be be my next question.... thank you for asking it.. glad to know I'm not the only one bemused by the whole Nikon lens range.

I do like the nice simplicity of the Canon stuff.



Thanks for the feed back so far guys, very helpful.


The other thing I find a little puzzling, AF and AF-S

Whats that all about ???
Click to expand...
:thumbs:
 
NeilMc said:
The other thing I find a little puzzling, AF and AF-S
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Nikon made a decision to retain backward compatibility with their lenses when they switched to digital, so any lens made from around 1977 will still physically mount on a current digital body.

AF - indicates an auto focusing lens, that relies on use with a body that has a focus motor built in.

AF-S - indicates an auto focusing lens that has it's own focus motor incorporated in the lens, so not reliant on using with a body with a focus motor.
 
wuyanxu said:
AF means autofocus using camera's built in motor. a technology from around 1990. instead of ditching lenses design all together (Canon FD to EF), Nikon added in-body AF motor for compatibility.
AF-S means it will autofocus using lens's built in motor, usually SWM (equivalent for Canon's USM)

you can usually associate AF-S with USM for Canon. but cheap lenses like 18-55mm kit lens is marked as AF-S, yet it focuses really slowly.
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Excellent thank you for this.. the mist is slowly rising and things are becoming clearer.


SO.. that said which is the fastest auto focus ? in lens or in body ?
 
NeilMc said:
Excellent thank you for this.. the mist is slowly rising and things are becoming clearer.


SO.. that said which is the fastest auto focus ? in lens or in body ?
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Depends on the lens, and depends on the body, the higher end bodies have a bit more punch, I have not had any issues with either.
 
Generally lenses are faster, BUT it depends on the body. A d700 will drive slightly faster than a d90 for example.
That being said, if you mount an AF-S lens on a body with a motor, the bodies motor is disconnected anyway, so it's a moot point.
 
NeilMc said:
D7000 body
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Again you can't really compare. An AF-s Lens on a body with a focus motor disconnects the body motor and uses its own, in theory that lens should be the same on any body as its the same motor driving the AF.
An AF-d lens being driven by the body motor will vary between bodies. The D3s will drive it faster than the d700, but the d700 will be slightly faster than the d90.
 
i dont notice ant differance between my D3s and D700

in fact many times i prefer the D700.
 
straycat said:
i dont notice ant differance between my D3s and D700

in fact many times i prefer the D700.
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The differences will be minute on the higher end bodies, it's not worth worrying about.
 
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