Rich Granny Going to Buy You A Lens

<p>This is just for grins...</p>

<p>Let's say she offers to buy you any lens in the Nikkor line-up for your birthday, price is no object. But you get just one item and you have to keep it forever. Which one, and why?</p>

<p>I'm torn but, I'm going to go for the 200/2 VR, because I love raw speed, and it would be very nice for my kid's school/music auditorium gigs.</p>

<p>I want a fast quality lens small enough to carry. 200 2.0 is not carryable. My 200 4.0 Ais fills my goal.</p>

<p>Nikon does not make any I want to keep forever, and Leica has no full frame digital and I can`t afford it if they ever do.<br>

I have a few I will keep forever, but they are Leica. Nikon does not generate that enthusiasm to me.</p>

<p>Nikon 500 f/4 AF-S II VR</p>

<p>I'll just go for the most expensive lens out there. I can then sell that (possibly for near full price if I keep it in the box) and use that to buy all the actual stuff I want :-)</p>

<p>i just want the 24-70 f/2.8 that would do me...compliments my 80-200 nicely</p>

<p>Nish, you are violating the rules Dan set down to start this thread.</p>

<BLOCKQUOTE>

"But you get just one item and you have to keep it forever."

</BLOCKQUOTE>

<p>I would decline the gift graciously</p>

<p>Looks like the AF-S NIKKOR 400mm f/2.8G ED VR is their most expensive lens right now (the 600mm doesn't seem to be available now).</p>

<p>This should give me around 8000 bucks. I can buy a D700 and half a dozen pro-lenses for that money :-)</p>

<p>Oops. Thanks Shun, I missed that point. Damn.</p>

<p>Following the rules would mean I'd get the AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED.</p>

<p>Please Grandma, may I have a 105mm f1.8 Ai-S? After she had purchaced if for me I would take some of the best photos I could with it and have them framed for her wall so she could enjoy it too.</p>

<p>Kiss your granny and accept the gift ! I vote for 500 f/4 AF-S II VR..., the rest probbably you can afford to buy, by yourself. If granny is not that rich, the 70-200/2,8 VR, will do...</p>

<p>For me I would keep my old 500mm f4 P because its lighter than the new version and I carry it alot. I have some interest in the 24-70mm f2.8 but I like primes more. I guess it would have to be one of the PC-E lenses. I don't know which I would use more, they all can be very handy. I guess if I received one as a gift I could buy another so lets say the 24mm PC-E and I would purchase the 85mm.</p>

 

<p>85mm f/2.8 PC-E Micro-Nikkor.</p>

<p>I hope Dan doesn't mind a somewhat off-topic answer. I was brought up by my grandparents instead of my own parents. When I was a teenager, my grandparents were very tolerant when I had a darkroom at home during highschool, and I had all sorts of developers, fixers, wet prints, print dryer ... all over the bathroom and my room. Without their encouragement, I would never have been so into photography today.</p>

<p>In that sense, that was my grandparents' best photography gift to me among countless other gifts. It was far more important than any lens would have done.</p>

<p>Shun, I hear you. My parents bought me a cheap camera when I was 8 - I was too young to take care of anything more expensive. But they encouraged my brother and me by putting our pictures in an album, which made us feel we were doing something worthwhile. My father also gave us basic instruction in composition. When my mother passed away 30 years later, I found dozens of our pictures in her album. People want to feel that what they do makes a difference, and my parents gave my brother and me that feeling. My brother also remains an avid amateur photographer.</p>

<p>Somewhat ironically, given the thread topic, I misplaced that camera in my grandparents' home on a visit. I always wondered what happened to it.</p>

<p>About the lens: I would choose the 200-400 f/4. I've always wanted to dabble in some wildlife photography.</p>

<p>shun, thanks for putting things in a different perspective. you can't put a pricetag on the most valuable gifts.<br>

in my case, if my rich uncle -- who frequently requests my photographic assistance -- made a similarly gracious offer, i'd be perfectly satisfied with a 300/4 AF-S.<br>

more likely, for the sake of "economic stimulus," i'll buy it myself...</p>

<p>Well, I just got an AF-S 105 f/2.8G VR Micro for my b/d last month. Yeah! Sorry! It wasn't from my grandma, it was from my wife! Almost the same! :) I don't know about "forever".... is that a real word? Basically whatever I get as a present I keep it for as long as I can. She also bought me a Canon T90 in 1986 and I still have it and use it!</p>

<p>Shun... Is that right? I was also brought up by my g/parents! My parents divorced when I was 24 days old. Dumb people! Why did they bother to get married on the first place! :)</p>

<p>My father bought me a Nikon FE2 with a 50mm f1.8 lens brand new from B&H Photo when I graduated from high school in 1987. It was the best gift he could have ever given me. Then before Christmas, 2000, he called me up and told me I could have any digital camera up to $1000 for Christmas, so I asked for the Nikon Coolpix 990.<br>

My mother was brought up by her grandparents as well, but by the time she was a teen they shipped her off to her dad and his second wife (my mothers mother died shortly after she was born). And later she moved in with her older sister.</p>

<p>Shun, you got the greatest gift of all and it has stayed with you. Thanks for all supporting families. Sorry to stray from the thread a bit.</p>

<p>400mm f2.8 VR. I have NO need for this lens, but would love it. Can I have a 1.4X tele-converter with it?</p>

<p><em>This is just for grins...</em></p>

<p>I would tell her I needed a new body instead of a lens and have her gift be a D3X!</p>

<p> </p>

<p>The 28mm f/1.4!</p>

<p>No digital body would last forever.:) I treated myself to a Leica M4, which is 40 years old and I'm sure it will last another 40 :)<br />But as you want a lens.... I am assuming this is not a hypothetical grandma..... price is ALWAYS an issue, even "if it is not". I'd be modest... 70-200 VR (more versatile that the 200, and one stop slower would be OK for me) or maybe an upgrade to my aged 300mm f/4... but if I shot a lot of birds, who knows... I'd ask Rene how is faring with the 400/2.8+TC :)</p>

<blockquote>

<p><em>"... But you get just one item and you have to keep it forever... " </em></p>

</blockquote>

<p><em>A</em>re you refering to the grannie or to the lens?</p>

<p>If to the grannie, it could be a good thing; if to the lens, probably a 45/2.8P (I cannot imagine myself carrying a 500/4AFS IIVR during the rest of my life!).</p>

<p>50mm F1.8 ...</p>