The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

What Lenses for the D800?

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
I'm simple -- thinking a 28/2.8, 50/1.4g and the 85/1.8 when it ships. Maybe the latest 70-200/2.8 v2 and maybe the 20/2.8 too. I like the range of the 24-70, but cannot stand the size.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
My decision is in or should I say my bag is holding them. Lol

I went 14-24, 35 1.4 G, 50 1.8 G, 85 1.4 G and a 180. I got the 14-24 and 180 used. Just need to pick up cam in the morning. LOL

Yea been busy getting it set up.
 

Swissblad

Well-known member
I don't see many listing the PC-E lenses....

I'd have thought for landscape orientated work on the D800 the perspective control lenses would be on any list,

Why the lack of interest? :confused:
This puzzles me as well - I really want to see some images with the PC-E 24 mm!:thumbup:
 
Just got a used Zeiss 35/2 distagon to go with my 50/2 MP. Reid Review was extremely high on this lens, he even said that he wished the AA filter on the D700 he was testing it with was weaker as the sensor wasn't keeping up! Sounds like a job for the 800E! best....Peter
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
I don't see many listing the PC-E lenses....

I'd have thought for landscape orientated work on the D800 the perspective control lenses would be on any list,

Why the lack of interest? :confused:
Speaking for me only, I already have a technical camera and great lenses to use with my IQ180 back, so the Nikon PC lenses are superfluous.

But my simple turn out to be more complex after doing my homework. Studying the MTF's for the Nikon shorter primes, I was left underwhelmed. So what I have right now is the 16-35 and 70-200 VRii plus 1.7x, with the new 24-120 as an all-around. I can confirm this new 24-120 is NOT anything like it's ugly predecessor; it is quite sharp but does show some barrel at the wide end, pin at the long end. The 16-35 is very sharp too, surprisingly so and distortions are not bad at all -- I am impressed. The 70-200ii is outstanding, as has been said, but initial impressions of the 1.7x are ho-hum. It's not horrible, but it isn't as good as the sensor when coupled to the 70-200. In fact, I may return it. :( Curious what folks see with the 1.4x or 2x on this lens.
 

Swissblad

Well-known member
Jack,
Glad you like the 24-120mm - it is in an entirely different league to the previous version.
The 16-25mm is a superb lens as well - and VR can be very useful when photographing indoors (cathedrals etc).
In my view the new TC20EIII is better than then TC17EII.
The 70-200mm with the TC14 is great, and even with the TC20 yields very good results.
Still keen to hear what others think of Nikon TS lenses.
S:)
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
S,

Thank you for the converter info --- I think I will be exchanging my 1.7 for the 2.0 later today. But to clarify, did you test on the D800 and the VRii zoom? I ask because the 1.7x is okay, just hits a wall before the D800 pixels do where the VRii by itself clearly exceeds the D800 pixels (well most of them anyway). I know the 1.4x is excellent, but I wanted a skosh more at the top end than 280mm, so the 2x it is.
 

Swissblad

Well-known member
No, I've not had a chance to test drive the D800 yet.
It is just my impression using a D700 body and a variety of Nikon lenses, including the 70-200mm VRII, in which the TC14 and TC20 seem to give the best results.
Beware of highlights in the background when using the 2x - they can appear funny. ie the bokeh can appear odd.
Mots reports suggest that the TC20 is best matched with fix fast primes eg 300mm f2.8 etc.
Look forward to seeing more of your results.
 

D&A

Well-known member
No, I've not had a chance to test drive the D800 yet.
It is just my impression using a D700 body and a variety of Nikon lenses, including the 70-200mm VRII, in which the TC14 and TC20 seem to give the best results.
Beware of highlights in the background when using the 2x - they can appear funny. ie the bokeh can appear odd.
Mots reports suggest that the TC20 is best matched with fix fast primes eg 300mm f2.8 etc.
Look forward to seeing more of your results.
Agree with your postings regarding the Nikon's 1.4 and the latest 2x (TC-EIII).

