New prime lenses on the way for FX?

[venividivici]

Having the D3 launched with a full frame sensor, FX format, I?m wondering whether Nikon is going to

announce some new prime lenses for the FX format soon.

 

 

I always thought a FF sensor is crucial for utilizing 135 format prime lenses. This might be the reason that

Nikon hasn?t been introducing many new prime lenses in past few years. More over, a few of the legendary

prime lenses were discontinued, such as the 28/1.4 and 55/1.2.

 

 

I?m praying for new primes from Nikon to go with the FX cameras. Here are the ones I hope is on the way:

 

 

~ AF-S 28/1.4 (24/1.4)

 

~ AF-S 35/1.4 (35/2) ? Can?t miss this classic

 

~ AF-S 50/1.2 (55/1.2)

 

~ AF-S 84/1.4 (with VR and closer working distance will be great! Perfect portrait lens) At least at the same

level as the Canon 85L at all F stops.

 

~ AF-S 180/2.8 VR (+Macro?)

 

 

All fitted with the SWM motor for fast focusing.

 

 

Com on guys, give some of your predictions !!! This exciting, isn't it?

[juanjo_viagran]

mmm.. I may be wrong but I think ALL the Nikon primes are for FF typo of cameras, film and now, thanks to the D3 and D300, digital as well..

[juanjo_viagran]

with the D1, D2 series and the D200 the big thing about lenses was that you can meter with old AI lenses..

 

Now with the D3 and D300 you have that less the cropping "issue".

 

Nikon primes are great already.. AFS primes is just pushing it to a more expensive hobby, profession.

[tonybeach]

Some will never materialize, others may (or already have) come via third parties like Sigma, et al., and some may take decades.

 

The fast 35mm and 55mm seem like they would be more useful for DX format.

 

My feeling about having a closer focusing distance for the 85/1.4 is that would be slightly at odds with the design goal of having premium wide open performance. What's the point of razor thin DOF when focusing close to your subject?

 

I am not a fan of "all in one" lens formulas, so macro and VR also strike me as be design goal conflicts. I personally would rather have a lens that does one thing great than a lens that does many things reasonably well.

[venividivici]

I meant the top of range primes.

 

Yes, You are right, most of the Nikon primes are for FF format except the DX Fisheye.

 

Thanks

[venividivici]

Yes, Anthony.

 

I was hoping the 85/1.4 focusing down to about 0.7, Just like the Leica ones. I'm not putting

everything all together. Certainly not a 85/1.4Macro. Wide open performance is definately the

top priority.

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

"Nikon primes are great already.. AFS primes is just pushing it to a more expensive hobby, profession."

 

Not true in every case. Some lenses that worked well with film exhibit CA with digital sensors. And AF-S will improve AF performance and make the lenses usable in AF mode on D40-type bodies.

[jim_e.]

Come on Nikon. 85/1.2 AF-S, 50/1.2 AF-S, and 35/1.4 AF-S. I'd buy into any of these.

[juanjo_viagran]

ROBERT..

 

you think that is logical that Nikon is going to make expensive AFS primes thinking in the cheapest DSLR camera.!?? :/

 

anyway... that was MHO.

[jim_e.]

I don't think he meant it that way Juanjo. He just said they could also be used on the D40's. Meaning they'll work with all the current bodies available from Nikon. Besides, the D40x is not a bad camera. I almost bought one to use on a 200/2 VR.

[Robert DeCandido PhD]

400 F5.6 AFS - perhaps even with VR technology.

[lex_jenkins]

I'd definitely like to see some f/2 and faster primes converted to AF-S and perhaps tweaked to reduce CA for digital use. A great example is the 180mm f/2.8, already a good value but considered slow in autofocusing for action photography.

 

A PC Nikkor tweaked for digital would be good too. My 28mm f/3.5 PC Nikkor never showed any problems with chromatic aberration on film but does on my D2H. And a 24mm or wider PC lens would appeal to owners of DX format dSLRs too.

 

And many of us with shaky hands would like a fast midrange zoom with VR. Might as well make it full frame like the 24-120 VR, but f/2.8.

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

"you think that is logical that Nikon is going to make expensive AFS primes thinking in the cheapest DSLR camera.!?? :/"

 

A D40 would make a a reasonable backup for more expensive DSLRs if they could share lenses. Besides, I do not believe that AF-S lenses are necessarily expensive. A 50mm f/1.8 Nikon lens with screw drive sells for $125. An AF-S version would cost a bit more, but not a lot more for high-volume lenses. And you can always but the older lenses and use manual focus if you want bargains. No one is forcing anyone to buy new gear.

[arthuryeo]

Yes, the downside of zooms is the f/2.8 limitation but if there is *only* a 5-10% difference in optical quality, I'll be happy with a good zoom. Carrying a bag full of lenses is no fun unless you are the type (like HC-B) who can work with 2 primes for 99% of your work.

 

I think with the current new breed of Nikon pro zooms, the optical quality is so high, there's a negligible difference between zooms and the old primes. Many of the modern zooms are, in fact, better optically than the old primes due to available cheaper optical technologies which were a lot costlier in the past.

