Can someone reccomend some interesting Nikon lenses to buy?

Energize · 7 Jan 2013 at 17:14

I have the usual modern lenses which I use for serious photography, ie the 35mm f/1.8G, 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 and 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6, but being able to mount any F mount lens on my camera, I'd like to experiment with some older cheaper lenses from the bay, to try different types of photography like wide angle, and help get me more experienced with things like manual focus and choosing the right aperture to get a large enough dof.

One I was thinking about was the E series 50mm f/1.8 because it'd be interesting to have a pancake lens.

Ksanti · 7 Jan 2013 at 17:24

Have fun manually focusing with a crop sensor viewfinder

I'd check to make sure your body has a manual focusing viewfinder available (not sure what they're called for Nikon, my 5D has an EE-S focusing screen for manual focusing and use with fast primes. I don't know if companies still make them, but if I was serious about manual focusing then I'd absolutely want to get one for use with old lenses, with the only exception of landscape work where live view is an acceptable substitute.

pingu666 · 7 Jan 2013 at 18:58

you could try a holga, or a cctv lens possibly, but they tend to be limited to small sensor camera's

holga is fine on any size i think.

Energize · 7 Jan 2013 at 19:11

Ksanti said:
Have fun manually focusing with a crop sensor viewfinder I'd check to make sure your body has a manual focusing viewfinder available (not sure what they're called for Nikon, my 5D has an EE-S focusing screen for manual focusing and use with fast primes. I don't know if companies still make them, but if I was serious about manual focusing then I'd absolutely want to get one for use with old lenses, with the only exception of landscape work where live view is an acceptable substitute.

The focus points on the optical viewfinder light up when a subject is correctly focused manually. Does this not happen with older lenses? Normally though I use the live view at maximum zoom.

pingu666 · 7 Jan 2013 at 19:24

on the sony camera's that requires a chip in the lens/adapter to get the green squares that indicate in focusness

D.P. · 7 Jan 2013 at 20:20

what is your budget, most of the older lenses that are useful now tend to be expensive.

One of the best is the Noct-Nikkor 58mm f/1.2 . Perfect for astrophotography due to the near-zero coma.

If you want a f/1.2 prime without the costs then the Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 AI_S is pretty good, very similar to the Canon 50mm f1.2 L but far cheaper, however only MF.

If you want pancakes then the Nikkor 45mm f/2.8 AI-P is pretty good, but modern 50mm primes are faster and sharper. The Voigtländer 40mm f/2 is similar but faster and sharper.

All of the old macro lenses are great investments because you manual focus for macro anyway and all those lenses were very sharp.

There are also a few hidden gems like the 70-210mm f/4.0 series E, and a 70-180 /f.4.0 Macro zoom 9the only Nikon macro zoom with a 2:1 ratio).

all the old super teles are great and complete bargain but you have to be comfortable manually focusing a big lens, and will need good support equipment.

Energize · 7 Jan 2013 at 22:49

I had no idea that you could get a Nikon f/1.2 so cheap, the Noct-Nikkor looks way out of my budget though.

D.P. · 7 Jan 2013 at 22:52

The 50mm f/1.2 is actually still made and sold new. It is a fun lens for shallow DoF, but optically the newer fifities are all better.

Energize · 7 Jan 2013 at 23:52

Why is it not listed on the Nikon website then? :confused:

Seems like it would be nice to have for the indoor sports stuff I do.

D.P. · 8 Jan 2013 at 00:21

The Nikon website doesn't list all the lenses that they manufacture and sell as new. Somewhere on the website is a PDF which is the complete list of all Nikon lenses that are still manufactured. Quite an extensive list.

It wouldn't be useful for sports since it is manual focus and quite short. the Nikon 200mm f/2.0 VR is the main indoor sports lens, if you can get close then the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 is also OK.

D.P. · 8 Jan 2013 at 00:22

Edit, the 50mm f/1.2 is on Nikon's website:
http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/mf/normal/50mmf_12/index.htm

And just for reference as this question has been raised before, the Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 AF-D is still available as new form Nikon:
http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/zoom/telephotozoom/zoom80-200mmf_28d/index.htm

And that is the reason why Nikon don't sell a non-VR 70-200.

Energize · 8 Jan 2013 at 01:45

D.P. said:
The Nikon website doesn't list all the lenses that they manufacture and sell as new. Somewhere on the website is a PDF which is the complete list of all Nikon lenses that are still manufactured. Quite an extensive list.

It wouldn't be useful for sports since it is manual focus and quite short. the Nikon 200mm f/2.0 VR is the main indoor sports lens, if you can get close then the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 is also OK.

Manual focus isn't such a problem as showjumping allows pre-focusing and I can get up close. I managed to get some great images with my 50mm cannon lens at f/1.8, but that was in the daylight, ideally I'd like a larger aperture lens.

-|ScottFree|- · 8 Jan 2013 at 02:24

The 28mm AIS f2.8, I don't think there is anything sharper, its legendary if you want to get into old glass...

Get an adapter on ebay and purchase a 50mm helios (cheap and cool bokeh), a super takumar, and some Pentacon lenses..I have a bunch of these I have used for filming, they are really fantastic.

Energize · 9 Jan 2013 at 02:06

Thanks for the suggestions, I may upgrade from the D5100 to the D7000, or second hand D700 to get compatibility with these older lenses.