Nikon Lenses

A

AJinNYC

Carbonite Member
I'm looking for some suggestions on a quality lens for a Nikon DSLR. I was researching Canon, specifically the t5i/t6i(s), and had found good resources for finding some quality lenses on that side of things. But I came to the realization that I couldn't get a clean out from the HDMI port on the Canons. So I started looking at Nikons and settled in on the D5200/5300, which seems to give a decent price to performance ratio, and still leave me some room to invest in some quality glass (instead of dumping it all in the camera body).

I could get the body with an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VRII AF-S DX Zoom, for about $100 more than the camera body by itself. Is it worth it? Or should I stick to the camera body itself and save the $100?

I was looking at the Nikkor AF-S 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR for to either replace to the 18-55 or as a second lens. My current budget is $1200 for body and lens.
 
For video, you'ed really want a constant aperture lens. I mainly shoot with prime lenses, which have a fixed focal length and constant aperture. I would recommend Nikon's D series lenses, but they won't autofocus or meter with a D5200/D5300, you'd have to get a D7000/D7100 for that. Tokina, Tamron and Sigma have some good lenses, and some people like the Samyang/Rokinnon lenes.
 
Imamacuser said:
For video, you'ed really want a constant aperture lens. I mainly shoot with prime lenses, which have a fixed focal length and constant aperture. I would recommend Nikon's D series lenses, but they won't autofocus or meter with a D5200/D5300, you'd have to get a D7000/D7100 for that. Tokina, Tamron and Sigma have some good lenses, and some people like the Samyang/Rokinnon lenes.
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Well the thing is I'm primarily after a stills camera, with the occasional use of streaming live video (that's why I want the clean HDMI out). We'll occasional have a live band come into our studio space and do live streams. They'll all be sit down, acoustic stuff. So usually any zoom lens we would use would stay in a focal length range of within 10mm; so the aperture shouldn't change too much. Or am I wrong?

Are there any short-range zooms (in the 15mm-85mm range) out there that have a constant f-stop for under $500?
 
Certainly on the used market - Tamron makes a really nice F4 wide zoom; and the Nikkor 35-70 2.8 is pretty great but can flare easily. Though maybe not wide enough for you.

Hunt around on eBay/etc. for constant wide zooms and then google up some reviews.

Live streaming single camera might be kind of dull for the viewer, at some point you'll probably want to get into a switcher and a 2nd (and even third!) camera… maybe something to keep in mind! I don't shoot live shows unless we can have three cameras… not worth it IMHO. But the Nikon bodies would keep you able to add similar looking cameras down the road, since the 5300 and 7100 era cameras look very close to each other.
 
AJinNYC said:
I'm looking for some suggestions on a quality lens for a Nikon DSLR. I was researching Canon, specifically the t5i/t6i(s), and had found good resources for finding some quality lenses on that side of things. But I came to the realization that I couldn't get a clean out from the HDMI port on the Canons. So I started looking at Nikons and settled in on the D5200/5300, which seems to give a decent price to performance ratio, and still leave me some room to invest in some quality glass (instead of dumping it all in the camera body).

I could get the body with an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VRII AF-S DX Zoom, for about $100 more than the camera body by itself. Is it worth it? Or should I stick to the camera body itself and save the $100?

I was looking at the Nikkor AF-S 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR for to either replace to the 18-55 or as a second lens. My current budget is $1200 for body and lens.
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So you want quality glass but you can't afford much.
Forget the 18-55, if you are getting a standard zoom at least get the 18-140mm.
Short on cash? get the 35mm f1.8 or and 50mm f1.8. Both affordable primes but excellent quality for the price.
Now, I've been shooting with the D5200 and I hated it. hated it. Hated it. Image quality was good of course, but handling, menus and dials were the worst. Try upgrading to D7100 or similar, which has a top LCD and two dials.
 
Suggest the Tamron 17-50 zoom. Constant f2.8. The earlier, non VC, version goes for low $200's on eBay, and is reportedly better than the VC newer one optically
 
Looking at the more technical reviews, a lot of these wide zooms - esp. Tamron, Tokina, & Sigma - have a lot of CA issues. (though Nikon & Canon can as well, it's a tough engineering problem I guess).

CA is a ***** for compressed video out in the daylight - but on a tight budget, there are worse issues...
 
If you're never planning on going FF then there's also the 17-55DX 2.8. It might have come down in price I seem to remember selling mine a few years ago for about $700. I'm not a mathematician but I think you'll come in around 24-70ish with that on a DX like the 52/3 or 71/200s. That's a good range for a lot of stuff I used my 24-70 over all of my lenses. But the advice given my MacGregor is very good: I think shooting primes can help a lot, save money, add speed, etc.
 
Before anything: need cheap nikon lenses? Nikon 50mm F/1.8 (D or G) and/or the 35mm F/1.8. One of these plus a wide angle like even the 18mm kit lens will do it for you. That's how I use the kit lens, as an 18mm f/3.5 sharp prime, the cheapest wide option for nikon + a 50mm prime for close ups.
 
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