Best ever zoom lens for Nikon D7100 ?

[sam_ginger]

<p>What is the BEST zoom lens for Nikon D7100 ? Your suggestions, please!</p>

[mike_halliwell]

<p>Wide, standard or tele? </p>

[kohanmike]

<p>There is no one BEST lens, and without details of the kind of photos you take, it's impossible to answer. Having said that, I chose a Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 OS (after I destroyed my Tamron 17-50 VC), and the Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 OS for my event, concert, portrait, catalogue work.</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>It is the one that is mounted on your D7100 so that you can capture images. :-)</p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

Ultra-wide to wide: AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G

 

Wide to short tele: AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED-IF

 

Short to moderate telephoto: AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF VR

 

Moderate to super-telephoto: AF-S 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF , plus optional 1.4x Nikon AF-S TC-14 III tele-converter

(converts this lens to a 280-560mm f/5.6 but maintains minimum focus distance.)

[kylebybee]

Michael, I rented a Sigma 85 f/1.4 for a portrait session with my D7000 and although it took great images it had a lot of C.A. I had to take

care of in post processing. Does the 50-150 have the same issue?

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>You'll have to narrow it down a bit Sam. Telephoto zoom, wideangle zoom, midrange, superzoom - what? There is no single lens that can be called "best", and even if there was there would be some variation from sample to sample in quality. Lenses that generally get very good reviews sometimes have poor quality control, and you may well get one that's poor to awful. This applies especially to cheaper 3rd party lenses. Even top-of-the range pro zooms have been known to have the odd "bad apple" in the bunch.</p>

<p>You'll have to give us more of a clue as to your intended use (and budget) for the lens. But be prepared for much disagreement in the replies too!</p>

<p>Edit: Sheesh Kyle! If the CA was bad enough to show on a portrait that must have been one dog of a lens. CA is usually only objectionable on high contrast sharp edges, and then only towards the edges of the frame. For an 85mm lens on a DX body that's just crazy.</p>

[dan_brown4]

<p>The best zoom lens for a D7100 is the Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-s DX lens.</p>

[User_4754088]

<p>I had that Nikkor 17-55 f2.8G lens and it was tack sharp when used with my D4 on DX crop mode, but was soft with my D7100. Never could get good results out of that combination.</p>

[Andrew Garrard]

<p>Nikkor 1200-1700 f/5.6-8 AI-P ED IF. Although I'd be very interested to hear in someone experimenting, even if they prove to the contrary.<br />

<br />

(Otherwise I'd probably be looking at the 14-24, 18-35 Sigma or 70-200 for optics, with some consideration to the 200-400 f/4 and 120-300/f2.8 or 200-500 f/2.8 Sigma. Ergonomically, probably only the 18-35 is an obvious contender for DX. The new 80-400 is supposed to be quite good, though.)</p>

[eric_arnold]

<blockquote>

<p>Ultra-wide to wide: AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G<br>

Wide to short tele: AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED-IF<br>

Short to moderate telephoto: AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF VR</p>

</blockquote>

<p>the holy trinity of FX lenses for a DX user, sure why not? while you're at it, pick up a d810 too.<br>

actually, i'd go with something like this:<br>

wide: tokina 11-16/2.8<br>

standard: sigma 18-35/1.8 or tamron 17-50/2.8 (non-VC)<br>

tele: sigma 50-150 OS or nikon 70-200/4.</p>

<p>re: the sigma 85. can't believe it was that bad on DX. i have that same lens and CA isn't excessive on FX. just took some pics with it on a d300s and CA seems very well controlled at 100% crop.</p><div></div>

[Peter_in_PA]

<p>If you are asking this question, chances are that you are just chasing numbers. Some of the greatest photos ever taken have been shot with really "mediocre" lenses, so ignore them.</p>

<p>Galen Rowell typically used a very cheap and light zoom lens when hiking/shooting. And he got great shots with it. I know guys who have all the best stuff, and they take awful photos.</p>

<p>For some, the best "standard zoom" which I think is what you're asking for, is the one that is light enough for you to carry with you to the place where you need to use it.</p>

<p>The short answer is that the best lens in any situation is the one that is on a camera that is mounted on a tripod and set to f8 and pointed at something awesome by someone who really understands color and composition and beauty.</p>

[Andrew Garrard]

<p>Enough magazines do polls of "the best camera/lens/photo/car/etc. of all time" without bothering to qualify that by anything useful that I don't see this being so different. No harm in a bit of fun. Though the "of all time" thing raises a good point - I presume "best ever" means "best by modern standards", not "best compared with other technology available at the same time".<br />

<br />

If we're being picky, we could try talking about whether we mean "best optically" (which has a whole set of sub-categories), "most useful", "best value for money", "best fit for the D7100 as opposed to any other camera", etc. And obviously specifying a zoom range (and aperture range, and budget) is pretty important if this was actually a practical question. But we could also just have fun and name some exceptional lenses.</p>

