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Old 07-08-2016, 09:43 PM
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Atmos (Colin)
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Good affordable Nikon lens'

Currently looking at replacing my Nikkor 24-120mm F/4G with a 35mm and a 85mm prime. At the moment I am just looking at budget. I know there may be better lens' on the market than what I'm looking at but looking for "bang for buck"

At the moment I am looking at:
Tamron 35mm

and

Nikkor 85mm

Or

Samyang 85mm F/1.4

The Samyang is cheaper and has a wider FStop range but the Nikon generally is sharper across a wider range of FStops. Theoretically anyway.

I already have a Nikon 50mm F/1.8D which I do enjoy using. Any other suggestions?
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Old 07-08-2016, 09:54 PM
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pluto (Hugh)
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If you don't need autofocus there are some great old manual Nikon lenses around the second hand market. I've got a few from eBay which I use on my A7s. The 50 f1.4 and the 135 f2.8 are pretty good and were only about $100 each.
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Old 07-08-2016, 10:35 PM
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traveller (Bo)
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Colin, I have a Nikon 85mm f1.8 D lens.
Very nice lump of glass.
Happy for you to borrow it to try it out, just pm me.
Cheers
Bo
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Old 08-08-2016, 10:59 AM
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pluto (Hugh)
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FYI - here is the eBay seller I've bought a few lenses from over the last couple of years. All have been exactly as described and in good condition.
http://stores.ebay.com.au/japancamerama34/
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Old 08-08-2016, 12:06 PM
Kunama
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Colin, I have the AF Nikkor 85mm F1.4 D IF lens which is excellent but I don't really use it anymore, I also have the AF24mmF2.8 D, AF28mmF2.8 D and the AF-S80-200 F2.8 D ED that I might be selling..... Sent you a PM...

Last edited by Kunama; 08-08-2016 at 12:28 PM.
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Old 08-08-2016, 06:05 PM
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Atmos (Colin)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pluto View Post
If you don't need autofocus there are some great old manual Nikon lenses around the second hand market. I've got a few from eBay which I use on my A7s. The 50 f1.4 and the 135 f2.8 are pretty good and were only about $100 each.
For purely Astro work I don't need auto focus but for normal photography I definitely do, my eye sight is too soft

Quote:
Originally Posted by traveller View Post
Colin, I have a Nikon 85mm f1.8 D lens.
Very nice lump of glass.
Happy for you to borrow it to try it out, just pm me.
Cheers
Bo
It looks like a nice lump of glass on DXO Might be high time we finally went out to dark site, chatted about it AGES ago.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kunama View Post
Colin, I have the AF Nikkor 85mm F1.4 D IF lens which is excellent but I don't really use it anymore, I also have the AF24mmF2.8 D, AF28mmF2.8 D and the AF-S80-200 F2.8 D ED that I might be selling..... Sent you a PM...
They're quite nice, only done a brief look but they're nice
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Old 08-08-2016, 07:47 PM
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thegableguy (Chris)
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Understanding it's likely beyond your budget, but I just want to say again that the Sigma Art series are RIDICULOUSLY good.

Though we mainly use the Nikkor zooms, we've had a few primes over the years and the Arts are significantly better than the best Nikkor primes we've seen. Razor sharp all the way to the edges, even wide open. My wife is a professional portrait photographer and I've worked as second shooter with some pro product photographers & videographers before; we've had some great opportunities to compare various lenses side by side, and the Arts always come out on top.

They're not cheap, but we got both our 35mm and our 50mm for about $600 apiece on Gumtree. You know best, but my wife and I will say strongly that they're worth saving for. The sharpness really is astonishing.

Although having said that, you're using the D700...? Really great camera (we still miss ours!) but the lower resolution might mean you can't actually take full advantage of the sharpness, so yeah perhaps the cheaper options aren't that bad an idea.

Even so, I'd steer clear of the Tamron. I've only used a few but they've all been just a bit too far down the cheap/nasty end of the spectrum. I could've had bad or old examples every time; possibly they're better now than they were 3-4 years ago... no idea. But my personal experience has never been good, and ditto for many pro photographers I've spoken to.
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Old 08-08-2016, 08:37 PM
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Atmos (Colin)
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Looking at DXO, (my new friend) the Sigma Art 50mm F/1.4 comes up as the sharpest of all the lens' for the D700. The Nikon 85mm F/1.8G seems to be the best in class and not overly expensive (especially used).

The Sigma 50mm and 35mm appear to be brilliant though! Have to keep out on the lookout. Looking at the comparison between it and my super cheap 50mm is pretty staggering

From what I have heard Tamron has some fantastic lens' and some not so fantastic ones. They do a 90mm Macro which is brilliant but I must admit that they also have a lot that aren't so crash hot.
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Old 08-08-2016, 09:12 PM
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thegableguy (Chris)
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DxO are great, but take their sensor grades with a grain of salt. They appear to be very scientific about it all but their results often clash with real-world experience. Their lens tests do seem to be on the money, though.

I've never been a particular fan of primes; the current f/2.8 zooms are pretty damn sharp, particularly when stopped down a little. I adore my 70-200mm VRII, easily my favourite lens. But when we got that Art 50mm we were utterly astonished at the sharpness. I felt like an idiot for ever thinking the 24-70mm or the 70-200mm were sharp! They're like a blunt rusty axe next to that Sigma, particularly on the D810. It was a relevation.

Bummer you're in Melbs. You'd be welcome to try ours.
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Old 08-08-2016, 09:29 PM
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Atmos (Colin)
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I have been doing a lot of swapping back and forth between DXO and Ken Rockwell, especially when he does a whole bunch of lens comparisons. I largely am just going by how they perform in the corners as it gives a reasonable indication of how well they'll handle stars as they move out from the centre of the frame.
Thats my theory anyway. My 24-120 F/4 works well for every day use but REALLY falls short with astro work.
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