What Is Your Favorite Lens?

There are so many favorite lenses!

The new Nikkor 18-200VR is extremely verstaile. The new Nikkor 105VR micro is stunning. I have a recently discontinued 28mm 1.4 that is just amazing and have heard great things about the 85mm 1.4

But all of these are $$$$$$

I guess it depends on what you like shooting. Do you want to go wide? Long? Zoom? Fast? Close? And in what price ranges?

The Nikon "kit" lens 18-70 is also a very decent performer for the D50.

Check out this Nikon SLR Lens Forum . . .

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1030
 
This isn't a helpful answer... but for years now when somebody asks what's my favorite lens I have an unconscious, knee-jerk reaction. Canon 70-200L 2.8... oh yes... my precious.

For you? On that Nikon? I don't know but there should be some EXCELLENT input... I remember a long thread that talked about nikon glass a lot. My short answer is the fastest glass you can afford...

My slightly longer answer is to get the Tamron lens that KPrince uses! It's about a $350 lens... and by his pictures, worth EVERY penny. If I got a DSLR it's the very next thing I'd buy... even before heart medication.
 
I have a cheap canon 50mm 1.8 and love it. Super-sharp images for $70! I also have a Canon 28-135 image-stabilized lens that I recently fell back in love with. It's slow (3.5-5.6), but the IS helps alot. I didn't use this for almost a year because I was tired of sacrificing distortion and speed and stuck with primes only. I took it out a week ago and forgot how damn nice it is to compose between medium and telephoto shots with the same lens. The distortion isn't so bad either especially with Photoshop to rescue.

I know that doesn't help you much with Nikon but what I love about this lens is its large focal range and image stabilization. And, damn, do I love telephoto work. Long lenses are just plain fun.
 
Leica 50mm Summicron, without a doubt.

However, both the Nikon 17-35mm AF-S and 70-200mm VR (or later model 80-200mm D) are brilliant lenses, if you're in that realm. And both cost upwards of $1200. But show me someone whose favorite lens is a $120 Sigma. :)
 
kai said:
Canon 70-200 2.8IS or the 1.4 50mm

LIKE BUTTA!
Click to expand...

See... I told ya'... I'm pretty sure it's just me, Kai, and about 10,000 other people who love that 70-200... it's pretty pathetic, but that's one of my life's goals... to own that lens... it's been bumped from the top of the "purchase list" so many times that I just want it that much more now. When I finally get it my head will explode. It's nearly the same price as a Schoeps 641... yikes.
 
Ive got the Tamron 18-200 very versatile and good optics, nice all around lens, cant get better for the price and range, image quality not as good, but for the D50 its good enough. Ive got it on my 20D 70% of the time, the rest of the time I use primes.

Its only 4bills. Get it.
 
Canon 70-200 f2.8 newest version
Canon 50 f1.4 (do I hear echo?)

Carl Zeiss Biogon 38mm f4.5 (attached to Hasselblad SWC...)

Voigtländer Super Wide-Heliar 15mm f4.5 (leica screw mount, amazing but cheap lens, best superwide any price).
 
No doubt it's great quality, but $700 for a manual focus 50mm prime? Not that the autofocus on the AF-D is anything to write home about, but it's a fine lens at 1/3 the price.
 
dougspice said:
No doubt it's great quality, but $700 for a manual focus 50mm prime? Not that the autofocus on the AF-D is anything to write home about, but it's a fine lens at 1/3 the price.
Click to expand...

So that brings up a very interesting question...

What is the opinion on the 50mm 1.4 from Nikon? Also, is there a difference in the sharpness between the 50mm 1.4 and the 50mm 1.8 or is the only difference the speed of the lens? The price difference between the two is massive ($100 vs. $400).

-Jeremy
 
$400? I got mine new for just over $200! Have they significantly changed this lens in the last 2-3 years?

Anyway, I have it (the 1.4). It's a good lens. Fast and fairly sharp, no visual flaws. The autofocus, like I mentioned, is slow, noisy, and in low-light it's practically useless unless you have a flash, but in daylight it's fine. I turn it off about half the time. I've never used the 1.8. At the time I bought mine, the 1.4 was a fairly sturdy, nice lens, and the 1.8 was a cheap-feeling piece of plastic. Some people have told me that this isn't true anymore. I don't know.
 
dougspice said:
$400? I got mine new for just over $200! Have they significantly changed this lens in the last 2-3 years?
Click to expand...

From wolfcamera.com

Nikon 50mm f/1.4D AF Lens = $329.00

Nikon 50mm f/1.8D Nikkor AF Lens = $119.00

The speed of the lens, while I don't doubt the importance and application enhancements of going 1.4, just doesn't seem worth $200 more for one stop if the sharpness of the lens is identical... Now if I can just find who was selling it for $400.

Your comment regarding the AF on these lenses concerns me though.

-Jeremy
 
I use the Leica M 50 /2 ASPH mostly, it is perhaps a little too sharp. I sometimes use the Noctilux for landscapes (I cannot explain why, but it gives nice results) but I guess the lens that always gives me great results is the Leica M 75 /1.4

Unfortunatelty they are all useless for your SLR.. c'est la vie
 
Mr. Hector, they do make R-mount versions of those lenses. I've shot some great stuff with an R4/Summicron.

Jeremy, note that when I complain about the autofocus on the 50mm, I am comparing it to fairly top-notch lenses like the 17-35 or 70-200, which focus fast-fast-fast and silent. It's still a better autofocus than the Tamron I was talking about earlier in this thread, for instance.
 
Very cool, thanks for the info...

So given the price difference would anyone here bother with the 1.8 50mm? In a simple answer, do you think that the 1.8 is a piece of garbage or is it a decent lens to add in addition to the stock for the D50?

-Jeremy
 
Tamron 28-75
and my new lens: 35mm Prime Carl Ziess Flektogon 2.8 Manual Everything.
I think this lens is going to hold it's own against the Tamron, and probably surpass it in terms of fine detail clairity in landscape shots.
I will do a side by side soon enough.
Happy days.
 
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