jimmuller wrote:
Are there recommended Nikon MF zooms, presumably F-mount? (I had a Vivitar zoom long ago. It wasn't very good and I didn't use it much.)
With a zoom I wouldn't have to swap lenses so often. And having both longer and short FL's available would guarantee that we won't see anything!
The downside might be that IQ isn't as good. And it might be just as heavy as two primes. And it still might not cover the ideal FL range. I have no idea what range I'd want, especially as it would be redundant to the primes I have now. So the only benefit would be not having to swap lenses as often. And my wallet wouldn't be as heavy. So, nevermind. It's just a whimsical thought.
Jim, I'm _sure_ you're going to get lots of suggestions from the "lens pushers" on this thread, but as a fellow Prime-monagamist, I can give you my 2c. Nikon made a number of really nice moderate zooms in the 80's when lens design technology got good enough, and market demand for zooms started to grow. My personal opinion is the moderate zoom-range (something like 2x) and fixed-aperture designs are the ones to look for. The only Zoom-Nikkor I actually own is the renowned 75~150/3.5E, which really does live up to its reputation, and is normally quite a bargain. It's not that much bigger than a 135/2.8, and gives you the flexibility of covering off the entire portrait-range. For the longer range, if you want to go beyond the standard 80~200/70~210 zooms zooms, there's the 100~300/5.6 AiS. And for the wider end, there's the original 25~50/4, and the more compact 28~50/3.5, both of which have their fans.
I will say this, all of the above-mentioned lenses have been highlighted by posters here with excellent photos, seem to be available for decent prices these days, and have often tempted me into more GAS.
