You're FX Set Up

[stillbound]

I'm making the change and with my purchase of a D700 and 24-70 2.8 I am leaving Canon behind...I also purchased a

SB900 flash for this set up...

My question is for those with a D700 or D3 what do you find are the lenses you can't live without...I know this

is subjective but while I knew the canon primes and zooms inside and out I'm still not sure of the "aura" (hope

you know what I mean) that surrounds the various Nikon lenses. I know people love the 14-24 and I'll get one at

some point but I'm more of a portrait shooter (some of my work can be seen at www.stark-arts.com ) and I have

heard all the issues with the 70-200 (still not sure what to believe on that)

I'm leaning toward 85 1.4 and would love to know what you guys think of the 105 and 135 DC lenses...

anything else you think should be in my new kit I'd love to hear about...

thanks

JC

[bill_ackerman]

You might want to wait to see what, if any, new lenses are announced at Photokina next month. There are

rumors of new lenses from Nikon, but you never know. However, if you can wait, it is always a good idea before such a

major event.

[ronald_moravec1]

24,28,35.50,60,85, 135,200, 300, 80/200 zoom. No full frame digi camera yet Someday.

 

I don`t appreciate portraits with only the eyes in focus which is what you get with fast glass used full open.

[leicaglow]

Big thumbs up on the 105 and 135 lenses. My main lenses are an 18-35mm, 20mm 24mm 50mm 60mm 85mm (f/1.8) 105 (micro and DC) 180mm 300mm. I also use a 45mm extensively, but the 50mm f/1.8 is just so good. There are others but these are the ones in my bag all the time. In order of use, it would probably be in this order: 18-35mm, 85mm, 300mm, 60mm, 24mm, 50mm, 105mm, 180mm,

[joe_a2]

The 85mm f/1.4D AF lens is simply amazing and my favorite Nikkor.

 

The 180mm f/2.8D AF lens is simply amazing (and light!). Second favorite Nikkor.

 

The 70-200VR is a favorite, but make sure the "corner issues" won't upset you.

 

The 17-35mm f/2.8 AF-S is a great wide angle zoom, but lots of overlap with your 24-70mm. The 14-24mm f/2.8 AF-S is a very large lens that does not take front filters of any kind and that's why I will probably stick with the 17-35 when I go to full frame down the road; you should see the 14-24mm in person before spending that kind of money.

[tomweis]

Check out the Zeiss primes.

[fullmetalphotograper]

For me the transition was pretty minor. I went from film to DX to FX. I went from The N90 and 2 F5 Cameras to the

Nikon D70s and Nikon D2x to the D3. I only had to buy one lens for the transition to D3 (FX) the Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8. I

shoot about 2/3 of my work is editorial the rest is commercial. The vast majority of my shoots I use the 14-24mm f/2.8

and the 70-200mm f/2.8 VR. There is a significant amount of vignetting with 70-200mm f/2.8 VR. My understanding this

due two factors: (1) The FX sensor is slightly larger than the 35mm format. (2) The 70-200mm f/2.8 VR was built as a

compromise between the Film format (the past) and the DX format (Which Nikon thought was the future format for

digital).

 

My main kit looks like this:

 

Cameras:

 

Nikon D3

 

Nikon D2x

 

Lenses:

 

Lenses:

 

Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8

 

Tokina 28-70mm f/2.8

 

Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR

 

Tokina 300mm f/2.8

 

Flash: SB800

 

Secondary Kit:

 

Camera: D70s with Hoodman Grip

 

Lenses:

 

Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 (push pull)

 

NIKKOR 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 DX

 

NIKKOR 12-24mm f/4 DX

 

Flash: SB-800

[malcolm_farrow]

I use the 20mm AIS when I need something wider than the 24-70mm - it makes a nice light lens, filters are useable, and the results are acceptable on FX, although I see a 14-24mm in my future at some point (funds permitting). At the longer end, the 70-200mm and the 105mm VR macro fill my needs, together with a 1.4 teleconverter (rarely used).

 

Given that I have a D700 and a D300, this lens combination gives me amazing versatility. The 85 1.4 might be more useful if portraits are your main goal (I'm a wildlife/nature shooter), but when I briefly had the Zeiss Contax equivalent, I found I usually stopped it down slightly - I don't like the end of my subject's nose to be out of focus! So the 70-200 might work well, although it's a heavy lens. I also seem to prefer something slightly longer than 85mm for head shots and find my 105mm perfect when used wide open, the VR facility can come in handy for available light shooting too. I love the results I'm getting from my D700 and wish you every success.

[ilkka_nissila]

Here's a list of my favorites: 28/2 Ai-S Nikkor, 50/1.4 Zeiss ZF, 85/1.4D AF Nikkor, 135/2D AF DC Nikkor, 180/2.8

D AF Nikkor, and the 300/4D AF-S Nikkor. These lenses would be the first I buy if I had to start a system from

scratch.

 

I have both the 105/2D AF DC Nikkor and the 135/2D AF DC Nikkor and they both give excellent image quality on the

D3. I don't use the 105/2 much these days since I prefer the faster 85/1.4 and team it with the 135/2, although

the 105/2 is slightly superior optically to the 135/2 (the 105 is more flare resistant and a bit sharper wide

open), it's just too close to the 85 to fit in my bag in most cases.

 

The 70-200 has been much discussed, and I don't want to start on it again, but I would like to say that I fully

agree with the review published by dpreview.com wrt. this lens, both in terms of the detailed test results on DX

and FX, and the implications. If you want a fast telezoom for FX, it's best to wait for a new version.

 

These comments are especially people photography. For other applications my list of favorites would be slightly

different. For nature photography I would pick the 24-70 you already have and the 105 VR instead of the short

fast primes. For architecture, the 24/3.5 PC-E leads the list. I am also not interested in the 14-24.

 

Anyway, to add to your current setup my recommendation would be to consider the 85/1.4 + 135/2 primes, or the

105/2 + 180/2.8. Alternatively, you can substitute the 105 VR in for the 105 DC, if you want to do close-ups.

Although the 105 VR is a macro lens, it's a quite capable people lens also, and doesn't exaggerate skin

imperfections as much as many other macro lenses do. The DC Nikkors are really excellent in terms of rendering skin.

[carl_becker2]

Two sites you should look at are:

www.bythom.com

http://www.naturfotograf.com/index2.html

[david_king11]

All the answers above are too much. You say you shoot mostly portraits? The 24-70 f2.8 should be wonderful for that. If you need anything else, I would suggest the 85mm f1.8. I would not spend the extra $$ on the f1.4 version unless you absolutly need the additional speed. I would also reccomend the 70-200 VR if you have the money. I think it is a great lens and dont see what the fuss is all about.