50mm or 85mm on DX?

chrism_scotland

chrism_scotland

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Folks,

Looking for a little help, I posted this on the D7000 thread but its really a wider question for anyone with a DX body.

I currently have a widish and "normal" prime lenup of 20mm, 24mm and 35mm and I'm looking to add something longer.

I've had a 50mm before and it never got touched really, the 35mm got all the action but it was more because I love the 35 rather than hated the 50.

However I've been swithering betweeen the 50mm and 85mm (Nikon) but I wondered what people use most frequently, I wasn't sure if the 85mm might be a bit "long" on a DX body, I'm looking to use whichever lens for some portraits and as a short telephoto lens for travel.
 
I had a 50mm already but found that between that and type 85mm there wasn't a huge difference.

After my first shoot using both I was better off with a 35mm and a 85mm so that's what I did :-)

I used the 50 and the 85 on Saturday, it just felt that when I needed something wider, the 50 was still a bit long.
 
I had the 35 f1.8, 50f1.8 and samyang 85 f1.4. On the d90.


Loved all 3 but didn't always have enough room to use the 85 (my favourite lens). If I had to pick two of the three it would be the 35 and the 85.

S
 
chrism_scotland said:
Well I've purchased the 85 1.8G tonight, as my local store didn't have the D, looking forward to playing with it!

Completed my lens lineup:

Nikon 20 f2.8, Nikon 24mm f2.8, Nikon 35mm f1.8, Nikon 85mm f1.8
Click to expand...
Nice set of primes there Chris. I'd be happy with the 20, 35 and 85 I think.
 
Yeah I've taken both the 20 and 24 and will probably sell whichever I don't like as much.

The 24mm impressed me a lot on my Paris trip so the 20mm has much to do to replace it!

I'm wanting to avoid buying DX lenses but if I decide the 20mm isn't for me I can see a Tokina 11-16 getting bought again...
 
Talking about that i'm interest on a 20mm and 85mm. I've got the 28mm AI. 35mm AFS and 50mm AFD.
 
Definitely would like to hear how you get on with the 85mm! I've got the 35mm, 50mm (D & G, trying to decide which to keep) and really fancy the 85mm but worried about it being too long and having no VR (I know, I know...) so would appreciate your thoughts.

I quite like the idea of a wide prime and hadn't really considered the 20mm or 24mm, but will now take a looky :) And how you can live without an 11-16mm is beyond me :P
 
I spent around 12 months using a variety of Compact Systems (OMD and X-Pro 1) and got really used to using primes rather than zooms, it also heavily influenced me to go for Nikon when I chose to come back to DSLR as their primes seem very good.

Hence my prime lineup as I don't think I could go back to lugging around zooms again, the D7000 is a fairly small and light body and with any of my primes it remains so. I can carry the whole lineup in my fairly small work bag and its not a hassle.

Both the 20mm and 24mm are meant to be very good, I wasn't expecting much when I bought the 24mm but I was stunned by how well it performed when I was in Paris, that has spurred me to try the 20mm though as I could have been doing with a little more "width" at times but without having to carry around something like the 17-50 or 16-85.

I'm trying to avoid DX lenses and I'm planning on an upgrade to the D600 (or if I can afford maybe D800!) for Christmas and I've probably plan to stick with primes for that to begin with as well so a 20/24, 35, 50 and 85 lineup would also work on that (albeit swapping the DX 35 for a FX one!)
 
The 85mm is a great lens to add to your line up. Especially if you are using it for portraits! I feel that the 50mm is a bit too short for portraits and too long for street since its on a DX camera.
 
chrism_scotland said:
I spent around 12 months using a variety of Compact Systems (OMD and X-Pro 1) and got really used to using primes rather than zooms, it also heavily influenced me to go for Nikon when I chose to come back to DSLR as their primes seem very good.

Hence my prime lineup as I don't think I could go back to lugging around zooms again, the D7000 is a fairly small and light body and with any of my primes it remains so. I can carry the whole lineup in my fairly small work bag and its not a hassle.

Both the 20mm and 24mm are meant to be very good, I wasn't expecting much when I bought the 24mm but I was stunned by how well it performed when I was in Paris, that has spurred me to try the 20mm though as I could have been doing with a little more "width" at times but without having to carry around something like the 17-50 or 16-85.

I'm trying to avoid DX lenses and I'm planning on an upgrade to the D600 (or if I can afford maybe D800!) for Christmas and I've probably plan to stick with primes for that to begin with as well so a 20/24, 35, 50 and 85 lineup would also work on that (albeit swapping the DX 35 for a FX one!)
Click to expand...


Snap... the Panny 14mm, 20mm, Siggy 30mm and Olly 45mm were pretty much all I used with my MFT kit, all now sold on. The 35mm Nikon has always been a favourite, but I'm finding myself enjoying the 50mm when out and about. TBH I can't remember the last time I used a zoom in anger other than in very specific situations, but I still like my 16-85 for when I dunno what I'm up to! I reckon I'll take a look at the 24mm quite soon. Cheers for the idea!
 
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