D7000: Suggestions For Lens to get Shooting

Den Hartogh said:
Am about to get the D7000 for photo / video. Which of these standard lenses would you recommend:
Nikon 35mm, f 1.8
Voigtlander 40 mm, f 2.0
Samyang 35 mm, f 1.4

I like the compactness of the Voigtlander, but it's not as fast as the Samyang. Both should be very good for MF. Nikon's cheap and apparently has a good quality. MF probably poor.
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The Samyang would probably be the best bang for buck but as with most fast lenses it will probably be fairly poor at a max aperture of f1.4 (my Nikkors are all marginal quality wide open)....I would say the Voightlander and the Samyang would both be equally good at f2 and above.

The manual focus on the Samyang and Voightlander would be better than the Nikkor as its designed for this purpose and less fiddly to deal with than G lenses....I have a few G lenses and in general they suck for MF operation.
 
SO Ive picked up my D7000!! and bought the 35mm 1.8 to get going
I have a guy who says he has a bunch of old lenses he'll sell me going to check those out soon
 
Heres my first D7000 test and Flycam nano test

Love the d7000 footage is better then i expected! this is only 720p 1080p version coming shortly!
 
Got the D7000 and the Voigtlander 40mm 2.0. Really happy with the combo for both video and stills. The lens is so small and light and the MF is perfect. Now it's time to shoot...
 
Spectra said:
...if you primarily want to do video work the older manual focus Nikkors are better suited for this due to the presence of an aperture ring which you need for full manual exposure control on the D7000.

Dont discount the Samyangs either....their 35mm f1.4, 85mm f1.4... They all have aperture rings so good for video work.

The Voightlander 40mm f2.0 is awesome too from all reports.
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I have a D5100, which won't meter properly with AI-S lenses. Chipped AF-D lenses like the Sanyang 35mm and 85mm, and Voightlander 58mm work fine. However, with all chipped lenses I've tried, the camera insists that the lens aperture ring be locked at the narrowest f-stop and aperture controlled by the camera. Does the D7000 work this way as well?
 
lpowell said:
I have a D5100, which won't meter properly with AI-S lenses. Chipped AF-D lenses like the Sanyang 35mm and 85mm, and Voightlander 58mm work fine. However, with all chipped lenses I've tried, the camera insists that the lens aperture ring be locked at the narrowest f-stop and aperture controlled by the camera. Does the D7000 work this way as well?
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The D7000 works in the same way as the Pro Nikon bodies (D300/D700/D3 etc) in that it has an option in the menu to control a lenses aperture with the aperture ring on the lens rather than just the command dial on the camera body. As far as I know the D5100 does not have this option. The option is found in the custom settings menu>controls>customise command dials>aperture setting (f6). You can then use the lens by manually controlling the aperture ring on the lens itself in the traditional manner. This will also help prevent luminance flicker when doing time lapse as the aperture is locked in place and exposure variation between frames is minimised.

Again like the Pro bodies the D7000 can also set the lenses focal length and max aperture value in a menu allowing you to utilise balanced fill flash, 3D matrix metering and record EXIF data on non-cpu lenses like the old MF Nikkor AIS lenses. You can then assign this feature to the function button on the camera body and just scroll through the various non-cpu lens settings you have programmed into the camera by holding in the function button and using a command dial to access these different lenses (up to 10 lenses can be programmed into the camera). It is the most efficient way to alter these settings when you change between non-cpu lenses on your camera....I dont believe the D5100 has this ability either -the D7000 is the first camera outside of Nikons pro bodies to offer this feature and it is the main reason why I bought a D7000. I use my Nikon bodies (D700/D7000) for still photos/ time lapse and my GH1 for HD video / time lapse (with a Nikon adaptor) and I reckon all my bases are covered with this setup.
 
Dear OP, looks like you got a pretty good first prime. Though, you can't change the aperture without cutting. AIS is still the best way to go with Nikon bodies, so you can change the iris while rolling.

