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Which Nikon Prime Lens to Buy First?

Nov
25
2012
November 25, 2012
By 90 Comments

Buying a DSLR often means having several accessories to go with it, among which are lenses. But choosing your first lens isn’t easy – there are so many choices available at so many different price points, which can make it quite confusing for a beginner to find a lens for a particular need. In this article, I will discuss several budget Nikon fast prime lenses most suitable as a first step into the fixed focal length world. Which Nikon prime should you buy first? Which one would make the most sense? You need a lens to stay on your camera for years to come, you need it to be good for family portraits and some occasional snaps. Or maybe even for your future photography business – who knows?

Which Nikon Prime Lens to Buy First?

Well, read on as I highlight the strengths of each affordable fast prime Nikon has to offer. I hope this article will help you with this tough choice most of us had to make at one point or another.

1) Why Buy a New Lens?

So you bought yourself a brand spanking new DSLR and now you want better pictures. Where do you start? When our images do not turn out good, we usually blame the camera, without even having the patience and time to learn how to use it. Do you find yourself using the camera in Auto mode all the time? If yes, then why don’t you first educate yourself and learn what those other “PASM” modes are for? We have plenty of beginner tutorials on this website and our photography tips for beginners page is a good place to start.

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Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 Review

Sep
2
2012
September 2, 2012
By 66 Comments

Overview

This is an in-depth review of the Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 DI VC USD – world’s first image stabilized standard zoom lens for 35mm sensor cameras that was released in April of 2012. I have been shooting with the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G for a while and although I love it for its super fast and accurate autofocus and durability, it has its share of problems. It is huge and heavy, has rather poor corner performance at fast apertures and suffers from field curvature issues (where sharpness is not uniform across the frame). In addition, it lacks image stabilization, which I am a huge fan of. So when I found out that Tamron released a professional 24-70mm f/2.8 lens with image stabilization, I knew I wanted to test it out and compare it head to head to the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G.

Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8

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Nikon 24-85mm VR Review

Aug
18
2012
August 18, 2012
By 74 Comments

Overview

This is an in-depth review of the new Nikon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G VR lens, also known as “AF-S NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR”, which was announced together with the Nikon 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR DX in June of 2012. The lens was kindly provided by B&H – the largest photo equipment reseller in the world that we use more than any other to buy our photography gear.

Nikon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR

The Nikon 24-85mm VR is an affordable consumer-grade lens targeted at photo enthusiasts that need a mid-range zoom lens with optical stabilization for everyday photography. It is an update to the short-lived Nikon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED that was introduced in 2002 and discontinued in 2006, and it might also replace the older Nikon 24-85mm f/2.8-4D IF that is still in production as of today. With an equivalent focal length of 36-128mm on DX sensor, it is better suited to be used on full-frame cameras. With rumors of an entry-level Nikon D600 full-frame DSLR to be announced later in 2012, the Nikon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR might be packaged as a kit lens to go along with it.

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Nikon 28mm f/1.8G Review

Jul
28
2012
July 28, 2012
By 72 Comments

Overview

This is an in-depth review of the new Nikon 28mm f/1.8G lens that was announced in April of 2012 together with the Nikon D3200 DSLR. The lens was kindly provided by B&H – the largest photo reseller in the world that we use more than any other to buy our photography gear.

Lately, Nikon has been busy releasing great and affordable fast prime lenses. First, it was the excellent Nikon 50mm f/1.8G, which turned out to be a better buy than its bigger brother, the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G. Then Nikon surprised us with the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G, which also turned out to be a phenomenal lens. And now we have the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G, which despite a difference in focal length could be a great alternative to the very expensive, but superb Nikon 24mm f/1.4G.

Nikon 28mm f/1.8G

The Nikon 28mm f/1.8G lens is a professional-grade lens for enthusiasts and professionals that need high quality optics of a fixed wide-angle lens with a large aperture of f/1.8 for low-light situations and shallow depth of field to isolate subjects from the background. The lens is designed for both FX and DX sensors (equivalent of 42mm on DX). Nikon has incorporated the latest technology and optical formulas to this lens, including AF-S silent-wave focus motor and Nano crystal coating. With its focal length of 28mm, the lens is not as wide as the 24mm f/1.4G, making it a little more suitable for general everyday photography.

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Add Some Fish(eye) To Your Photography Diet

Jun
24
2012
June 24, 2012
By 25 Comments

With the ever increasing rate of technological innovation in the photography arena, it is not too difficult to get caught up in the latest camera model, lens, or other gizmo, all designed to take our photography to the “next level.” The recent hype and debates surrounding noise levels and resolution differences between the Nikon D800 and Canon 5D Mark III alone could likely fill a few petabytes of disk space. In the midst of our obsession with the “latest and greatest,” we need to remember that photography is, at least on some level, supposed to be… well… fun! One of the best ways I know to inject a bit of fun into my photography exploits, is to attach a fisheye lens to my DSLR. These marvels provide a unique curved distortion (in some cases a full 360 degrees) that add a bit of character and spice to otherwise rather common photos and provide a unique perspective.

