NIKON (Nikkor) Lens Comparisons and reviews

DSLR Lens Usage Recommendation

Many times people ask which lens focal length to be used under which circumstances. This FAQ gives an explanation which lenses are best to use.

50MM - The best all-round lens. The 50mm lens is the Every Day Carry lens and suitable for most common photography subjects. Less suitable for landscape and building photography.

Focal Length

Pro:

Con:

NIKON Nikkor Lens Buyer’s Guide

This document describes guidelines for buying new or used (pre-owned) Nikkor lenses for full-frame (FX) Cameras like the Nikon D700, D3, D3s. While you may find technical reviews like distortions, sharpness, vignetting, MTF Resolution, Chromatic Aberrations (CA), these pages focus on usability (for which kinds of photography is this lens recommended), value for money, handling, etc.

General considerations
When looking to buy a new or used lens, pay attention to the exact name of the lens, differences in the letters or numbers can make big difference in the lens quality, price and value.

Nikon Nikkor Lenses
Below is the list of the Nikkor Lenses for Full-Frame (FX) bodies available in mid-2010

Nikon 2010 Lenses
14mm f/2.8D ED AF Nikkor
16mm f/2.8D AF Fisheye-Nikkor
14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF-S NIKKOR
16-35mm f/4G ED VR AF-S NIKKOR	A great lens with an ideal focal length for landscape photography, its weight of 685  gram makes it a little cumbersome to carry around a long time.
17-35mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S Zoom-Nikkor	New price ~1,500$, 1.800 CHF and sells on Ebay for around 1,200$ Probable one of the sharpest wide angle zooms built by Nikon. Expensive compared to the 18-35mm. Very heavy ~750g and misses VR.
18-35mm f/3.5-4.5D ED Zoom-Nikkor
20mm f/2.8D AF Nikkor
24 mm 1:2,8D AF NIKKOR	Buying this lens is discouraged, many wide-angle zoom lenses perform better
24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S NIKKOR	Best standard zoom there is, but heavy and 70mm may be a bit too short, weights 900 grams
24-85mm f/2.8-4D IF AF Zoom-Nikkor	New prices ~770 CHF Seems to be perfect every day carry lens, with a good focal length range and acceptable weight (545 grams).
24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor	DiscourageD for Full-frame (FX) cameras, performs better on DX-bodies, this is slow (aperture) lens. In 2010 superceeded by the 24-120mm F/4
24-120mm f/4G ED VR AF-S NIKKOR
28mm f/2.8D AF Nikkor
28-70mm f/2.8 ED-IF AF-S Zoom-Nikkor	Not much difference with the 24-70mm, this one weights 935 grams,  the 24-70mm is much better rated.
28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 ED VR AF-S NIKKOR
35mm f/2D AF Nikkor	Excellent lens, focal range be a bit limited, with 670grams a bit heavy.
50mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor
50mm f/1.4G AF-S NIKKOR
50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor
60mm f/2.8D AF Micro-Nikkor
60mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Micro NIKKOR
85mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor	Weights 550 grams
85 mm 1:1,8D AF NIKKOR
105mm f/2.8G AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor	Excellent macro, telephoto and portrait lens, because of it's weight not recommend as a carry-around lens. Weight 720  gram
135mm f/2D AF DC-Nikkor
200-400mm f/4G ED VR II AF-S NIKKOR	Very expensive

NIKON AF-S DX 35mm F/1.8G
New price 225 CHF

Nikon Nikkor 16-35mm F4. vs 17-35mm F2.8

The AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR was newly introduced in March 2010 and seems to be a direct competitor of the AF-S Zoom-NIKKOR 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED, this document tries to explain the differences so that you as a buyer can make the correct acquisition.

Feature

16-35mm f/4G Description

17-35mm f/2.8 Description:

Nikon Nikkor 16-35mm F4. Sample Gallery

A couple of unpretentious sample photos with the Nikon 16-35mm Lens