A – I do not have my D800, or the lens I have decided to go with once my camera arrives.
B – It is an ambiguous question, different lenses have different uses.

HOWEVER!!! I have been reading up on the pros and cons of many lenses now for many months and what I can share with you, are my views, opinions and logic involved in my choice. Now if you are a troll looking to “troll” your section is below in the comments section, there is no point reading my comments, just troll ahead, reading further will only delay you. This is by no means a technical review of any of the lenses either, but the content and links, will helpfully make your decision process easier.

The following FX lenses were taken into consideration:

• AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G (More info on Nikons Page)
• AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED (2.9x) (More info on Nikons Page)
• AF Zoom-Nikkor 24-85mm f/2.8-4D IF (3.5x) (More info on Nikons Page)
• AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G ED VR (5x) (More info on Nikons Page)
• AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II (2.9x) (More info on Nikons Page)
• AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR (10.7x) (More info on Nikons Page)
• AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED (4.3x) (More info on Nikons Page)
• AF VR Zoom-Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED (5.0x) (More info on Nikons Page)

If you are looking for a DX Lens just go and buy the Nikon 18-200mm VR II– You can read Ken Rockwell’s review here or buy it here. BUT if you have an FX camera then please read on, you do not want a DX lens.

In order to see which lens would suit me best, I asked myself the “Golden Question”. Your first immediate answer to this question is probably the most important part of this article. Whatever you think of first, is more than likely what you are most passionate about, so when you read my question remember that.

Golden Question)

What am I going to use this lens for? Don’t forget to remember your first thought…

My Answer)

Walking around –

Based on that I thought about the logistics a bit, and determined that as I like to walk around cities, taking photos, I do not want to be lugging a case of lenses around, I want one or two maximum at a push! (You may well come to a very different answer to me, this is allowed and I encourage it, that is why Nikon make lots of different lenses, because we are not all the same.)

So now I have some criteria, “I want one lens that has multiple capabilities”. The next step is an extremely scientific process that needs to be followed with great care. This way you can narrow down your selection with great accuracy. My very scientific way of narrowing down the selection, was by simply looking at the zoom level. I know I like to use a bit of a wider angle and I know I like to be able to zoom in, therefore anything with a very low range, was not going to cut it for me.

Immediately looking at the list I could start crossing out a few.

• AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G (I already have this anyway)
• AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED (2.9x)  Range is too low.
• AF Zoom-Nikkor 24-85mm f/2.8-4D IF (3.5x) Range is still too low.
• AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G ED VR (5x) – Maybe, but 120mm?
• AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II (2.9x) It’s minimum 70mm
• AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR (10.7x) – Oooo Widish and Telephoto hmmm.
• AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED  (4.3x) WOW 300mm, but still 70mm.
• AF VR Zoom-Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED (5.0x) I take photos in cities, not portraits of God.

Now that it has been narrowed down to a whole two, I can look at things like Quality… There is a very good reason I did not do this first. If I have spent time worrying about the quality of a 50mm lens, it may not have made it through the first elimination round. I now know what I want, and what Nikon offer, so my work is theoretically now a lot less.

Option 1 – AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G ED VR (5x)

Pros

• Slightly smaller than the 28mm-300mm
• VR – Vibration Reduction (I will definitely use on hand held zoom, it can help by up to 4 stops apparently)
• AF-S Definitely useful in quiet situations
• AF Focus is quicker than the 300mm version

Cons

• Cost – £1,000 – That costs more, for less zoom
• Optics – Possible distortion on maximum and minimum zoom
• Pictures may not be as sharp as a fixed length lens

(Read Ken Rockwell’s review)

Option 2 – AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR

Pros

• Optics – Super sharp
• Ergonomics – I don’t need a wheelbarrow to carry it and it feels good.
• Wide (ish) 28mm and Telephoto 300mm all in one
• VR – Vibration Reduction (I will definitely use on hand held zoom, it can help by up to 4 stops apparently)
• AF-S Definitely useful in quiet situations
• Cost – Whilst still quite pricey at £800 it’s the Value you need to look at.

