What lenses for Full Frame Nikon

Peter

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OK this is where I'm at.

For the foreseeable future I will be a Nikon DX owner (currently D200) but hopefully will go fullframe at some stage in the distant future.

Since everyone goes on about the glass being the important thing can Nikon full frame users please advise as to what lenses to start collecting which will ideally transfer from Dx to full frame when the big moment arrives or would I need to start from scratch and if so which ones to gloat over.

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere

Thanks

Peter
:thinking:
 
Well all the FX lenses I have work well on my DX body as well as my FX body. Primes first, 50mm 1.4 or 1.8 is a great lens. 85mm 1.4 is just so nice, not tried the 1.8 version. 14mm 2.8, great but barrel distorts a lot on FX sensor. Teles, 24-70mm 2.8, realy good on both sensors. 100-300 f4 again great on both.

Mart.
 
Thanks Mart

Slightly off topic but wondering whether any 35mm nikon lenses would be ok. Currently have the 35-70 2.8 macro which seems ok on Dx

pete
 
Very sensible plan. What lenses do you have now?

The 35-70 f2.8 is a nice lens and is good on FX (after all it was designed for 35mm), although it is no way as good as as the 24-70mm f2.8 which is a stunning piece of lens engineering.

However, if you have the 35-70mm now I would suggest you grab the next 70-200 f2.8VR that comes up S/H on here, it's a great lens that for real life photos is fine (yes it vignettes slightly and is a bit soft in the corners but when was the last time you put an important element of a photo in the corners).

Another worth considering is the 17-35mm (I'm very tempted with this if I can find a good copy :))
 
There's no point offering up suggestion unless we have some idea of how mcuh you think you;ll be able to spend on lenses before you go full frame and also what type of photography you want to do when you get there.
 
Thanks for your input folks.

In addition to the 35-70 I have the standard 18-70 and a Sigma 70-300 both slow lenses. If sticking to DX I would anticipate buying a wide angle but was wondering about getting an FX compatible wide instead of the Sigma 10-20 or Nikon equivalent. As i will always working on a tight budget it just seems to make sense to buy now for the future rather than have to start again.

Certainly the 50mm and 85mm primes would be a safe betas far as I can see.

Future photography is likely to be social events and architecture rather than sports so wide to medium fast lenses money permitting.

Cheers

Peter
:thumbs:
 
A very good budget zoom, the Nikon 70-300VR AF-S; but again, unless you tell us what kind of budget .. the list is rather aimless :shrug:
 
Point taken re budget.

I was looking at the 15-30 Sigma but these lenses seem to come with protruding front elements and hinder the use of polarisers. Maybe I'll just stick to prime wide angles for now.

Thanks for your comments

Peter
 
The two Nikon wides I use on my D3/D700 are 24-70mm, awesome optics but heavy after a while.
The other lens is the 20-35mm f2.8 Lens, Pros Great optics, lightweight and half the price of a 17-35mm lens and just as good but no AFS
I wouldn't be without either
 
I think you're approaching this in fundamentally the wrong way, Peter.

Lenses are tools which allow you to take certain types of shot. If you ever switch from DX to FX, even if a lens fits the new body it won't perform the same function.

For an example, take the humble 50mm prime. On your DX body it's a short telephoto; great for portraits and the like. If you do full-frame, you'll still be able to use it, but not in the same way. If you want to take the same type of photo, you'll want something like an 85mm prime instead.

If you're into primes, and you have a set of them, then you can probably move to full-frame without too much fuss. For example if you had 35mm, 50mm and 85mm primes on DX, you could sell the 35mm to buy a 135mm and you'd have a similar range of functionality on FX.

But zooms tend to be designed with the sensor size in mind. For example the 24-70mm is a great walkaround lens on FX, but arguably not really wide enough on DX. The 17-55mm is a great walkaround lens on DX, but arguably not long enough on FX. And so on.
 
Thanks Stewart and others

Probably asking to much to get a set of lenses interchangeable between DX and FX. I shall probably get Primes as and when they come up s/h and have to buy a wide zoom for DX with a view to exchanging if and when I make a move to full frame.

Thanks again for your inputs

Regards


Peter
 
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