AF prime wide-angle and portrait lens

This must have been debated at nauseam again and again before but I

can't find a thread, so here it is all over again and I will be

grateful for any pointer readers may care to contribute.

 

I recently bought a F100 with a small zoom (24-85) but found some of

the barrel distortion at the wide setting disturbing. I'd like to

add a prime wide angle lens as I like the 24 & 28mm image format.

The nikon range is quite wide to choose from so I'd like users'

comments on the following which made my short list: 18/2.8, the

24/2.8 and the merits of the 28/1.4 vs the 28/2.8. I owned one of

the latter in the past and found it average in terms of sharpness,

is the much more expensive 28/1.4 much better?

 

Also I am looking for a portrait lens, any suggestions among the one

offered by Nikon?

Perfect portrait lenses are the AF 1.8/1.4/85mm. And of course any zoom lens which covers this focal length. If you like manual lenses take a look on the 2/85 or 2.5/105.

For wide-angle and portrait, I'd have thought that AF was not your main concern. Are you sure you really need AF for the potential subjects you have in mind? If not, then the Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 AIS and the Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 AIS might be just right for you. :)

 

John.

Good portrait lenses are ususally 70mm to 135mm, with 105mm being one of the best. If you plan to go digital some day, you may find that your portrait lens becomes too "long" due to the smaller sensors in many digital cameras. I know you want a prime, but you might want to seriously consider a zoom that covers the normal-to-portrait range. That's just my $0.02.

I do not think you should consider a zoom for either portraits or wide-angle shots. Zooms have distortion at wide angles, as you have noticed with the 24-85. I use the AF 24mm/2.8D, and I am very pleased with the results I get with it. Apart from some ghosting when turned directly into the sun, no problems at all. One thing that might turn you away is that it is sometimes harder to find a suitable subject for it than for a 28mm lens. The 28mm/2.8 has been redesigned, which, according to many users' opinion, has helped a lot, but I have no personal experience with it.

 

For portraits, you should also not buy a zoom for many good reasons. They are generally much bigger than primes, and at best, their aperture goes to F/2.8. In overal, much harder to handhold. You can easily get a short or medium telephoto lens with F/1.8 or similar aperture, for less money than a "professional" F/2.8 zoom. An AF lens to consider is the 85/1.8, or if money is no problem, get F/1.4. With the F100, you won't lose ambient metering while using manual focus lenses, so why not consider some of those too? The 105/2.5 is praised by many people here, and I am going to buy one soon. One personal advice is don't buy a macro lens for portraits. I made this mistake. Macro lenses are very sharp, but are a pain to focus at portrait distance, and mine also has a harsh bokeh.

Id pickup a 105/2.5 AIS and a 24/2.8 AI, AIS or AF-D. <br>

<br>

For sports and such I feel an AF or AF-S 80 or 70~200/2.8 is more

versatile. For candid or formal portraiture when using sallow DOF

for separating the subject from the background and for a mellow

background you want to shoot at f/4.0 or wider. Also for the

photograph to appear sharply focused at least the near eye to the

lens must be in focus. AF isnt of much use for this so a

manual focus lens is an advantage here.<br>

<br>

Regards,

There's a big difference between 24mm and 28mm, and I think one of the first things

you need top decide is which you want. I have the 24/2.8 AFD, the 85/1.8 AFD, and

the 85/2.0 AIS (which I usually use on my FE-2). I can highly recommend all three,

although for your purposes, I would suggest especially the 24/2.8 AFD and the 85/

1.8 AFD. Both are a pleasure to use, and will work well with your F100. It's perhaps a

shame Nikon doesn't make a 105/2.8 AFD lens, but I'm not sure I'd get the 105 micro

unless you in fact want to do micro work. Many rave about the 105/2.8 AIS, and I'd

perhaps look at that as well...

 

You're chosing among a number of fine lenses here, and I don't think you'll go wrong

with any. Enjoy!

The current AF Nikon portrait lenses are the 105/2 and 135/? DC lenses. The DC stands for Defocus Control to change the look and placement of the out of focus areas. They are neither small, light of cheap, but if you are looking for a purpose built, AF portrait lens they are probably the way to go.

The 28/1.4 and 105/2 AF-DC are the best two lenses meeting your request. Sell the house, sell the kids. They're that good.

Thanks to all; I am not sure if the DC feature of the 105mm is really useful to me and wonder if not go for a 85mm instead. As per the 28/1.4 it sounds superb but, boy, not at all cheap. I still use a Leica 35mm/1.4 Asph that is very nice and would only consider the 28mm if it can deliver similar sharp detail, contrast and colour rendition.

 

I find interesting his idea to use manual lenses with the F100 as I still have a 35/1.4mm and a 24/2.8 AI. I assume that I will loose somoe of the features in P mode but can save me the puirchase of yet more equipement.

<em>"I assume that I will loose somoe of the features in

P mode but can save me the puirchase of yet more equipement."

--Lorenzo Ward<br>

</em><br>

You will lose Program and Shutter Preferred but not Aperture

Preferred exposure modes. You will also lose Matrix Metering. You

have better control of the camera with A so I dont feel

loss of P and S is important. Matrix is more important to many.<br>

<br>

Regards,<br>

<br>

Dave Hartman.

Lorenzo, congratulations on the F100, one of the best Nikons ever made! I would select the 24/2.8D and the 85/1.8D. The 28mm perspective is my favorite focal length, but I've been unhappy with every Nikkor 28/2.8 I've tried. I have not tried the 28/1.4, which is a different sort of beast-- do you really need those extra stops? The 24/2.8D is fantastic, and does not give the distortion of the 20mm (which gives great results, but takes more effort to control). FWIW, Photodo also ranks this lens higher than the Leica R 24/2.8 Elmarit or the Carl Zeiss T* Distagon 25/2.8! The 85/1.8D gives me great portraits, and the cost savings over the 85/1.4D is substantial. Given that most sane people would make a lens purchase now with one eye following the digital game, I'd echo the previous suggestion to pick the 85mm over the 105mm lens. You can argue over MF AIS lenses versus AF-D lenses, but with the super AF available on your F100 and the matrix metering, I think it's a "no-brainer" to go with the AF-D lenses. Enjoy shootong with whatever you get!