Zoom for F90X (N90S)

Hi all, I am a new Nikon(previous Canon and Leica non autofocus)) user

having just aquired a F90X (N90S) Camera with the 35-105 D f: 3.5-4.5

zoom lens. I do not yet know all the Nikon lens suffixes. Is there a

Web site explaining it all? The advise I am asking about is which Zoom

lens in the 35-105 or 28-85 would be of better optical quality than

the lens that I have. Also the max aperature of 3.5 is a little too

slow. I understand that this lens is not rated very high according to

Photodo.com. I am more familiar with Canon lenses hence this question.

I love the Camera it is like a new world for me after 30 years of

manual focus and now older eyes. Must the lens be a "D" version to use

the matrix AE? The distance AE calculation is not that important to

me. My shooting is mostly Landscape(color) and shapes and patterns in

Black and White. Thank you for reading. Peter

Hi Peter, welcome to Nikon. There is a thread here on photo.net that explains all the abbreviations, but I'm not sure what it is called. Someone else is likely to post the link.

 

There is a wealth of Nikon info on www.nikonlinks.com

 

But I can answer that to use matrix AE, any AF lens will work OK. There are a couple of manual lenses also that will give you matrix metering. Note that the newer AF G lenses don't have an aperture ring - same as EF Canon lenses. You can use these in AE mode but in Program and Shutter Priority only - not in Aperture controlled or Manual modes.

 

The F90x is a great little camera (I have one) and should help you get great results.

 

Regards, Ross

Most Nikon auto-focus lenses have the D functionality, but sometimes it is not expressly listed. For example, the AFS series with its built in motors are D lenses. The D functionality is particularly useful with Nikon dedicated flashes.

 

More information about Nikon lenses is available through photo.net link to equipment. WWW.Nikonlinks.com is an excellent source, too. Www.bythom.com is another good place to go. WWW.camerareview.com has reviews of bodies and lenses of all makes.

I was told that the 35-105 is not that bad a lens, but yes, the aperture would annoy me too. If you want better than that, then one choice is to buy "professional" zooms, which will cost a lot, the other one is to buy primes. Good zooms in the Nikon arsenal are the 17-35 and 28-70, both F/2.8 and darn expensive, but people say they're like primes. In the normal range, somewhat more affordable zooms are the 35-70 F/2.8 and 24-85 F/2.8-4. The former one is a push-pull lens, and gets very good reviews. The latter one is also said to be good, but has noticable distortion at the wide end.

 

I personally use primes, because they are cheaper and faster than these zooms. The 50 F/1.8 is a cool lens for $100. Then there are the 24 F/2.8, 35 F/2, and 85 F/1.8 or 105 F/2.5, which are the most popular choices in the normal range. The 105 is a manual focus lens, and is praised by many, but I chose a Sigma 105 macro because my F80 does not meter with manual lenses. You don't have this problem on the F90X.

 

Don't buy "G" lenses, as they don't have an aperture ring, and will only work in P and S modes on your camera.

Here is a site that explains what lenses fit on which cameras:

 

http://www.nikonians.org/html/resources/nikon_articles/other/compatibility.html

 

Regards, Ross

Thank you all for the very good advise and the links to the Nikon information web sites. I learned much and will be able to make a better decision regarding which lens/s to buy in the future. Regards Peter