Cons

• Optics – Possible distortion on maximum and minimum zoom
• Pictures may not be as sharp as a fixed length lens
• Cost – It’s still £800

(Read Ken Rockwell’s review)

Decision time

Based on the above, I have chosen the 28mm-300mm. I cannot ignore that it has an extra 180mm worth of zoom. The tests over at Kens site, show the ever so slight differences and its cheaper? Very strange but it is?

Final Question

Will this lens produce the quality I need?

Absolutely! I have been using the DX Nikon 18-200mm VR II and a D300 camera with results that I have been very happy with. I cannot see any reason, why changing to the D800, with this lens could possibly be any worse than what I am using now.

If my answer was no, then clearly I would need to compromise somewhere else, perhaps I could carry two lenses and then opt for something like the Nikkor 24-70mm and Nikkor 80-400mm.

Other Lenses

If your answer to the Golden Question was Macro Photography please consider the AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED. This lens is phenomenal, it does cost a bit more than the others but when it comes down to clarity and zoom… It is just WOW.

If you have any opinions or prefferences, I would love to hear about them. Please feel free to share your views below.

For my reasons, please read my new article here. Recommended Lens for D800

I enjoy getting out into the city to take photos but dont like lugging extra equipment I may need, I prefer to take just the camera and tripod.

http://scottkelby.com/2012/cliff-mautner-on-the-nikon-d800/

1. Children are an absolute NIGHTMARE to take photos of. They don’t listen, they don’t follow instructions, they are unpredictable and they break our crying. Why would anyone want to do this?
2. I will always be the one to look and act like a fool in order to try suck a smile from these children.

If you enjoy standing on one leg making noises like a monkey whilst contorting your face in unimaginable and unnatural ways, then perhaps this all sounds like fun. For me I would rather take photos of each grain of sand in the desert with a macro lens. Non-stop…

My Wife is very into her children photography,  and as you have probably guessed I am the clown. Right now though, I am a very happy clown because some genius has started making something called a Shutter Hugger. Basically its a stuffed animal you wrap around the lens of your camera! head over to their site and have a quick look. I have just ordered mine, now lets just hope her saying look at the monkey no longer means Look at me!

Lucky for us, Dave Dugale over at http://www.learningdslrvideo.com has done an amazing review. He also compares it to the Canon 5D markIII which I know is not fair, bla bla … but it gives you a good idea of how this camera performs. Check it out here http://www.learningdslrvideo.com/5d-mark-iii-vs-nikon-d800/

For me though I am going to still hold off a little bit. I am gutted I did not pre-order it in the US and go fetch it, even more so now that they hiked the price. My only worry now is there is a lot of chatter about the Nikon D600. Will it be the replacement for the D300s or is it going to be a completely new range? I hope they do release a D600 with a slightly less mega pixel count than the D800. I’m just not sure I need that many pixels, along with the headache of the image sizes and processing.

As the moon is as close to the earth as it will be all year I went out to try get some photos of it. This is not normally what I would shoot, as every moon shot I have ever tried always comes out either, small, boring or blurry. This time was no exception.

As I got out at 00H30 I could immediately see a fine fog starting. It did create an eerie feel to the moon so I thought I would give it a shot anyway. As I looked at the results I could see in camera there was absolutely nothing special about these pics but I did notice how much the moon was moving.

I setup the camera and shot 20 frames with 20 seconds between them. below is a quick video of the results. This has inspired me though to try get some shots but perhaps this time I will base them 160 seconds apart and hopefully that will give me something to merge, and get a whole string of moon pics together. Now I just need to find an hour and a great setting. Perhaps somewhere over Tower Bridge in London?

http://www.exposureguide.com/focusing-basics.htm

Aeroplan mode will prove to be extremely popular with people!

I think that someone must have skipped on the Spell checking though as they have managed to spell Airplane mode 3 different ways.

If you think this is a fake or I have “photoshopped” it check it out on your Sensation XE.

HTC Sensation XE Ice Cream Sandwich Airplane Spelling

Click below to get it whilst you can! – Take me there now

So its basically cheaper to Get on a plane, fly to New York, walk into B&H, buy your camera and then fly home!!!