All-Time Favorite Lens... GO!

Heather Koch · Jan 6, 2015

This question has been around forever, right? Well as time goes on people's "favorites" may change...

So I would like to know what lens (fits Nikon) that you would die to have, or already have.

And..... GOO!

tirediron · Jan 6, 2015

All of them.

SquarePeg · Jan 6, 2015

Current fav is the Nikon 35 1.8. Would love to have Nikon 70-200 2.8.

kundalini · Jan 6, 2015

The Nikon Holy Trinity is hard to beat, but this past holiday season I tended to stick with the primes. The 35mm f/2 and 85mm f/1.8 seemed to dominate.

There is a recent thread about the new Nikkor 300mm f/4, but my old f/4 tank still rocks around the bird feeder.

greybeard · Jan 6, 2015

hmm, My go to Nikon lens is the 16-85mm 3.5-5.6. It isn't as sharp or as fast as some of my other lenses but, it is as sharp and fast as I need at all of its' settings. It is consistently descent from f/3.5 to f/22, 16mm to 85mm. My new 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 VR seems to have many of the same attributes of the 16-85. But by far, the lens that has helped me capture my best pictures is my 105 micro AF-S VR f/2.8

goodguy · Jan 6, 2015

tirediron said:
All of them.

Good answer

But if forced to answer one I would say Nikon 24-70mm 2.8G - just a golden lens, not light but the results are Soooo worth it

Vtec44 · Jan 6, 2015

Nikon 35 f1.4, or the 85 f1.4, but the 50 f1.4 is probably more versatile.

Trever1t · Jan 6, 2015

of all the lenses I've owned, the nicest was the 200mm f2 VR that was too heavy and unwieldy for my purposes but man, what a piece of glass.

Current favorite is the 70-200vr2 but I never use it.

Most commonly found mounted on my camera-85 f1.4G

Ysarex · Jan 6, 2015

John Hunt · Jan 7, 2015

Tamron 150-600 is my favorite at the moment

sm4him · Jan 7, 2015

That's a tough one; I'm inclined to agree with John, all the ones I have are my "favorite" that's why I have them!

Most used is definitely my Sigma 150-500, so in that sense at least, it's my favorite. Sharpest probably goes to my Sigma 50mm f/1.4 and most versatile maybe to my Tammy 70-200 f/2.8.

The lens I'd most want to HAVE? Oh, I don't know--maybe a nice Nikon 600mm f/4? But that's not ever gonna happen unless I win the lottery. And since I don't actually PLAY the lottery...

SCraig · Jan 7, 2015

It's going to depend on the type of photography one pursues. Personally anything less than 300mm is a waste of space in my bag most of the time.

D-B-J · Jan 7, 2015

The best for the job

Landscapes? 16-35 f4 VRII
Headshots? Tammy 70-200 2.8VC
Full body portraits? Nikon 85 1.8G

THAT being said, there's a lot of lenses I've never used. So take what I say with a grain of salt.

I'd love the Otus 85 1.4 from zeiss. Or their 135...

Jake

JustJazzie · Jan 7, 2015

I couldn't possibly pick. One lens is my favorite until I realize I need something else. I think right now I would be pretty happy with a 24-70 2.8 a 70-200 2.4 and a macro lens. I'd LOVE to have like a LOOONG macro. And I would love to have a telescope attachment/lens. Though I would have no idea how to use it. I've heard some great things about the 135mm with defocus control, but couldn't never justify it unless I shot a lot more portraits.

As it stands, my "favorite" is my 28-105 3.5-4.5afd. Nothing too spectacular, but it's nice and sharp, good colors, has a macro mode, light weight. It's just so much more versatile than my 50mm prime, and the quality is well beyond the super zoom I have for my NEX.

Microbois · Jan 7, 2015

I'm not gonna be much different than everyone else...

I like the 4 Nikkor lenses I owe at the moment, but if I have to pick one, I would say that I'm quite impressed with my Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 zoom. It's my most used lens at the moment because I use it at my son's soccer and hockey games. It's certainly the sharpess lens I've ever owed so far.

The close second place would go to my Nikkor 105mm VR f/2.8 macro lens which is very nice too. I didn't have a chance to push its limits yet, but from the few shots I got from it, I'm very pleased. I've owed the previous version in the past, and it was great too.

Third place would go to my affordable wide angle zoom. Since I didn't have 2K$+ to plunk on such zoom, I had to settle for the AF-S NIKKOR 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G ED which turns out to be a pretty decent lens. I don't like the fact that it's all made out of plastic, but it feels very solid and well made. Once again, I didn't have a chance to use it a lot so far, but from what I've seen, it would be very hard for me to justify spending 3 times more money to get a more reputable wide angle zoom.