I think Curtis hits the nail on the head. I will say that one great mf lens for portraiture is the 50-135 f/3.5 ai-s. That is an eminently useful range of focal lengths.
Manual focus lenses are a great value, but you don't want to go there if you're chasing kids around. They can work wonderfully for portraiture and landscape work, however. A 50 f/1.8 AI or AI-s can be bought for well under a hundred dollars. I bought mine for $46. A 105 f/2.5 AI or AI-s is a great lens that can be bought for less than two hundred dollars. Don't forget MF lenses. They perform beautifully on Nikon's FX cameras.
I am on the same boat as the OP, I just sold everything Canon and ordered a D600 with the kit lens
My next lens should be either a 50 1.8G or a 70-300VR and probably a SB700
However the idea of inexpensive manual focus fast primes is really tempting for what I do, where would you find or look for the primes you are suggesting? particularly the 105 f2.5? Also what is the difference between AI or AI-S?
Sorry, new Niikon guy here
Manual focus lenses are a great value, but you don't want to go there if you're chasing kids around. They can work wonderfully for portraiture and landscape work, however. A 50 f/1.8 AI or AI-s can be bought for well under a hundred dollars. I bought mine for $46. A 105 f/2.5 AI or AI-s is a great lens that can be bought for less than two hundred dollars. Don't forget MF lenses. They perform beautifully on Nikon's FX cameras.
I am on the same boat as the OP, I just sold everything Canon and ordered a D600 with the kit lens
My next lens should be either a 50 1.8G or a 70-300VR and probably a SB700
However the idea of inexpensive manual focus fast primes is really tempting for what I do, where would you find or look for the primes you are suggesting? particularly the 105 f2.5? Also what is the difference between AI or AI-S?
Sorry, new Niikon guy here...Show more →
Boris, you can start by looking in the Buy and Sell forum on this site. You can also look here Nikon lenses
About the only differences between the AI-s and the AI lenses are that the focus throw on the AI lenses will be longer. Here's another site that is very helpful. http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/serialno.html
I have a question, these AIS etc obviously are manual focus with no focus confirmation, but what about the aperture, you move the ring fiscally on the lens and the body reads it? or you have to dial the aperture AND move the aperture ring? how does it work
borismilan wrote:
I have a question, these AIS etc obviously are manual focus with no focus confirmation, but what about the aperture, you move the ring fiscally on the lens and the body reads it? or you have to dial the aperture AND move the aperture ring? how does it work
Focus confirmation works, and you use the aperture ring on the lens to set the aperture. When you press the shutter the camera body will close the aperture as appropriate.
With the higher end (D200+) cameras metering as well as aperture priority and manual mode work. You do have to set the focal length and maximum aperture with non-CPU lenses. The D200 lets you store information for a single lens (but you can store different info for each bank of custom settings). With the newer cameras you can configure multiple lenses (up to 9 at a time, I think).
With the lower end cameras the Ai/AiS lenses only work in manual mode (no metering).
borismilan wrote:
I have a question, these AIS etc obviously are manual focus with no focus confirmation, but what about the aperture, you move the ring fiscally on the lens and the body reads it? or you have to dial the aperture AND move the aperture ring? how does it work
Yes, focus confirm works just like it would an AF lens. There is a dot in the left hand corner that lights up when focus is achieved and two arrows that, should you not be in focus, indicate which way you need to turn the barrel to get there.
On most cameras you simply input the lens to the non-cpu database by setting the focal length and maximum aperture. My D700 has nine slots, I believe the D600 is the same. Mine is full right now, but I typically only use 4 or 5 of the entries, I should clear out the ones I don't use often.
Interesting, so you type in in your menu a list of your manual lens in order to the body understand what lens is mounted.
Never heard of that, cool
Focus confirmation also cool
Canon needs a chip installed on the lens to provide focus info
The AI-AIS lenses IMO are the best value in photography these days so keep them in mind. Their sharpness and color rendition is brilliant and don't let manual focus put you off, I am a beginner and I find it a breeze especially with Nikon's focus confirmation and metering. Most famous are the 105 2.5 AI/AIS which you can get around 150-200$ and the 28 2.8 AIS ($250). Search flickr by lens and see how great they are.
On the other hand, I suggest Auto Focus for children and my recommendation is Nikon 50 1.8G or 85 1.8G for a closer reach. However, the 50mm is more versatile for group shots, street photography and any "general" photography context.
I'm smiling broadly as the topic shifts subtly to manual focus lenses. Boris, you have a great adventure ahead of you if you're interested in the amazing collection of Nikon MF glass. While Canon changed their lens mount, effectively eliminating all the FD manual focus lenses from consideration, NIkon kept the same mount so there are dozens of GREAT MF lenses that are available, often for a pittance, for anyone willing to use the fingers of their left hand to turn the focusing ring.
By far the busiest thread on the Nikon forum is the Manual Focus Nikon Glass thread which moves faster than a speeding bullet... We have folks from around the world, many of whom have taken exactly the journey you are taking, in discovering, learning and eventually mastering these great lenses. Check out the thread and ask questions to your hearts content. Many of the folks on this thread mentioning MF lenses are active on that thread. I'll think you'll have a great time over there. The folks participating are generous and supportive. It is a wonderful atmosphere for learning and sharing experience.
CGrindahl wrote:
I'm smiling broadly as the topic shifts subtly to manual focus lenses. Boris, you have a great adventure ahead of you if you're interested in the amazing collection of Nikon MF glass. While Canon changed their lens mount, effectively eliminating all the FD manual focus lenses from consideration, NIkon kept the same mount so there are dozens of GREAT MF lenses that are available, often for a pittance, for anyone willing to use the fingers of their left hand to turn the focusing ring.
By far the busiest thread on the Nikon forum is the Manual Focus Nikon Glass thread which moves faster than a speeding bullet... We have folks from around the world, many of whom have taken exactly the journey you are taking, in discovering, learning and eventually mastering these great lenses. Check out the thread and ask questions to your hearts content. Many of the folks on this thread mentioning MF lenses are active on that thread. I'll think you'll have a great time over there. The folks participating are generous and supportive. It is a wonderful atmosphere for learning and sharing experience....Show more →
I am very pleased with the amount of suggestions I am receiving on which lens to get. I am also happy you are discussing manual. I don't know too much about manual because I usually don't go that route considering I shoot children that like to run all over. But, I would love to start learning more about the manual! I will have to look around for some manual lenses too
Just purchased the D600 (been a Canon shooter for 6 years!) and went with the 24-85mm VR to start off with. Reasoning:
-Sample shots look sharp
-VR (I shoot handheld a lot)
-$500 cost
-Great range for landscape (I primarily shoot 18-50mm on a crop body)
-Again, I shoot landscape, and hardly every shoot with apertures larger than f/5.6