[sjmurray]

<p>I have a really good Nikkor 18-70 f3.5-4.5 "kit" zoom that I got with my first DSLR, a D70. I have used it on a D80 and now a D7100. I have not felt the need to purchase an expensive f 2.8 zoom at all. I guess it just fits my needs for most things. I also have an excellent 18-105 VR and I go back and forth between these two lenses most of the time. If I really need f 2.8 or greater, I have some primes like a 50mm 1.8 and 1.4, and 28 Ais f2.8 and 105 f2.5, which use on occasion, but for the most part I do everything from portraits to landscapes with the zooms.</p>

[Peter_in_PA]

<p>Sam,</p>

<p>I double-checked your history here. You've asked about 18-140/200/300 over the months/years. Have you ever gotten any of them? What are you using now? What is not working about it? What do you want to do that you can't?<br /><br />If you give that info, chances are you'll get really helpful responses.</p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

"the holy trinity of FX lenses for a DX user, sure why not? while you're at it, pick up a d810 too."

 

He did ask for the best.

 

"I had that Nikkor 17-55 f2.8G lens and it was tack sharp when used with my D4 on DX crop mode, but was soft with my D7100. Never could get good results out of that combination."

 

Even after using the camera's Afmicro-adjustment settings? Cameras and lenses are like strings and guitars: tuning is necessary if you want them to make beautiful music together.

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>Oh well, if we're having fun it's the 8-800mm f/2 diffractive-micro-aspheric-Fresnel hybrid Apo Triple-Teslar with cryptochroic AR coating and utilising lightweight dilucium-propylacrylate and artificial diamond elements. Focusing and zooming are done by nanobot internal reconstruction (NIR) of the entire lens assembly. Due out in 2019 and costing a mere $30,000,000, which will be nothing when you take inflation into account. I hear that development is being held up because the speed of the AF system creates a mini sonic boom, and a special muffler system is having to be designed.</p>

[Peter_in_PA]

 

<blockquote>

<p>Oh well, if we're having fun it's the 8-800mm f/2 diffractive-micro-aspheric-Fresnel hybrid Apo Triple-Teslar with cryptochroic AR coating and utilising lightweight dilucium-propylacrylate and artificial diamond elements. Focusing and zooming are done by nanobot internal reconstruction (NIR) of the entire lens assembly. Due out in 2019 and costing a mere $30,000,000, which will be nothing when you take inflation into account. I hear that development is being held up because the speed of the AF system creates a mini sonic boom, and a special muffler system is having to be designed.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I tried an early prototype of those. Lousy bokeh... had to wear special protective gear to use it, but it comes with a nice Ford truck.</p>

 

[eric_arnold]

<blockquote>

<p>He did ask for the best.</p>

</blockquote>

<p> <br>

lol @Ellis.<br>

<br>

well, sure, i use 2 out of the 3 on DX occasionally, and they are pretty darn good. but having said that, they aren't necessarily the most practical zooms for DX.</p>

[kohanmike]

<p ><em>"<a href="/photodb/user?user_id=6780504">Kyle Bybee</a> - Michael, I rented a Sigma 85 f/1.4 for a portrait session with my D7000 and although it took great images it had a lot of C.A. I had to take care of in post processing. Does the 50-150 have the same issue?"</em></p>

 

<p>Not that I can see. The 50-150 OS is the best lens I've ever touched.</p>

 

<p ><em>"<a href="/photodb/user?user_id=17942">Ellis Vener</a> - Ultra-wide to wide: AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G. Wide to short tele: AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED-IF. Short to moderate telephoto: AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF VR. Moderate to super-telephoto: AF-S 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF , plus optional 1.4x Nikon AF-S TC-14 III tele-converter (converts this lens to a 280-560mm f/5.6 but maintains minimum focus distance.)"</em></p>

 

<p>Only if you have an Fx camera. My Dx setup is the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8, Sigma 17-50mm OS f/2.8, Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 OS, Tamron 60mm f/2 macro and Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 with a 1.4x teleconverter. Making a 35mm equivalent range of 17mm to 630mm, f/2.8 to f/4. Pretty damn good if you ask me.</p>

 

 

[ilmilco]

The best zoom lens for a D7100 i can not answer, a good lens could be the 17-55 2.8

[Stephen L]

<blockquote>

<p>The best zoom lens for a D7100 i can not answer, a good lens could be the 17-55 2.8</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>My Nikon 17-55 f/2.8 pretty much lives on my D7100. When I need wider, I go with the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. Longer zoom ranges are handled by the 70-200 VR1 or, if I'm feeling weak, the 70-300 4.5-5.6 VR. I may move to the new 80-400 though.</p>