Lens for D750

ssj92

So a little background real quick...I had a D800 with Nikon 24-120 F4 (2010) and Nikon 50mm F1.8G previously (2013-2018). I had sold it and early this year acquired a Nikon D300S with Tamron 17-50 F2.8 Di (non VC).

I've been using the D300S but since my last camera was a D800, feel the D300S just can't keep up with me in these times even with the F2.8 lens.

Now....I recently went to Korea and got a D750 for a good price. I am looking for a lens or two for my D750. I've been looking at the following lenses for an all-around lens:

Nikon 24-85 F3.5-4.5 VR ($350)

Nikon 24-120 F4 ($580) same lens I had before

Nikon 28-300 F3.5-5.6G ($800)

I know these lens aren't the greatest quality but my last 24-120 was more disappointing than people made it out to be. Maybe I had a bad copy. I would prefer a single lens that can get me most of the focal range while providing decent quality images.

I am also looking for a prime lens. I want one that isn't super expensive but will give me good quality pictures as apposed to the all around lens above. I want one that has good sharpness wide open. I have been looking at the following:

Nikon 24mm F1.8G ($600) [Probably can't buy any other lens if I buy this]

Nikon 35mm F1.8G ($460)

Nikon 35mm F2D ($325)

Nikon 50mm F1.8D ($99)

Nikon 50mm F1.8G ($181)

Nikon 50mm F1.4D ($271)

Nikon 50mm F1.4G ($400)

I have also been eyeing the Nikon 70-300 F4.5-5.6e ($600) because I have seen very good reviews on it and was thinking of 24-85 + 70-300 but then no prime lens. I do believe that lens is very good from what I've seen but again I am trying not to switch out lens all the time.

I looked at my Korea trip pics and randomly selected like 60 pics and found the average focal length to be 28mm (17mm being most used & 50mm being second place).

As of right now I'm leaning towards 24-120 F4 & 35mm F2D.

I will be borrowing my old D800 + 24-120 + 50mm next week from my friend, whom I sold to, and see how it is.

I am open to suggestions, if you've made it this far, thank you for reading.

Pistnbroke

I have owned all the zooms you mention ...the 24-120 is terrible while the 24-85 is fantastically sharp ( I have one for sale at present) I also use the 28-300 for my weddings and while its no birding lens at 300mm it does a great job. Both the 24-85 and 28-300 are on the Angry photograhers favorite list .The 28-300 is used extensively by Rockwell.
You must remember to set the fine focus adjust and if shooting JPEG move the sharpness up to +9

CaMeRaQuEsT

Hmmm, didn't know that the 24-120/4 was that bad... If I do ever get myself a D750 I was going to pair it with that lens, mostly because of the continuous aperture for video.

If VR is not important, then I would suggest the Tamron 28-75/2.8, the FX version of the 17-50/2.8 you're currently using .

mhedges

It seems like opinions on the 24-120 are very mixed. Not sure if it’s due to sample variation or different expectations.

ssj92

Yeah 24-120mm reviews are very mixed..On a different forum everyone recommended the 24-120 lol so now it's even more confusing. I wonder if the sample variation is that different. As for primes I am looking at 24mm F1.8G or 20mm F1.8G now. Someone mentioned 20mm F1.8G because of the overlap with my zoom lens but I am a bit worried if it's too wide. I was thinking of giving the 24-120mm another try since I really like the focal length but all these mixed reviews.

Capt_Spaulding

I have no experience with the 24-120 but I've had a 24-85 for close to five years. It started its life on a D5100, got shifted to a D610 and now does double duty on a D7200 and a D750. I don't have much of a portfolio yet with the D750, but on the 610, the lens produced some very sharp images. I've had some printed at 24x36 and they are sharp enough to cut paper.

I can't say they are all as good as mine, but it rivals my 70-200 f4 and that's saying something.

ssj92

I just keep digging myself in deeper. I realize buying 24-120 + 20 is a bit more than the 24-70 F2.8G. Now how’s that lens? Lol

ssj92

null

Which aperature did you shoot those images with?

Capt_Spaulding

Not sure if I'm the addressee, but I shot mine at f11.

Pistnbroke

If you buy the 24-120 you need check for fine focus adjust at a few focal lengths and if its all over the place send it back to Nikon for adjustment . All the good 24-120s I have heard of went this way. The ones I had were terrible for focus breathing and the definition was junk. ( On D810)

ssj92

Would it be dumb to buy the 24mm F1.8G if I also had the 24-120 F4? I feel like the 24mm F1.8G will have a better FOV and it's sharper too over the 200mm F1.8G. I get to play with my old D800 + 50mm F1.8G + 24-120 F4 set-up this weekend that I sold to my friend. It'll be nice to compare vs the D750 as well.

mhedges

ssj92 said:

Would it be dumb to buy the 24mm F1.8G if I also had the 24-120 F4? I feel like the 24mm F1.8G will have a better FOV and it's sharper too over the 200mm F1.8G. I get to play with my old D800 + 50mm F1.8G + 24-120 F4 set-up this weekend that I sold to my friend. It'll be nice to compare vs the D750 as well.

Well field of view should be the same as the 24-120 zoomed to 24mm, but it would certainly be faster. Good lens for astrophotography. Also likely sharper.

ssj92

mhedges said:

ssj92 said:

Would it be dumb to buy the 24mm F1.8G if I also had the 24-120 F4? I feel like the 24mm F1.8G will have a better FOV and it's sharper too over the 200mm F1.8G. I get to play with my old D800 + 50mm F1.8G + 24-120 F4 set-up this weekend that I sold to my friend. It'll be nice to compare vs the D750 as well.

Well field of view should be the same as the 24-120 zoomed to 24mm, but it would certainly be faster. Good lens for astrophotography. Also likely sharper.

Sorry I meant 24mm F1.8G vs 20mm F1.8G

I feel 20mm might be a bit too wide. I have a Celestron C11 for astrophotography but I think wide field AP would be very good with 24mm F1.8G.

spraynpray

You might want to look at the sigma Art 24-15 F2. Described as three primes in one. No issues with sharpness. I too sold my 24-120 VR due to poor IQ.

FreezeAction

spraynpray said:

You might want to look at the sigma Art 24-15 F2. Described as three primes in one. No issues with sharpness. I too sold my 24-120 VR due to poor IQ.

Did you mean a 24-105mm Sigma?

sport

No, 24-35 f2. I use one with my d750 and really like it. It's sharp and covers two primes that I always wanted to get (24mm and 35mm). The only downside is that it is bigger and heavier than primes.

spraynpray

Oops, sorry guys my bad. Sport has it right 24-35 f2. Virtually welded to my D850.

ssj92

An update on my situation...I ended up buying a Nikon 14-24 F2.8G used. So now I have 14-24 F2.8G & 24-120 F4 with my D800/D750. I plan to get 85mm F1.8G in the future and probably end it with that.

D300S stays with it's Tamron 17-50 F2.8.