One (1) lens, you are then banned for life from the purchase of any others!!

limeblu

I currently own a d5200, I love the 18-55 but it just isn't fast enough or good in low light, also love my 50 1.8 awesome but not wide enough for so many things. I recently found dust on my sensor and came to the conclusion I switch lenses way too much. I will be moving to FF soon and wonder, what lens would you or could you leave on forever, to cover all situations and not miss any other. I want to purchase that lens and leave it on 99% of the time to avoid contamination, as I am chicken S%&@ and will not clean my sensor. So Everyone, FX, one lens forever, what are you using and why????

proudgeek

Not sure what you like to shoot. But if you wanted to "cover all situations" and never change lenses, you're probably better off getting multiple camera bodies. You may also want to consider shooting in an industrial clean room.

Sensor dust is a fact of life, even if you never change lenses. I'm like you in that I hate cleaning my own sensor, I allocate a certain amount of money each year to have my sensor professionally cleaned.

NSXTypeR

This is going to sound harsh but if you wanted one lens to do it all in order to avoid dust, DSLRs are not for you. I mostly used a D40 with a 18-135 for most of the beginning of photography and I still got dust on the sensor of my D40 because when you zoom in from 135mm to 18mm I felt air blowing into my eye. You are physically changing volumes in the lens when you zoom in and out so it's not possible to not suck in air and along with it dust. The D5200 is probably built similarly to the D40 so you're still going to get dust with any sort of zoom.

If you want one camera to do it all get a Sony RX10. It'll do wide to telephoto with a pretty fast lens.

That being said, dust shouldn't be too big a deal as your camera probably has a sensor shake or self clean function. For the most part my camera is mostly clean, and 90% of the time an air blower bulb will do the trick. I think you shouldn't avoid the inevitable and just enjoy the camera. Get a Giotto's Rocket Air Blower and enjoy!

Ironheart

The 50mm will be 2/3rds wider on an FX body. You should have been using a 35mm on DX.

Nifty fifty 150% for me on one lens on FX.

HipShot

I must have missed Nikon's 17-600mm 2.8 lens.

limeblu

Ok lets not get too serious here. I will switch lenses, I understand that each performs its own function and purpose. I am just asking which if you had to, would you put on to cover the majority of your shooting situations. I have been shooting long enough to understand that dust is a part of life with cameras, I would just rather try to avoid changing lenses on my new camera so much. So no worries, simply hypothetical. Just pick the one you would grab. That's all I am asking, which ONE and why.

WestEndFoto

What subjects do you shoot and how much? For example, I shoot 20% landscapes, 30% portrait, 20% street and 30% everything else.

Paperman

95% of my photography is landscapes ( the other 5% being kids&family ) and I must have taken 95% of that 95% at focal lengths between 18 to 28mm ( APS-C) ....( Yeah, it's boring I know ). I could live with a 17-50mm easily ...( I need 35 to 50 mms for the kids )

WestEndFoto

I looked at your portfolio. Mostly landscapes, some portraits and a little bit of macro thrown in.

You have a great eye bye the way. Keep working on those and don't worry about the gear too much. Pitchblack said it well, as he usually does.

I would buy the 16-35 f/4.0. That will cover most of your landscapes. I would then buy the 50mm 1.4G. It is a good all around lens, is long enough for portraits if they are full body shots and you will get some nice bokeh wide open. This is also one of Nikon's best value lens, better than the Canon equivalent. Lots of people poo poo it but they are usually comparing it to the Sigma Art at double the price. The Sigma is undoubtedly better, but this lens is half the price ($419 vs $899 at B&H) and just as sharp as the 24-70 2.8 at 50mm.

I would then buy the 105 2.8 Micro and use it for portraits and micro. This is not my first choice - I would go with the 105 DC 2.0 or 135 DC 2.0 and 200 f/4 (I own the last two). But money was no object. Unless money is no object to you, the 105 2.8 Micro is a very nice compromise for slightly more than a quarter the price that I chose.

These three lenses combined with a D610 would be a very nice kit for $5,000ish. If you have more money, buy better lenses. I would not bother upgrading the 16-35, but the Sigma Art and the DC 135 2.0 would be worthwhile upgrades. Not sure you need that though.

And don't worry about sensor dust. Go here and buy this if you are really worried:

http://forum.nikonrumors.com/discussion/1812/a-new-sensor-cleaning-tool-for-the-public#Item_44

And go here to learn more about dust in general:

http://forum.nikonrumors.com/discussion/3658/sensor-dust-advice-requested#Item_3

KnockKnock

First thought: RX10. Second thought: the latest FX 24-85 VR. Final thought - get comfy with maintenance or pay a good shop to do it for you. Sorry, these are all budget options ;-)

Sports

Ok, you've told us your plan, and you've received some comments on it.
But why not suggest the Sigma 24-105 Art that fits nicely, I would say.
I don't own it, myself, though.
It should get you the versatility and more than decent image quality, but you'll never get close to the f1.8 aperture from this sort of lens.

spraynpray

You did say full frame? As you still haven't told us your preferred genres, I can only say the 24-120 is good at everything but best at none, the 28-300 would be better if you need more telephoto for your shots.

All zooms - whether internal focussing or internal zooming move air around and so you risk dust on your sensor. TBH if you want to avoid a dusty sensor you should get a compact camera without an interchangeable lens and it should have a fixed focal length lens on it. Such a camera is so far from what I would want that I have no idea if one even exists.

