Full frame lens

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Dave Pickett
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Having sold 3 older dx bodies I am in a position to treat myself to a body to accompany my Nikon D500. After much thought I've decided to go FF with a Nikon D610, which appears to be in runout and is available for £650 on grey market. Over the years I have gathered a decent set of lens, with the following FF friendly: 1.8 50mm AFD, 90mm Tamron Macro, Sigma 70-210 non os, Nikon 70-300.

The gap is at the wider end and initially I thought the 24-85, or 24-120. Since I have a dx walkabout zoom i'm now considering the 28mm f2.8 afd as my ff wide.

Any thoughts on zoom vs wide for my FF, my thinking is I will be using it where I want best IQ

Edit the 24 f2.8 looks a better bet
 
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24mm is a bit wide as a general use lens, and 28mm would be better.

I own a D610, and use 28-105 AFD (peak resolution & eveness appears to be f13, although it's OK from f5.6) and Sigma 12-24, although for a couple of years I used a Sigma 21-35, which is a really nice walk-about wideangle. I have a 28 f3.5 AI that gives an image quality I love, but it tends not to go in the bag very often.
 
Tony - I looked at the 28-105, but was put off by a lot of images that seemed very soft on the long end (I was looking on the Flickr group). Is that your experience? Seems great at 28mm though.

I have the old 28-80mm AF-G lens as a cheap/light option and am pleased with it, for the £35 (plus free film camera) I paid for it. Just don't pixel peep too closely into the corners! I'm not sure you get much better from the old 28/2.8 AFD from what I've seen.

My go-to wide angle is the new Tamron 17-35mm OSD lens though - it's excellent.
 
The 28mm 2.8 afd is an okay lens. It’s sharp enough stopped down and small, light and cheap but I don’t think it’s going to really take advantage of that sensor. In fairness there isn’t that much competition for sub £100. I think I’d rather have a 24-85 (the non-vr is pretty good too) or save a bit more and get a 28mm 1.8g.

Or if you’re happy with manual focus the 28mm 2.8ais which I could recommend all day long. Just don’t pay too much for one and make sure it is an ais and not an ai wrongly advertised. They’re lovely lenses, as is the f/2 version for that matter.
 
The gap is at the wider end and initially I thought the 24-85, or 24-120. Since I have a dx walkabout zoom i'm now considering the 28mm f2.8 afd as my ff wide.

For a mid-range FX zoom, I like the 28-105 a lot - pretty sharp, and low distortion throughout the zoom range (much less than its DX equivalents). It has a useful semi-macro range, too. Of course if you can run to one of the f/2.8 zooms and don't mind size and weight (a decent secondhand 24-70 will cost a couple of hundred more than the camera) you won't look back. For primes, I'd suggest one of the new f/1.8 lenses - I have the 28mm and it's very sharp, doing full justice to the D800 sensor. But most of the time the convenience of a zoom wins, so I use the 28 prime less than I might. I wasn't sure whether you meant you were considering using the DX zoom on FX - I really wouldn't, it's a much worse experience than using the same lens with a proper DX viewfinder.
 
Thanks no my dx zoom would only go on my D500 or D300s which im keeping.
 
Watching with interest, I recently moved on my 5dii for an A7 and I am just not getting on with it. Considering either one of the D8** series cameras or possibly a 5Ds.

I know nothing about Nikon Glass.
 
The Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 is another budget option that's fairly well regarded.
 
The Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 is another budget option that's fairly well regarded.
Agree a good lens but make sure you test it if buying used.
 
My 24-85 AF-S 3.5-4.5 VR currently for sale in the Nikon section sounds ideal for this purpose!

I've used it as a walkaround on my 750, but these days not being used as I am into primes.
 
I've had quite a few of the lenses mentioned above over the past 10 years or so, here's my thoughts:

28-105 = kit lens for the old F100 film camera and was OK on my D700, but nothing special and in the end I was only using it for the close up focussing ability. On a higher resolution sensor like the D600’s you might be a bit disappointed unless you’re strapped for cash.

24-85VR – decent lens, quite light and compac, and not that expensive second hand. Mine got damaged so I replaced it with a….

24-140VR F4 – very good lens, but bigger, heavier and more expensive than the previous 2. It’s on my D810 / D4 most of the time.

24-70 - excellent lens, but even bigger and heavier and more expensive than the 24-140. The VR version is very pricey.


After some research, yesterday I bought a 24mm F2.8 for use on my AF film cameras as I prefer smaller primes on them. It seems to be better thought of than the 28mm F2.8. It’s not arrived yet, so can’t provide an opinion of my own but as it will be used on film I’ll be judging it by a different set of criteria anyway. Not sure it’ll get used on the D810 though.
 
I have a D600 and have recently moved on a few lenses to settle on the Nikon 24-120 f/4 VR as my general go-to lens. I also kept the Nikon 28-80mm f3.4-5.6 D due to its light weight and small physical size and the fact it is really sharp.

I have also owned most of the lenses mentioned already and rate the Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 very highly (but it is big and heavy) and the Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 which, if you get a good one, is an absolute corker of a lens. Unfortunately there are quite a few poor ones out there so buying used is a gamble unless you can get to try it first.
 
Tony - I looked at the 28-105, but was put off by a lot of images that seemed very soft on the long end (I was looking on the Flickr group). Is that your experience? Seems great at 28mm though.

I have the old 28-80mm AF-G lens as a cheap/light option and am pleased with it, for the £35 (plus free film camera) I paid for it. Just don't pixel peep too closely into the corners! I'm not sure you get much better from the old 28/2.8 AFD from what I've seen.

My go-to wide angle is the new Tamron 17-35mm OSD lens though - it's excellent.

OK, a couple of examples: unprocessed at 1:1 (assuming they show up that way on TP).

Centre (just noticed this image is slightly down-sized compared to the others).
Lens demo centre-7831.jpg

RH edge
Lens demo RH edge-7831.jpg


Processed a little & export sharpened.
Lens demo centre-7831-2.jpg

RH edge
Lens demo edge-7831.jpg

It's not the greatest lens ever, but it is adequate & cost effective. If I could get a 24-120 f4 for £100 then I'd be happy to swap, but the 24-120 f3.5-5.6 (which IS about £100 now from Ffordes) is less than ideal. My old 28 f3.5 AI lens is crisper than this, as is my 50 AFD f1.8 and my 135 f2.8 AI, but both my Nikon 28-85 and 35-105 are less good..

The 24-85 mentioned about is likely a good lens, especially if you prefer a little more width than length.
 
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