Top 3 lens for DX body


bethpapa74

Senior Member
Jan 28, 2011
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I would like to do a little survey :)
What would be your IDEAL top 3 preferred lens for DX body??

Below are mine ...
DX
1) AF 50mm f/1.4G
2) AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
3) AF-S VR II 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED
 

For DX: (Add 1 more)
10.5mm F2.8 Fisheye
10-24mm
17-55mm F2.8
70-300mm VR
 

For me, it's definitely the 35mm f1.8 lens. The balance 2, let me think...
 

I would like to do a little survey :)
What would be your IDEAL top 3 preferred lens for DX body??

Below are mine ...
DX
1) AF 50mm f/1.4G
2) AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
3) AF-S VR II 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED

lol, they are great lens, but all are FX lens :p
Goes to show how DX format equilivent lens are worse off than FX...
 

10-24
16-85
+ 1 of 35/50/85
 

I like the
35mm 1.8
18-200mm f3.5~5.6 - not because of IQ but I like the range it provides.
 

3 is not enough. LOL.

My ideal if money is no object:
24/1.4
Sigma 50/1.4
Tokina 11-16/2.8
17-55/2.8

My ideal for balanced spending:
Sigma 24/1.8
50/1.4d
Tokina 11-16/2.8
Tam 17-50/2.8
 

Top 3 for me would be

-Tokina 12-24 f/4 (or 11-16)
-Sigma 17-50 f/2.8
-Sigma 70-200 f/2.8

For tight budget would be
-Tokina 12-24 f/4
-Nikon 50mm f/1.8D
 

Nikon 12-24 f4
Nikon 24mm f1.4G
Nikon 35mm f1.4G
Nikon 85mm f1.4G
Nikon 50mm f1.2G (coming soon??)
 

imo, some prefer all-in-one lens. some prefer fast prime :)
 

only when you have used the new fast primes, then you'll understand why some choose not to use the convenient zoom lenses :)
 

kentwong81 said:
only when you have used the new fast primes, then you'll understand why some choose not to use the convenient zoom lenses :)

Even the old fast primes are excellent. Some old lenses from the 70s and 80s are optically on par or exceed current day fast primes. The build of the old lenses, especially the MF ones, are way better than current day prime lenses.

For digital camera bodies newer is usually better. But not so for lenses. But you will never know till you try and get the hang of those old MF lenses.
 

Yeah, I've tried some old MF lenses. Some are better than the f2.8D fast primes but I haven't found one that performs better than the new G prime lenses(except the 50mm f1.4G) at wide open f1.4 in terms of sharpness, colour rendition, contrasty level, handling of flare/ghosting.
 

kentwong81 said:
Yeah, I've tried some old MF lenses. Some are better than the f2.8D fast primes but I haven't found one that performs better than the new G prime lenses(except the 50mm f1.4G) at wide open f1.4 in terms of sharpness, colour rendition, contrasty level, handling of flare/ghosting.

Have you tried the ais 35/1.4? A good friend compared it to the 35/1.4g and he says they are almost identical optically.
 

Have you tried the ais 35/1.4? A good friend compared it to the 35/1.4g and he says they are almost identical optically.

Yes, I've tried. As similar to what Ken Rockwell tested here, the 35/1.4 Ais performance at wide open f1.4 is not as sharp and contrasty as the 35/1.4G. There are some visible coma too. Somemore with the AF, it's more practical to shoot for events/weddings/fast sports.
When stopping down to f2.8, f4, f5.6, etc, the performance between the two will be similar, but that's not the purpose of getting an expensive f1.4 prime lens.
 

kentwong81 said:
Yes, I've tried. As similar to what Ken Rockwell tested here, the 35/1.4 Ais performance at wide open f1.4 is not as sharp and contrasty as the 35/1.4G. There are some visible coma too. Somemore with the AF, it's more practical to shoot for events/weddings/fast sports.
When stopping down to f2.8, f4, f5.6, etc, the performance between the two will be similar, but that's not the purpose of getting an expensive f1.4 prime lens.

Not according to to my friend. Akerue where are you?
 

Not according to to my friend. Akerue where are you?

Not much info in Google. But there are some similar user comments from the Dpreview forum: http://dp-master1.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1030&message=37370620

It will be amazing if the Ais version can match the quality of the G version at wide open f1.4. From what I used and read, many old MF lenses can't perform as good as the new G primes at wide open f1.4. But when they stop down f2.0 onwards, the performance will be getting closed.