Prior to the new 2x (EIII), results from the three teleconverters were pretty much as one would expect. The 1.4x was exceptionally good (especially on fast telephoto primes and the 70-200 f2.8II), the 1.7x was good on the fast tele primes but clearly lost resolution and some contrast, and the older 2x (TC EII) was in my opinion left for wanting (and believe me I'm being charatable with the older 2x TCII...I'd much prefer to call it of the "Canine" variety. I wasn't a fan of the 1.7x either but some were.

The new 2x (TC EIII) is quite exceptional considering it's a 2x. On the larger tele priomes like the 300 f2.8, 400 f2.8 and to a good degree on the 600 f4, it's amazing what its capable of and when conditions and lighting are right, it comes amazingly close to the 1.4x and in some cases appears to almost equal it. Far superior to the 1.7x! Thats saying a lot about a 2x (and I don't even really like teleconverters).

Thats why the ophened child is now the 1.7x, but rumors has it that it too will be updated in the near future.

On the 70-200 f2.8 II lens, the new 2x does well in some circumastances but may not always be optimal and with this one lens in particular, I wouldn't expect it to match the 1.4x (with that lens). Using it with the tele primes, well its a different story.

Dave (D&A)
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
S,

Thank you for the converter info --- I think I will be exchanging my 1.7 for the 2.0 later today. But to clarify, did you test on the D800 and the VRii zoom? I ask because the 1.7x is okay, just hits a wall before the D800 pixels do where the VRii by itself clearly exceeds the D800 pixels (well most of them anyway). I know the 1.4x is excellent, but I wanted a skosh more at the top end than 280mm, so the 2x it is.
Jack,

I had the 1.4 together with the 70-200VR2 and it just rocked. I tried the 2x and it did not convince me, as so far no 2x ever convinced me. This was on my D700 and D7000. So I think it will be worse on the D800.
 

D&A

Well-known member
Jack,

I had the 1.4 together with the 70-200VR2 and it just rocked. I tried the 2x and it did not convince me, as so far no 2x ever convinced me. This was on my D700 and D7000. So I think it will be worse on the D800.
.

If one is extremely critical regarding image quality, even the incredable performing current Nikon 2x (TC-EIII) might be somewhat disappointing on the 70-200 f2.8 VRII...although for a lot of uses its remarkably decent....but put that same converter on the 300 f2.8 VR, or the bigger fast Nikon primes, and it results in astonishing performance....not far off from the 1.4x...that good! Again performance is both light quality and subject dependant (of course). I used and tested these combinations and I too am not only "not a fan" of 2x teleconverters, but try and avoid these converters unless it becomes absolutely necessary. This high level of performance with the new 2x was also confirmed by some other top pro's using Nikon long primes. Nikon's 1.7x which was leagues ahead of the older 2x (TC-EII), fell find behind performance wise once the new 2c TC-EIII was released, espcially on those longer tele primes. It too is scheduled for an update from what I hear.

It was it's predesessor, the 2x TC-EII that was simply horrible in my opinion, boardering on almost being useless for most applications.

Dave (D&A)
 
Last edited:

bensonga

Well-known member
I hope to be reporting back in April re performance of the Hasselblad V Zeiss lenses on a D800E with the Fotodiox Pro Zeiss=>Nikon lens adapter. I will be curious to see how lenses like the Zeiss 40mm CFE IF, 100mm CFi and 120mm CFi Makro-Planar perform on the D800E. :D

It's a slippery slope....D2X, D700, D800E. :shocked:

Gary
 
Last edited:

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
It is coming down to this generalization for me: The D800 is extremely hard on existing lenses. If you are a pixel-peeper you will likely not find any lenses that suit across all criteria; it seems that right now there is no lens that delivers what this sensor can handle, so all come with a grocery list of compromises. Moreover, it appears NONE of Nikons previous gen D-series primes under 200mm can deliver resolution to the sensor capabilities except possibly the macros.

For future discussion, I'll list the issues I have seen:

1) Sharpness/optical resolution
2) CA
3) Bokeh -- nervous/bad
4) Bokeh fringing (oof CA)
5) Distortions
6) Curvature of field

So my base advice is to consider what characteristics you want from a specific lens/focal range, and then look for the best offerings on those -- and know you will absolutely NOT get everything in any one lens...

