1 lens to rule them all - need help.

JBPhoto20 · Sep 1, 2018

I have a Nikon D3400 and I recently went to Rome with the 16-85mm lens. It did...admirably. I'm looking to upgrade lenses and money isn't a huge issue on this. I don't plan on getting a new body or going FX. I might grab a used d7200 at some point BUT

I've been considering the Nikon 16-80mm; nikon 17-55mm and sigma 17-50. Should mention that I am most concerned with the quality of the image. Nothing else.

I shoot 100% handheld, landscape, cityscape, in museums, churches and some portraits. Please help!

Gary A. · Sep 1, 2018

Generally, the best Image Quality (IQ) will come from primes.

JBPhoto20 · Sep 1, 2018

So, that brings up a good question. I have a 35mm prime that I never use but would the highly regarded 50mm be a good walk-around, everything lens?

Derrel · Sep 1, 2018

The lens design has been updated and brought up to the new "E" designation, for electronic aperture actuation...so...no old-school mechanical aperture actuation from the camera body's little flapper arm thing, but electronic diaphragm actuation. Here's the Thom Hogan review of the new, E version of the 16-80mm f/2.8~4 VR model: Nikon 16-80mm f/2.8-4E VR DX Lens Review | DSLRBodies | Thom Hogan

I think it's a good lens, based on what he writes. In fact he writes this, which I see as a very obvious stamp of approval: "(For what it’s worth, I’ve been doing my book and Web site product images with the D7200 and 16-80mm for a while now.)"

Thom Hogan could choose from many,many lenses to use. The fact that he uses that,particular lens, says something to me.

ac12 · Sep 1, 2018

JBPhoto20 said:
So, that brings up a good question. I have a 35mm prime that I never use but would the highly regarded 50mm be a good walk-around, everything lens?

It depends.
The 50 is a short tele, so for me, it might be a bit long for a walk-around lens. I would prefer the 35mm.

Check this out for yourself.
Set your zoom to 50mm, and tape it there, then go walk around for a few days and see how it works out.

BTW, the phrase "jack of all trades, master of none" applies to a single lens solution.

ac12 · Sep 1, 2018

Gary A. said:
Generally, the best Image Quality (IQ) will come from primes.

The FAST primes will also help in dim churches and museums.

greybeard · Sep 7, 2018

I have the Sigma 17-50 f/2.8 and it is very sharp, has VR and focuses very fast.

Derrel · Sep 7, 2018

"Image Quality" usually comes from having the right lens focal length for the conditions and the shot at hand. "Image Quality" usually means having the RIGHT framing, and the best perspective, for the situation. Forcing everything through a one-lens solution is almost guaranteed to lead to monotonous,boring,cookie-cutter images.

Imagine going to Europe, or to South America, and carrying one prime lens, and thinking it will yield the "best image quality"...because the lens is crisp and contrasty and has high levels of microcontrast. Imagine 1,200 picture shot over three weeks, alllll made with a 20mm f/1.8 prime lens.

Imagine 1,200 pictures,all shot with an 8mm circular fisheye. A bitingly sharp fisheye.

Imagine three weeks of European travel,all seen through the eye of the exquisite Nikkor 105mm f/1.4 lens...1,200 photos of high Image Quality, all with the same,exact "look".

Image Quality is much more about the photographer, and the light, and using the RIGHT lens for the shot, than it is about how "sharp" a lens is.

When I first started in digital, I frequently used a POS Nikkor 35-70mm f/3.3~4.5 AF lens from the late 1980's..it was the very-first AF lens I ever owned.

Gary A. · Sep 8, 2018

Unfortunately, there are two primary definitions of “Image Quality”. One is technical and can be measured by objective metrics. The other definition is subjective and measured by viewers opinions of the image. The OP never differianted between which definition of “Image Quality” they sought.

A very famous photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, a founding member of Magnum, felt that the only lens he desired/needed to shoot his Magnum assignments was a 50mm. A person with a camera and a bag full of zooms but little imagination and photographic skills will consistency capture pictures with less “Image Quality” than an imaginative skilled photographer armed with only one lens.

Rarely, if ever, will there be a situation when there is only one “RIGHT” lens required to capture a subject/scene/genre with a high Image Quality. If you took ten pros to ... the Eiffel Tower and gave each pro a different lens, you’ll end up with ten high quality images of the same subject, photographed with ten different lenses. Any lens which effectively captures an image with high quality is the Right lens.