Personal experience:
35mm is the best lens to use if you only have one prime lens on a DX body. It is not a favorite lens of mine, infact I don't really like it, but I wouldn't mind shooting an entire project with one, but it definitely is not a "wow" lens. Just a work horse. Wow lenses are: 85mm (for creamy bokeh), 200mm micro (can get oh so close), and 10mm (weird perspective). But it is difficult to use these lenses all the time.

Another work horse is the 28mm. The extra bit of "wide" is nice sometimes. However, being a wide angle, there is some wide angle distortion happening, once your subject gets close, or when the camera is panned.

The 24mm is a very underestimated lens for DX. It has a fun subtle amount of wide angle bulge and has some extra room in the composition space.

I have never really used a 20mm. I have one, just don't like it. It comes in handy every now and then. (Lately, I have noticed a few films using what looks like a 20mm to great effect)

The 50mm is one of my favorites, but on a crop sensor body, it is sometimes that no man's land between a 35mm and an 85mm. The distortion to compression balance on a fifty mil is juuuuust right. Too bad the crop ratio is sometimes neither here nor there. I look forward to a full frame nikon body with 1080p video, so I can use the 50mm more.

Lenses in order of when to buy:
1. 35mm
2. 85mm
3. 50mm

after that, it is up to you and your style. some big contenders are the following, just because they are so dang cool:
200mm 2.8 ( or longer depending on budget)
10mm (even if it is a zoom)
200mm macro


If they made them, I'd rather have a ~70mm for close ups on a crop sensor body, an 85mm is too cramped. The Jumps from 28-35-50-85mm on a DX body just don't work well for me. Maybe 26-32-46-70-95mm primes would be better.
 
I swear by the AF-D lenses for video work. I have both the 50 f1.8 AF-D and the 85 f1.8 AF-D and love them. I also have the 18-200 VR which is nearly useless for video. While they both have rotating focus rings when shooting AF stills, they make up for it in video by having hard focus stops, a very direct feeling focus ring (not AI-S smooth but close enough for double-duty still/video work IMO). My next lenses will be the following (in order)...

Samyang 35mm f1.4
Tokina 11-16mm f2.8
Samyang 24mm f1.4 or Nikon 20mm f2.8
Nikon 80-200 AF-D (rent it til I can afford it)

All that should keep me pretty well covered. I might throw a Nikon 100 or 135 Defocus Control lens in there for their amazing bokeh if I suddenly can afford a $1000 prime. Heh!
 
zeroscenecred said:
I swear by the AF-D lenses for video work. I have both the 50 f1.8 AF-D and the 85 f1.8 AF-D and love them. I also have the 18-200 VR which is nearly useless for video. While they both have rotating focus rings when shooting AF stills, they make up for it in video by having hard focus stops, a very direct feeling focus ring (not AI-S smooth but close enough for double-duty still/video work IMO). My next lenses will be the following (in order)...

Samyang 35mm f1.4
Tokina 11-16mm f2.8
Samyang 24mm f1.4 or Nikon 20mm f2.8
Nikon 80-200 AF-D (rent it til I can afford it)

All that should keep me pretty well covered. I might throw a Nikon 100 or 135 Defocus Control lens in there for their amazing bokeh if I suddenly can afford a $1000 prime. Heh!
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These days, there is more need for a good mix of still and movie lenses doing double duty then before. Good comments, good to have the other perspective. I mostly do motion, so I never think about stills.

A girl I know uses a Canon 100mm f2. Eventhough she is a novice, every shot she takes with that has that look that makes people go "oooh". Damn. Makes me not want to buy a 100mm, cause it seems too easy. =)
 
The whole stills versus video versus both, has really shaped my lens choices. Despite there being hundreds of lenses compatible with the Nikon system, by the time my requirements come into play the list is pretty damn short. Here's some stuff I've found over time...

