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New camera, new lenses

decide on lenses buying advice

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4 replies to this topic

#1
urssu

urssu

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Hello,

 

 

Bought a Nikon FF.

 

I am looking for lenses.

 

I do:

Landscape, city and portrait/ conceptual (moving towards it) .

 

 

I was recommended to buy:

Nikkor 28 F2.0 Ai

 

Looking at:

Tamron 24- 70 ; the G2 is just as expensive as a mint Nikkor 24- 70. What' s better (IQ, AF, Shake reduction and build quality; brand doesn' t do anything to me) .

 

Or should I move towards fixed primes:

28, 50, 85?

 

 

Thanks in advance!



#2
Merco_61

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Why go with the 28/2 Ai? The really good 28 in the manual focus days was the 28/2.8 Ai-S. The current 28/1.8 seems nice too from what I have seen, even if I haven't got one.

 

Are you sure that the 28-50-85 is the best combination for your needs? I have found that I mostly use 24 and 35 for street and a 105 for portraiture. The manual focus 24/2.8 Ai, 35/2 O-Nikkor Ai'd and 105/2.5 Ai or Ai-S make for a really compact set of proven performers. If you want AF, the 24/1.8, 35/1.8 and a 105/2DC work really well. If you don't have the space for a 105, the AF-S 85/1.8 gives less busy backgrounds than the AF 85/1.8D.

 

For the 24-70 zooms, the three you are considering are all nice. They all have different strengths and weaknesses where the Tamron G1 handles flare better than the Nikkor, the Nikkor has more reliable AF, uses 77 mm filters and is built like a tank. The Tamron G2 probably is the best all-rounder of the three. The Nikkor VR is in a league of it's own, but that is reflected in the price.



#3
urssu

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Why go with the 28/2 Ai? The really good 28 in the manual focus days was the 28/2.8 Ai-S. The current 28/1.8 seems nice too from what I have seen, even if I haven't got one.

 

Are you sure that the 28-50-85 is the best combination for your needs? I have found that I mostly use 24 and 35 for street and a 105 for portraiture. The manual focus 24/2.8 Ai, 35/2 O-Nikkor Ai'd and 105/2.5 Ai or Ai-S make for a really compact set of proven performers. If you want AF, the 24/1.8, 35/1.8 and a 105/2DC work really well. If you don't have the space for a 105, the AF-S 85/1.8 gives less busy backgrounds than the AF 85/1.8D.

 

For the 24-70 zooms, the three you are considering are all nice. They all have different strengths and weaknesses where the Tamron G1 handles flare better than the Nikkor, the Nikkor has more reliable AF, uses 77 mm filters and is built like a tank. The Tamron G2 probably is the best all-rounder of the three. The Nikkor VR is in a league of it's own, but that is reflected in the price.

 

 

Hello,

 

 

Thanks for your time.

A Nikonist recommended the 28 f2.0 to me. I seriously don' t know anything about this system and the legacy lenses or quality of them (still figuring out the G or D) .

 

Was also considering the 105, but wonder if it' s too long, as I have glasses and until I see the frame, ect. . 85 was a comfortable length for me. But will make a comparison with them as well.

Nikon is also in a different price league (I don' t get attached to brand names when it comes to lenses) .

 

Thanks again!



#4
Merco_61

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One thing to remember is that the Nikon finders have a higher eyepoint than most others, so they work better with glasses.

 

The 28/2 has a cult following, but the 28/2.8 gives better results in all respects as long as you don't need the extra stop of speed.

 

I have a blog post up here that covers the legacy lenses in the form of a list of lenses that I have found have some kind of extra qualities beyond the quality rendering one associates with Nikon and Canon lenses.

 

G lenses don't have an aperture ring, D lenses have the legacy aperture control. AF lenses without the D extension don't send distance information to the body, so flash control is less precise as this is one of the parameters used.

AF and AF-D lenses mostly use the noisy but fast focus motor in the body while AF-i and AF-S lenses have built-in motors. To muddy the waters further, there are some early AF-S lenses that have an aperture ring and some late AF lenses that don't, and are designated G.



#5
Merco_61

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The early AF-S trinity (17-35/2.8, 28-70/2.8 and 80-200/2.8) are all AF-S D lenses.