D810 Lens Help

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jpwild

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I have just ordered a D810. Now must come the lens choice. My intended use is:
  • Landscape images with the intent to print large (at least 1 meter wide prints).
  • I will also be stitching images as I will be doing panoramic style photographs.
  • I will also be hiking with the camera and be in areas with water eg rivers, sea. Sharpness is important.
  • I will like to do star shots. As in get long exposures of the sky in to my landscape shots.

These lenses are my considerations:
Nikkor 105mm 2.8 for the macro shots. This is pretty much set in stone.
70-200 F4 for telephoto landscapes. I have considered the 2.8 but wary of size and weight.
Nikkor 85mm 1.8G
Sigma 35MM art

Of course I am concerned about weather sealing as I could be in areas with moisture such as snowy places or wet and damp environments. I am also concerned about weight - I already have my Gitzo tripod and RRS Gimbal pano head arrived here.

Is the Nikkor 50MM 1.4 or 1.8G worth it for this camera?

Any tips would be great
 
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Primes are always worth it. The 85mm is a lovely lens, the 50mm too.

You mention landscapes but your widest lest would be a 35mm? I have the Nikon 16-45 f4 and that is a very good lens, of course you have the 14-24 which is arguably better but a bit more.
 
cambsno said:
Primes are always worth it. The 85mm is a lovely lens, the 50mm too.

You mention landscapes but your widest lest would be a 35mm? I have the Nikon 16-45 f4 and that is a very good lens, of course you have the 14-24 which is arguably better but a bit more.
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Yes, because I will be stiching multi row pano shots most of the time, So I think I'd be happy with 35MM. Then again it depends what I am shooting and where I am.
 
Note the Sigma 35mm Art lens isn't weather sealed like the Nikon equivalent. Personally i think for landscapes the 70-200 would make the 85mm redundant though its a very compact lens. What your missing is a wide/ultra-wide for when you don't want to stitch or exaggerate some foreground interest. If you want to keep your bag light maybe a 20mm prime?
 
jpwild said:
I have just ordered a D810. Now must come the lens choice. My intended use is:
  • Landscape images with the intent to print large (at least 1 meter wide prints).
  • I will also be stitching images as I will be doing panoramic style photographs.
  • I will also be hiking with the camera and be in areas with water eg rivers, sea. Sharpness is important.
  • I will like to do star shots. As in get long exposures of the sky in to my landscape shots.

These lenses are my considerations:
Nikkor 105mm 2.8 for the macro shots. This is pretty much set in stone.
70-200 F4 for telephoto landscapes. I have considered the 2.8 but wary of size and weight.
Nikkor 85mm 1.8G
Sigma 35MM art

Of course I am concerned about weather sealing as I could be in areas with moisture such as snowy places or wet and damp environments. I am also concerned about weight - I already have my Gitzo tripod and RRS Gimbal pano head arrived here.

Is the Nikkor 50MM 1.4 or 1.8G worth it for this camera?

Any tips would be great
Click to expand...

That's an odd set for what seems to be predominantly landscape-type use. The zoom duplicates both prime focal lengths. Do you need those low f/numbers? Sigma is not weather-resistant, not sure about the others either.

It's looking like a lot of money, maybe hire a few first and preferably build an outfit one lens at a time, starting with the most important which, for most people, would be something in the standard focal length range.
 
I see the method you are going for, if you are wanting to print 1 meter wide panos using many shots stitched together then something of a uber high quality sharp prime is going to be well up on the list - I don't think you could go far wrong with the idea of the Sigma Art 35.

I purchased a (Nikon) 70-200 2.8 for telephoto landscapes which I use alot, but to be honest it could well have been the 70-200 4 and it would have done exactly the same job. Especially as the VR1 version of the 70-200 tends to vignette a little on FX cameras.

Jessops are currently doing the 70-200 4 for £899 with £85 cashback from Nikon, I think that's a bloody good price for a UK copy of the lens.
 
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Ozei said:
The 70-200 f/4 is a terrific lens. The only drawback is it doesn't come with a collar.
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But do you really need one?
Got a £20 eBay version for my f/4, and have not used in over 17 months of use. But equally, would have been nice if it had come with one.
 
Thegreatroberto said:
But do you really need one?
Click to expand...

I used the f/4 without a collar for a while and got fed up trying to keep it balanced on a BH-55.

Then a bought the RRS collar & foot package (better than Nikon's effort) - handling was vastly improved immediately and the balance is now perfect.
 
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Looking at lens options again and trying to break it down:
UWA Lens: None at the minutes eg, 14mm. That be next year's budget to consider.
WA Lens: Zeiss 21mm Distagon 2.8 or Nikon 24mm 1.4
Standard: Nikon 35mm 1.4G, Sigma 1.4 ART, Sigma 50mm ART. or Zeiss 35MM f2 Distagon
Telephoto: 70-200 F2.8 (I don't like the sound of the build quality of the F4)
Macro: Nikkor 105MM 2.8

The bolded are now my preference for that caterogy.

Just wondered if this could be a decent setup for what I wanted:
- Landscape
- Capturing shots of the milkyway into landscape scenes
-- Option of using gear for some sort of portrait work
- Large pixel peeping printing and image stitching
- Low CA and vigenetting
- V good build quality - I want to be able to keep hold of these lenses for at least 10 years, so I want to get it right.
 
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I can give advice on the lenses which I've owned on your list - the 105mm is awesome, the Sigma 35mm is the best lens I've ever owned, the 24mm nikon was disappointing for the cost, mainly due to the AF.

Personally if I were looking for a budget conscious but high quality mixed bag, with bias towards landscapes I would start with 20mm f/1.8g (if you can't afford 14-24), 35mm sigma, Nikon 50mm 1.8, 70-200, 105mm macro. That happens to be what I shoot with day in and day out, the 50mm only really gets used in the studio when space is an issue, I also have an 85mm Sigma which lives on one of my cameras most of the time, purely because of the weight of the 70-200.
 
It doesn't really matter which of those lenses you use, they're all superb. If you're in to landscapes, stitching panoramas and the like then I'd pay more attention to what tripod and type of head to use than worrying about what piece of glass is up front.
 
Just noticed you've got a gitzo and a RRS pano head which sorts that issue out!
 
the Nikon 105mm f2.8 VR macro is very very good, with last forever build quality, my favourite "portrait" lens - two used ones on here at good prices
 
Seems like the 16-35f4 fits the bill nicely. The ability to use sensible filters with this lens is a big plus for me. The 14-24 is just too niche and the filter kits are just unbelievably expensive. The 16-35f4 more-or-less lives on my D810.
 
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