While I try to buy all my lenses with the intent of being able to use them for stills in addition to video, my primes are pretty much relegated to video work in more controlled environments. Why? Well I find that with the exception of shooting concerts which are quite dark, my 18-200 has enough versatility to suit me 80% of the time. If I'm going somewhere and I know I'm not shooting video, I throw on that beast and call it a day.

Aperture rings! Back when they first started releasing lenses without them my Spidey-Sense said "avoid!" but I didn't know that it would catch up with me on my video DSLR work that I never imagined I'd be doing.

Off-brand glass is perfectly acceptable, if not better than in some cases the Nikon or Canon equivalent. Frankly the Samyang (Ronkinson) 35 1.4 is a perfect lens for video and very affordable. Who knew?! For stills work I'd never show up with off-brand glass however, to a client's job because they still expect a certain amount of namedropping. Hell I even buy the $25 Nikon lens caps because I've had clients ask why my kit looked a bit bootleg (when I step-up-ringed all my lenses to 77mm and bought some generic $7 lens caps that are exactly like Nikon minus the branding). Yeesh.

My video requirements are pretty specific: focus hard stops but not necessarily a manual focus lens (see AF-D recommendations above), at least f2.8 preferably f1.8 or f1.4 max aperture because you can always stop down for more depth of field, not too short to get my follow focus attached (i.e. no pancakes), the worse it flares the better.

The latter point above is something that, as a photographer, we're constantly drilled to avoid because every lens Canon, Nikon, Zeiss, or whoever releases has 248 coatings to remove any flare or ghosts. Meanwhile some of the most interesting anomalies in video come from less than perfect lens, and people will spend countless hours in After Effects or Magic Bullet trying to dirty up their images in order to mimic film effects of yore that weren't effects so much as technology shortcomings. Yard sales are your friend! Go find some AIS glass that Grandpa Moses has had for 30 years and see what sort of interesting visuals you can get out of them (obviously don't use this for corporate bland video, lol).

Lastly, lenses, no matter how nice don't make up for a total lack of lighting and audio. It wasn't obvious to me at first but invest in a $1000 worth of lighting and grip stuff, and probably about the same in audio, and you'll be set to do professional work.

OH I ALMOST FORGOT......

RENT glass! There's several websites that will rent you great glass like the 80-200 f2.8 Nikkor for $100 for a week. You could rent it several times if you absolutely need it and don't have the cash outlay on hand. Honestly I had no clue how much equipment is rented doing video until I got into it. Build up a base camera package and you're set. Just budget for rentals too.

Anyhow, just some thoughts coming from the professional "I pay my rent with this stuff" side of things. I'm by no means an expert and I'm just getting into it. Best of luck!
 
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Wanted to update my suggestions with some info I've found...

I suggested the Samyang 35mm f1.4 but upon closer inspection, handling it at a shop, and talking to some people, I've decided to forgo the f1.4 speed in favor of the cheaper, lighter, just as sharp, Nikon 35mm f2 AF-D. It's a stop slower but I really didn't like how soft the Samyang was wide open. Moreover, the DoF was viciously thin on any subject fairly close to frame (from .25" to 3" from close-focus to a 6' based on tests and calculators). Talk about a follow focus nightmare. So I think overall once you stop the Samyang down for manageable DoF and better sharpness you're dealing with a heavier piece of glass versus the Nikon at more cost.

What really killed it for me though were some reports that the hardstop at infinity on the Samyang is frequently miscalibrated so you have to do it yourself. Not a total hassle, but a good bit of the point of buying a lens with hard stops is to avoid all that stuff. Bummer.

So in a couple weeks I have a gig coming up and will likely pick up a Nikon 35mm f2.0 AF-D, slap a narrow zip gear on it, and call it a day. Oh and I'll have a functional stills lens with autofocus too!


Your mileage may vary. :)
 
actually i own a 50mm 1.4
18-105
and a 18 200 v1
with of course my d7k

i already discussed about that on this forum
but someone told me i hadn't the perfect lenses for all kind of situations

thought it was a good set but ..
what do you think ?
 
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