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Nikon AF-S 28mm f/1.8G Full Frame Lens Announcement

Apr
18
2012
April 18, 2012
By 30 Comments

NOTE: A full review of this lens can be found in our Nikon 28mm f/1.8G Review article.

Along with the Nikon D3200, Nikon also announced the new AF-S Nikkor 28mm f/1.8G lens today. Contrary to how it usually happens, however, this piece of equipment is likely to receive the most attention this time. We at Mansurovs.com are very happy to see such a lens announced – the biggest complaint throughout the years directed towards Nikon was the lack of modern fast, high quality prime lenses. During the last couple of years, however, Nikon seems to have been extremely persistent in making sure their prime lens lineup is as broad in choice as possible, offering insanely good, yet very expensive f/1.4 lenses, such as the Nikon 35mm f/1.4G (read the review) and Nikon 85mm f/1.4G (read the review), and much more affordable and featuring a much better price/performance ration f/1.8G lenses. First, it was the fantastic Nikon 50mm f/1.8G (read the review), then, very recently, the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G lens was announced. Considering how good the latest f/1.8 lenses have been, this new alternative to the exotic Nikon 24mm f/1.4G prime (read the review) should deliver superb performance at a relatively low price of $699.95.

Nikon 28mm f/1.8G

Lets face it, the rather specialized Nikon 24mm f/1.4G lens is not for everyone – impressive as it is, not that many people use or even know how to use such a lens well, it requires a lot of skill to deliver all of its potential. At that price, then, it makes a very difficult decision: who would want to own a $2000 lens and not use it that much because it is too wide? With the new 28mm f/1.8G not only do you pay only about a third of that price, it is also not as wide, and thus suitable for more general photography on both Full Frame and DX sensor cameras. That is not to say it is less demanding, but more mainstream for sure. The best thing is, however, the choice Nikon is giving us. All that’s really missing is an inexpensive 35mm f/2G and 135mm/105mm f/2G lenses, but I’m sure we can expect those to come pretty soon, too.

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Best Nikon Lenses for Landscape Photography

Dec
18
2011
December 18, 2011
By 218 Comments

What are the best Nikon lenses for landscape photography? After I posted my last article on “Best Nikon Lenses for Wedding Photography“, I have been getting many requests from our readers to also talk about lenses for photographing landscapes, nature and wildlife (another post on best Nikon wildlife lenses will be published soon). In this post I will not only talk about which Nikon lenses I believe are the best for photographing landscapes, but also when I use a particular lens, along with plenty of image samples from each lens. Please keep in mind that the information I present below is a personal opinion based on my experience so far, which is subject to change. No third party lenses are presented either, although some Zeiss, Sigma, Tamron and Samyang lenses are phenomenal for landscapes. If you have a favorite lens of yours for landscape photography that is not listed below, please feel free to add a comment on the bottom of the page with some information and links to pictures (if you have any that you would like to share).

1) Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G

I want to start out with a lens that I have a love and hate relationship with. On one side, the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G is one of the sharpest lenses ever produced by Nikon. It has phenomenal optics (center to corner, throughout the frame and aperture range), beautiful colors, super fast autofocus and an extremely useful focal range for wide-angle photography. On the other hand, it is a heavy, bulky and expensive lens that cannot accommodate filters. Sadly, not just circular filters and filter holders but pretty much any kind of hand-holdable filter. Its round front element shape and the built-in lens hood just make it impossible to use filters. Sure, you can buy a filter holder system from Lee and other manufacturers for this lens to accommodate filters, but it is not cheap and you would have to purchase a set of large 150mm filters, so forget about using your existing filters. I really wish Nikon allowed us to use small replaceable filters close to the lens mount, just like on telephoto lenses and this lens would have been irreplaceable.

Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G ED

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Nikon 24mm PC-E Review

Jul
2
2011
July 2, 2011
By 39 Comments

Overview

This is an in-depth review of Nikon 24mm f/3.5D PC-E, a special purpose wide-angle “Perspective Control” lens designed for architectural, commercial and nature photography, also known as PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED. The lens was kindly provided by B&H – the largest photo reseller in the world that I use more than any other to buy my photography gear.