[peter_lawrence]

With my budget, I think I'll have to settle for choice lenses, instead of primes. ;-)

 

Seriously, I think Nikon will focus its lens R&D to deliver lenses that will be in greatest demand or fill a perceived gap in their lens lineup.

 

I don't hold out too much hope in Nikon developing many new GENERAL PURPOSE single-focal-length lenses, but will probably develop a few specialized ones like MAYBE an additional tilt-shift lens.

 

Simply put, there really isn't a big market anymore for fixed-focal-length lenses. The vast overwhelming majority of pros and amateurs alike prefer the convenience of a zoom lens.

 

Personally, I would like if Nikon would develop an ultra wide angle rectilinear 9mm DX lenses to achieve a similar field-of-view of its current 14mm lens on 35mm film and FX digital bodies -- but I'm not holding out too much hope. I might have to bite the bullet and buy the D3 when it ships latter this year and use my 14mm Nikkor as I did with my film SLR's.

[oskar_ojala]

The wide angle primes are in the most serious need of an update. now there's the 14-24/2.8 and assuming it performs well, it will still be quite big and expensive. My 24/2.8 is the right size, but the image quality could be higher. Also, great flare and ghost resistance would be desirable, zooms are often not that good in these regards.

[ilkka_nissila]

I don't agree that there isn't a market for primes. I've got 15 of them. Nikon has introduced a bunch of them in the last few years (e.g. 200/2, 300/2.8, 400/2.8, 500/4, 600/4, 10.5, 105 VR) and no doubt will introduce more soon. I wouldn't even often use zooms if they kept more of their primes up to date.

 

Zooms are clumsy, big, heavy, flare a lot of the time, and have poor performance in the corners (often). Primes based on comparable technology are crisper. No contest for me.

[peter_lawrence]

Ilkka,

 

I see the market for large and fast telephoto lenses, and Nikon has responded to it. Nikon

did update its macro 105 lens too -- a bit of a surprise to most people. But I don't see

them updating the regular wide angle, normal, or moderate telephoto lenses any time

soon.

 

I hope I'm wrong, because I like to use single-focal-length lenses too. It would be nice if

Nikon came out of a fast DX 33mm/1.4 VR-AFS lens and a DX 24mm/1.4 VR-AFS lens. I

would certainly snap them up. But I think you and I are in the minority. Most Nikon

photographers, pro and amateurs, prefer zooms.

 

Put it in another way, I still like to shoot film too, but I doubt that Nikon will be coming out

with too many more film SLR's.

[david_bradley1]

Modern zooms are truly amazing, but they are still larger, heavier, and require larger filters than primes. My passion is backcountry landscapes, and I'd love to see the wide angle primes updated to work better with DSLRs. My favorite lens by far is the 24mm/2.8D. It's a beautiful perspective for landscapes -- expansive without looking like a gimmick -- and is tiny, light, sharp, and takes 52mm filters. I'm happy to carry it in my back for 3 days and nights. The 20mm/2.8D and 40mm pancake are also near perfection for my purposes. This three-lens combo is superior to any of the big wide angle zooms in every way that matters to me regardless of cost. The fact that I can buy all three for less than a single zoom is icing on the cake.

<p>

Well, this used to be true but these days there is the issue of CLA on DSLRS. If those small, light, beautiful wide angle primes were updated to get ride of the excessive CLA we see with digital sensors then that would be my personal perfection.

[jack_l3]

>Now with the D3 and D300 you have that less the cropping "issue".

 

Juanjo, only the D3 is full frame.

 

Happy shooting!

[skellener]

Apparently you can use DX lenses on both the D3 and D300 (I guess there's a setting for it). I know a lot of you guys poo-poo'ed the DX format. Nice to know if some of us non-pros ever move up to these cameras, the lenses would still work. Pretty cool.

[ilkka_nissila]

Peter, IMO there is no less of an advantage to a wide angle prime than to a tele prime. I can think of one reason why Nikon hasn't introduced new wide angle primes: they don't know which is the future, DX or full 35mm frame, and thus haven't introduced many lenses which would lock people into one format. I would prefer them to introduce primes for both formats.

 

I don't think this has anything to do with film vs. digital body production. Primes have clear optical quality advantages when designed for the sensor they are used on, and they are naturally smaller, lighter, and can be made faster than zooms. There is IMO no excuse for Nikon ignoring this area for a decade or so.

[ShunCheung]

If we are talking about those f1.4 wide angles for low-light photography, FX (or even bigger) certainly has an advantage over DX; the larger frame area means you can use larger photosites, thus presumably giving you less high-ISO/underexposure noise.

 

The problem is that Nikon never had an FX DSLR until the D3, so there was no point to introduce lenses until they have FX DSLRs in place. Now, I would expect fast wides to replace the discontinued 28mm/f1.4 in the next year or two. Expect to pay a lot for those lenses, though.

 

Having said that, in a lot of situations the flexability of zooms helps getting the shot. That is why they are so popular now.