Sorry I can't helpyou more.

limeblu

Thanks guys Getting a pretty god idea of what you would go with, westend is right about what I shoot, love landscape but practice on pretty much anything that catches my eye. I enjoy being able to shoot many things well. It does look like a few lenses really stand out and from the sounds of things I am just worrying about the dust too much, I am type a hate things any less then almost perfect, my bad. TY for the kind words westend. Have a great day all and ty for the input.
Cheers

ThomasHorton

I want to purchase that lens and leave it on 99% of the time to avoid contamination, as I am chicken S%&@ and will not clean my sensor.

I just want to point out that DSLRs are designed specifically to allow the changing of lenses. As long as you use reasonable care, you should not have any problems. I have been shooting SLRs since 1980 and changing lenses in the field and everything. Never had any problems.

In reading other forums, there seems to be a feeling that one should not change lenses unless one is in a over-pressured clean room.

As for cleaning the sensor. I can understand why you would not want to do it yourself. But there are professionals who can clean the sensor... If... it ever needs it for not a lot of money.

I can't tell you how much because I have NEVER had a need to have a sensor cleaned on any of my DSLRs

So don't be concerned with changing lenses. Just take reasonable care. Don't sneeze into the camera. Don't change lenses while riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a dirt road. Don't change lenses in a sandstorm...

DSLRs are delicate but not that delicate.

ThomasHorton

Sigma has discontinued the 24-105 Art.

Rumoured to be discontinued.

I looked at the Sigma site on their discontinued list and that lens is not on that list. But it is still on the current lens page and evidently still for sale.

Has Sigma officially made any statements? I have not found anything. I fear that it will be discontinued as it really did not seem to sell well.

If I were looking for a zoom lens, I would have considered it.

Vipmediastar_JZ

You will be in good hands of a Nikon 2.8 zoom or f4 zoom. There are 3rd party equivalents.
The first lens on FX that I kept glued was the 24-70 2.8 it covers landscape and portraits. Had the 70-200mm 2.8 been lighter no doubt that would be glued on to my camera and you can do landscape with it too.

My current lens that is glued to my camera is the sigma 50mm 1.4 art 99% of the time and the other 1% sits in the bag. (All statistics are made up including this one).

I do a little bit of everything and this covers it well but I do change it as necessary.

Also we have a few threads about cleaning materials and how to clean the sensor. If you feel like you need a Camera Shop to clean it then that is perfectly fine too.

calengor

http://sigma-rumors.com/2015/01/sigma-24-105mm-f4-art-discontinued/

Rumor was it was discontinued, then that production was just stopped as they only have one factory and were focusing on making other lenses, now it's that it may indeed be discontinued.

I'm renting a copy of this lens from lensrentals for a trip to Colombia in a week. If I like it enough I'll probably end up using their "keeper" program to outright purchase it.

limeblu

Love this site. Great info and recommendations and the as%h&l$ ratio is extremely low. Think I found somewhere to hang my hat, for a while anyways.

Vipmediastar_JZ

@limeblu I felt the same way when I discovered it over a year ago. Best place to learn and interact, even if the thread goes off topic you still tend to learn something out of it.

ThomasHorton

The level of maturity on this site is orders of magnitude better than on some other camera rumour sites.

manhattanboy

Ok lets not get too serious here. I will switch lenses, I understand that each performs its own function and purpose. I am just asking which if you had to, would you put on to cover the majority of your shooting situations.

That depends on you!!
The 300f4 stays locked onto my 7100, but obviously I'm not shooting panoramas with it. Most of the time you should just think about what YOU will need for the shoot and change lenses in a relatively non-dusty environment beforehand. You may find that the 50 1.8 is wide enough for an everyday lens on FX. The 24-105 is a great all purpose indoors and outdoors lens on a FX camera but is still not wide enough (IMHO, of course) for DX to be an all-purpose, everyday, walk-around lens.

proudgeek

If I could only have ONE LENS for my D800, it would probably be the 24-70. But even then I think this would only cover about 25% of my shots. I agree with some of the others above who have said that changing lenses is part of the game. There are smart and not-so-smart ways to go about it to minimize the introduction of dust and/or foreign particles into your camera (for instance, when I can I change lenses in a bathroom, since fewer fabric surfaces generally means there's less dust, as formica and tile will gather dust less than carpet or fabric). No guarantees though. I know many here like to clean their own sensors. I've tried but can't seem to get the results I want. I consider a good pro cleaning every few months simply part of the cost of admission.

ThomasHorton

My Sigma 35mm seems to be the lens that remains attached to my camera these days. Never thought I would like the 35 as much as I do

spraynpray

@proudgeek: 90% of dust is skin and when you towel-down in the bathroom you are ex-foliating yourself vigorously so I dunno if the bathroom is the best place (just feeding the paranoia!).

Parke1953

Thanks spraynpray I'm moving my bathroom outside. Well maybe next week after the snow has melted. LOL.

proudgeek

@proudgeek: 90% of dust is skin and when you towel-down in the bathroom you are ex-foliating yourself vigorously so I dunno if the bathroom is the best place (just feeding the paranoia!).

Well isn't that just great. Fortunately, there's an IBM chip fabrication plant where I live. I wonder if they'll let me go into the fab and change my lenses.