Nikon 24mm f/3.5D PC-E

The Nikon 24mm f/3.5D PC-E is a very specialized wide-angle lens specifically targeted at three groups of photographers – architecture photographers, landscape photographers and macro/product photographers. Architectural photographers often work with a lot of straight, often converging lines both indoors and outdoors and the “Perspective Control” or “Tilt-Shift” lenses (from this point on I will refer to them only as “tilt-shift”) give the ability to avoid the convergence of parallel lines by shifting the lens upwards or downwards. Landscape photographers need to be able to get everything in focus – from the closest foreground object to distant landscapes. While proper lens and camera techniques, along with good post-processing skills can help in getting sharp images for both foreground and background objects, normal lenses have certain limits landscape photographers have to work around with. For example, stopping down lenses beyond f/11 results in diffraction, which can impact the sharpness and overall quality of an image. With perspective control/tilt-shift lenses, landscape photographers can change the angle of the focus plane without having to increase aperture, putting both closest and furthest objects in focus. The same goes for commercial/product photographers that photograph jewelry and other items for product showcases – everything from the front to the rear of the object must often be in perfect focus. Again, stopping down does not always work and unless angles are changed and subject is on the same plane, there is no easy way to get everything sharp without focus-stacking images in post-processing software like Photoshop. By using tilt-shift lenses, photographers do not have to worry about lens aperture limitations and can achieve the desired effect with minimum effort. One other use that has been gaining popularity lately is to use tilt-shift lenses for portrait photography. Due to the ability to apply selective focus on a particular part of the image via lens tilting (also known as “anti-Scheimpflug“), portraits can appear more interesting and creative. Distant subjects can even appear “miniaturized”, although the effect can be easily reproduced in Photoshop through various plugins.

Sample #10

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Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm f/2.0 ZF.2 Review

May
4
2011
May 4, 2011
By 29 Comments

Overview

This is an in-depth review of the manual focus Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm f/2.0 ZF.2, a second generation 35mm f/2 prime lens from Zeiss for Nikon and Canon mounts. The lens was kindly provided by B&H – the largest photo reseller in the world that I and many other photographers use to buy photography gear. The lens sample I tested was for the Nikon F mount, although you can get the same lens for the Canon EF mount.

Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm f/2.0 ZF.2

The Zeiss 35mm f/2.0 ZF.2 is a professional-grade fixed wide-angle lens targeted at enthusiasts and professionals that need high quality optics for different types of photography, including landscape, architecture, portrait and astrophotography. Similar to other Zeiss prime lenses, the lens is designed to work on both FX and DX sensor cameras (equivalent of approx 52.5mm on DX) and yields amazing clarity and contrast throughout the frame. The all-metal Zeiss 35mm has a very tough and high quality build and is sealed against dust and tough weather conditions. When compared to the latest generation Nikon AF-S lenses like Nikon 35mm f/1.4G with plastic exterior, it feels much more solid in hands – even the lens hood is made of metal. The focal length of 35mm is a good compromise between ultra-wide angle lenses and standard lenses. Thanks to the 9-blade diaphragm, the Zeiss Distagon 35mm f/2.0 ZF.2 renders background highlights in round, circular shapes, making it a good candidate for portraiture and street photography.

Zeiss 35mm Sample #10

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Nikon 35mm f/1.4G Review

Apr
26
2011
April 26, 2011
By 66 Comments

Overview

This is an in-depth review of the new professional Nikon 35mm f/1.4G prime lens that was announced in September of 2010. The lens was kindly provided by B&H – the largest photo reseller in the world that I use more than any other to buy my photography gear.

Nikon 35mm f/1.4G

The Nikon 35mm f/1.4G is a professional-grade lens for enthusiasts and professionals that need the highest quality optics of a fixed wide-angle lens with a large aperture of f/1.4 for low-light situations and shallow depth of field to isolate subjects from the background, making it an ideal candidate for many types of photography, including portrait, wedding, landscape and astrophotography. The lens incorporates the latest optical technology destined for both FX and DX sensors (equivalent of approx 52.5mm on DX), yielding amazing clarity and contrast in most challenging lighting conditions. The Nikon 35mm f/1.4G follows the release of the excellent Nikon 24mm f/1.4G lens, having similar lens characteristics. Although the lens exterior and construction seem to be almost identical, the Nikon 35mm f/1.4G has a simpler optical design when compared to the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G (more on this below). The focal length of 35mm is a good compromise between ultra-wide angle lenses and standard lenses – it is not too wide or too long. As for the lens interior and optics, Nikon integrated the latest technology into this lens, including AF-S silent-wave focus motor and Rear Focus (to eliminate front barrel rotation and lens length changes) and enhanced the optical formula of the lens by incorporating Nano crystal coating and Super Integrated Coating (SIC) to reduce ghosting and flares. The lens is of high quality build, similar to other AF-S Nikon primes and is sealed against dust and tough weather conditions. Thanks to the 9-blade diaphragm, the Nikon 35mm f/1.4G renders background highlights in a round, circular shape and the maximum aperture of f/1.4 makes this lens a great portrait lens for both images and video, especially in low-light conditions.

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