For example, I am going to pick at arguably the single best lens available that I have seen at present, the 85/1.4g. It is extremely sharp, has very low distortions and beautiful primary bokeh. However it also shows some slight CA and then pretty obvious bokeh fringing. Doubtful much of this would detract from a print, but the fact remains this damn sensor picks up all the nits.

My frustration mounts...
 

routlaw

Member
It is coming down to this generalization for me: The D800 is extremely hard on existing lenses. If you are a pixel-peeper you will likely not find any lenses that suit across all criteria; it seems that right now there is no lens that delivers what this sensor can handle, so all come with a grocery list of compromises. Moreover, it appears NONE of Nikons previous gen D-series primes under 200mm can deliver resolution to the sensor capabilities except possibly the macros.

For future discussion, I'll list the issues I have seen:

1) Sharpness/optical resolution
2) CA
3) Bokeh -- nervous/bad
4) Bokeh fringing (oof CA)
5) Distortions
6) Curvature of field

So my base advice is to consider what characteristics you want from a specific lens/focal range, and then look for the best offerings on those -- and know you will absolutely NOT get everything in any one lens...

For example, I am going to pick at arguably the single best lens available that I have seen at present, the 85/1.4g. It is extremely sharp, has very low distortions and beautiful primary bokeh. However it also shows some slight CA and then pretty obvious bokeh fringing. Doubtful much of this would detract from a print, but the fact remains this damn sensor picks up all the nits.

My frustration mounts...
Good info. This pretty much sums up my initial concerns regarding incapable optics for this sensor weeks ago before the camera was introduced. I have a demo loaner coming for the weekend and it will be interesting to see how my 3 PC-E lenses perform with this sensor, but am not holding out any great hope by any stretch of the imagination.

Rob
 

bensonga

Well-known member
Aside from testing my Hasselblad Zeiss V lenses, I'll be using the 105/2.8G VR Micro-Nikkor (from which I expect good results) and the 85/1.8G. I also own the 50/1.8G, but might swap that for a 50/1.4G. Now I just need something on the wide end and perhaps a mid-range telephoto.

Looking forward to testing some of the AIS Nikkors, such as the 55/2.8 Micro-Nikkor and the 300/4.5 ED-IF.

Gary
 
Last edited:

bensonga

Well-known member
None of my Leica R lenses have had the Leitax-Nikon conversion done, but I since I have two Elmarit-R 135mm f2.8 lenses, maybe I'll have one of them converted. I would be curious to know how well they perform also.....but I would expect only the best Leica R lenses (and I don't have any of those) will be worth the trouble.

Gary
 
None of my Leica R lenses have had the Leitax-Nikon conversion done, but I since I have two Elmarit-R 135mm f2.8 lenses, maybe I'll have one of them converted. I would be curious to know how well they perform also.....but I would expect only the best Leica R lenses (and I don't have any of those) will be worth the trouble.

Gary
as an R lens newbie, what do you consider to be the best of the series?
 

bensonga

Well-known member
There are others here far more knowledgeable about Leica R lenses than I am.....but I'm sure the 100mm APO Macro Elmarit-R would be on that list. It's a lens which really appeals to me, but I'm going the cheap route and getting the Nikon AF-S 105/2.8G micro-Nikkor instead.

There is also a 180mm APO-Elmarit-R which would probably be very good.
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
I actually never believed that many Nikkor lenses would be up to this 36MP sensor. Having said that, I think they are rather capable of handling 36MP than even Canon L glass.

Nevertheless especially the 1.4/85G shows significant CA and OOF fringing unfortunately. All fast lenses show this, but it is far less if you take a 0.95 Noctilux on an M9 for example. Plus you can correct in Nikon Capture (question who really uses that).

Also a big amount of lens weaknesses can be corrected in LR4 via lens profiles in a very effective way. Just waiting to see Nikon add improved profiles for their top Nikkors in combination with D800.

But to expect too much of a 36MP 35-DSLR would be definitely the wrongest approach one can take. Know your gear before you use it ....
 
Top