Glass for Nikon N90s

Mike Kennedy · Nov 12, 2007

I shoot everything but portraiture.My arsenal of AF lenses include a slow Nikkor 35-80,Tamron 28-200 and Sigma 70-300.
Am I missing something or do these lenses cover all the bases?

Thank You

Soeren · Nov 12, 2007

Mike Kennedy said:
I shoot everything but portraiture.My arsenal of AF lenses include a slow Nikkor 35-80,Tamron 28-200 and Sigma 70-300.
Am I missing something or do these lenses cover all the bases?

Thank You

How about a very wide(20-24mm) and a macrolens?
Kind regards
Søren

Soeren · Nov 12, 2007

Oh BTW my first three lens F90X kit consisted of a 24mm f/2,8 sigma; 50mm f/1,4 AFD Nikor and a 105mm f/2,8 Sigma macro. Those three served me well for some years and when I needed something longer I got a 180mm f/2,8 AIS.
A kit like that would cover most if not all subjects encountered by a 35mm shooter.
Kind regards
Søren

Ps. Does it show I don't like zooms?

Mike Kennedy · Nov 12, 2007

Thank you Soeren.I'd love to shoot nothing but primes.Alas,the spirit is willing ,yet the billfold is weak.

Mike

Soeren · Nov 12, 2007

Mike Kennedy said:
Thank you Soeren.I'd love to shoot nothing but primes.Alas,the spirit is willing ,yet the billfold is weak.

Mike

Well when I bought my F90X back in -99 It came with a 28-70mm f/3,5-4,5 zoom. I found that either I shot it in the middle of the range or I tried to zoom out of range. The small max aperture was a PITA too so the lens was not more usefull than a 50mm, rather less. I kind of found the zoom limiting and the prime not. Sounds strange eh.
Kind regards
Søren

Pinholemaster · Nov 12, 2007

The key is to cover 2nd base. Always try to prevent the runner from getting to 2nd, so he's not in scoring position. Grin.

You don't have any extreme wide angle lenses from 14mm up to 28mm. Your Nikkor 35-80 is a bit redundant. You could sell it to use the money for a wider prime or wider zoom lens.

Mike Kennedy · Nov 12, 2007

Great idea Pinholemaster. The 35-80 came with my N60.I've been told that lenses sold with camera bodies, as part of a package deal, arn't that hot

Soeren · Nov 12, 2007

As stated earlier the 24mm focallenght (partly due to the Sigmas closefocus abilities) has served me well for some years. Now I have the 20mm AFD and though I find it a great lens it may be too extreme for some people. Another great wideangle is the 28mm f/2,8 AIS that will focus as close as 20cm making really close up wideangle shots possible. It will be faster than your current 28-200 and probably better
If you fancy macro/closeups you should look for a 55mm or 105mm AIS Micro Nikor. It is almost impossible to use AF in that area so all you really loose is matrix metering.
I think I would ditch the Tamron If it's not superior in quality to the other 2. It covers (almost) the same focallenght as the others so......
Kind regards
Søren

ehparis · Nov 12, 2007

Mike Kennedy said:
I shoot everything but portraiture.My arsenal of AF lenses include a slow Nikkor 35-80,Tamron 28-200 and Sigma 70-300.
Am I missing something or do these lenses cover all the bases?

When I had my N90s I primarily used the 35-70mm f2.8 and 180mm f2.8 Nikkors. Several other lenses such as the 35mm f1.4 and 24mm f2.8 saw considerably less use as I didn't use wide angle as much as I probably should.

PhotoJim · Nov 12, 2007

The 35-80 may be worth keeping, particularly if it has the metal mount and not the plastic one. The metal mount version is exceptionally sharp. It will probably blow away your 28-200 at the focal lengths it supports.

The non-Nikon zooms you mention are unlikely to be exceptionally good optically. You might want to look at upgrading them over time. There are lots of good Nikkors out there for not very much money.

A 50/1.8 is cheap, too, and very sharp, and would give you a great low-light solution. The 35/2 is a little more useful but about three times the price.

film_guy · Nov 12, 2007

Get a 28mm 2.8, 50mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.8 and you'll be set for life.

copake_ham · Nov 12, 2007

Mike,

There is Nikkor "consumer" glasstic and there is real Nikkor glass.

First determine which yours is. A quick and dirty test is whether or not it is Made in Japan (that's where the "good stuff" comes from) versus Malaysia or The Phillipines.

As far as I'm concerned, Nikkor "consumer glasstic" is no better than Sigma or other 3rd party manufacturers. So getting rid of the Nikkor as "redundant" would make sense if it is only consumer quality.

But if it is the good stuff - keep the Nikkor and build your own kit around it with other quality Nikkor glass as you're means permit.

I've got some third party glass from kits, as well as some of the Nikkor consumer quality stuff. It's generally okay optically - but it's made of cheap plastic and likely to fail sooner rather than later and is hardly the stuff that once made "real" Nikkor glass a legend.

Shawn Rahman · Nov 13, 2007

film_guy said:
Get a 28mm 2.8, 50mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.8 and you'll be set for life.

Variation on the above, which is a great selection in itself:

24mm 2.8; 50mm 1.8; 85mm 1.8

I agree with the set for life sentiments.

Soeren · Nov 13, 2007

film_guy said:
Get a 28mm 2.8, 50mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.8 and you'll be set for life.

I have a 50mm and a 85mm and though they are both good lenses I find them to close in focallenght.
Kind regards
Søren

Sirius Glass · Nov 13, 2007

If you like to shoot wide angle photographs, consider the Nikon f/2.8 AF 20mm to 35mm zoom which is much cheaper than the Nikon f/2.8 AF 17mm to 35mm zoom.

I use the Nikon f/2.8 AF 20mm to 35mm zoom and the Tamron f3.6 AF 28mm to 300mm zoom. Between the two they cover everything I shoot in 35mm.

Steve

Robert Hall · Nov 13, 2007

You need a 20mm. As they say,

"Go wide or go home!"

film_guy · Nov 13, 2007

Or as Robert Capa once said, "if your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough." And I totally agree. Wide and close is good.

spiralcity · Nov 17, 2007

I've got some third party glass from kits, as well as some of the Nikkor consumer quality stuff. It's generally okay optically - but it's made of cheap plastic and likely to fail sooner rather than later and is hardly the stuff that once made "real" Nikkor glass a legend.

I do know there are a few lenses made for the consumer that were manufactured outside of Japan. One of the first was the 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6D AF. I dont believe the lens elements are made of plastic. I do know that the lens mounting ring was constucted of high density plastic.

The plastic you refer to is the mount and barrel and not the elements I assume?

PhotoJim · Nov 17, 2007

Some of the consumer-grade lenses that have aspherical elements have plastic aspherics. The 28-70/3.5-4.5D comes to mind, although I'm not sure about that lens specifically. The non-aspherical optics are always glass, though.

mawz · Nov 21, 2007

I've got a 20, 35 and 85 which covers my needs for the most part (A 1.5x TC handles most of the rest when mounted to the 85).

My non-Nikon body has a 24-105 on it, which is about the same (although I miss the speed of the 35 and 85 primes).

Glass for Nikon N90s

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