Nikon Lens Recomendation to buy for D200 17-55 f2.8 or 17-35 f2.8

Hi, could someone give me some reconditions on which Nikon to buy for
my D200. I've been a Nikon F90x and F100 user for the past 7 years
but in the last 3 years I've been lucky enough to use Phase One Backs
on RZ's and Hasselbalds but have finally bought a D200 for more
personal shoots but im a bit confused on what lens I should upgrade to
or get.

At the moment I have a
35-70mm f2.8
80-200mm f2.8

And was thinking of replacing my 35-70mm f2.8 for a 17-55mm f2.8 but
have heard that it doesn't always perform well with hard backlight.
Although I have noticed my 35-70mm f2.8 dose also suffer from this. Or
would I be better off buying the old 17-35mm f2.8 to add to my
collection.

Any help would be great. As I do know all these lens are excellent but
things are slighting different with digital cameras. I would be mainly
using it from fashion to landscapes.

Thanks

 

You lucky dog! Nice back!

I would keep the 80-200 since this is a great lens. I'm not sure which
version you have? If you have the AF-S (third revision) I wouldn't part
with it.

I would throw the 35-70 on eBay if you were not 100% happy with it. The
28-70 does perform much better than the 35-70, but it will add more cost to
your bottom line. If you are happy with it I would definitely get the 17-35
to compliment your wide angle needs.

When I was at the crossroads of making that decision I opted to get the
17-35 and 28-70 instead of the 17-55. The 17-35 performs better
(subjective) than the 17-55. Both the 17-35 and 28-70 are legendary lenses
and you won't go wrong with them. Plus, the 17-55 is designed for the APS-C
sensor while the other two will work on your film cameras and with FF when
Nikon adopts this on the D3x. I've read many great things about the 17-35
and 17-55 so it really is going to come down to personal choice. If you can
try both it might make your decision easier.







Rita

 

Go to photo.net and search nikon short zooms.there is a wealth of
information there. I own a d200 and recently purch. the 17-55dx. Since
then i have never again used 20mm-35mm-50mm primes. The 17-55 simple
performs as well as any of them. (i am very fussy with sharpness and
contrast) The 17-55 even focuses closer than the 50mm prime for
wonderful still-life images or small objects! You cant lose. The 17-55
is specifically made for your DSLR, the 17-35 is not, so the 17-55 is
smaller and a little lighter. (PS: ive never read a bad review of this
lens, especially by users.)

 

Sell the 35-70 and grab the 17-55 DX .
Its an excellent lens.
I can't buy em as I use FF F mount hence I must use 17-35 and 28-70 as the
17-55 DX is not fully usable on a FF F mount DSLR.

 

WTH is " FF F " mount???
AAvK

 

Full Frame F mount.

 

If you are keeping your 35mm cameras, then your choice should be the
17-35, you can use the 35-70 inbetween the 17-35 and the 80-200. The
35-70s are fetching $300 or so on Ebay almost not worth the effort. The
other lens in between is the 60 micro or a 50 f1.4 if speed is what you
need. I have a 55 f2.8 on a D200 and it's a grerat combination.
Just my $.02.

Tom

 

I'm in the same boat as you. I have both the 35-70mm f2.8 and 80-200mm
f2.8 plus the 50mm f1.8. The only difference is my starter camera is
the D70s. Let me know how it works out in the end. My next purchase
will probably be the 17-35mm f2.8 but I'm sitting on the fence for the
moment doing a bit of research.

 

Oh so full frame CCD for F mount... for normal lenses as opposed to
"digital" focal length lenses for smaller chips. Makes sense, thanks.

 

Nikon developed the "F" bayonet mount for the Nikon F until 1977. Then
it was modified to allow for Aperture Indexing, AI. The older cameras
could use the AI lenses but the AI cameras could not use the older F
mounts unless they were modified. So "F" AI mount is available to both
film and digital cameras. So the "F" mount has nothing to do with using
a lens on a film or a digital body as both will accept the F bayonet
mount.

What does make the difference is whether the lens has the`"DX"
designation. A lens with the DX desination is designed to project a
smaller image circle that will fit the Nikon digital SLR sensor. The
lenses without the DX designation will project an image circle that
covers a 135 film frame which is larger than image circle required by
the digital sensor. Thus a non-DX lenses will work on both the Nikon
film bodies and digital bodies. The DX lenses will always work on the
Nikon digital bodies but may not fill the image circle of the film
body.

http://www.bythom.com/lensacronyms.htm

 

Not quite! Bodies such as the F2A and F2AS could use pre-AI lenses while
using Stop-Down metering and folding the meter coupling up out of the way,
as well as the newer AI or AI converted lenses. This ability continued in
the Pro bodies up through the F4 normally and even with the F5 if you had
Nikon install the "flippable" meter prong. I don't think that conversion is
available on the F6.
Bob


So "F" AI mount is available to both