From H3DII-39 to Nikon D3x; Best Lenses by Nikon

[revaaron]

also the 105 annoys me cause it's tends to AF all the way in to the closes focus until going back out to inf.
my 24mm 1.8 does the same thing and is a macro.
I'm guessing it's something to do with macros.. wonder if the 60mm does that too.

[Dustbak]

If you like the 105 and use f2.0 a lot also consider getting the 105DC. This is an incredible piece of glass. My most used when still using film. I had both the 105 &135 but they got stolen about 5 years ago and I never bought them again.

I also owned the 85/1.4 which is also a great lens but the AF might be a tad faster IMO. My feeling is we will see an updated version of this lens in the near future, total speculation on my side and probably also a bit of a wish

I know what you mean with only using 1 or 2 lenses while owning a whole bunch of them

[Lust4Life]

What a great group of suggestions!
Thanks to all that have contributed so far - I appreciate it.

I also find it of note that not one person has said I'm nuts to consider the change to Nikon!
That suggests to me a strong satisfied following of Nikon users.
Of note were several folks that actually preceded me in the transition and did not discourage the move.

That given, it's off to the For Sale tab to post my gear!    

Jack

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

What is your experience of the "downgrade"?

Best regards
Erik

I recently "downgraded" from a Sinar Hy6/75LV with Schneider and Zeiss lenses.

Now I use a D3x with  the 24+45+85 PC-E lenses.
All of these are excellent,however the 45 PC-E does show some CA,however easily fixable in post.
Plus I use the 14-24 Nikkor and the Zeiss ZF 35/2 +85/1.4 and and 100/2 Makro.
The ZF 35 also shows some CA.

Love to have the Nikkor 200/2 VR,but for my sort of work I probably wouldn't use it that much.

I believe Nikon is coming out soon(I hope) with a new 70-200 zoom.

That's something I would consider.

All in all,I'm very happy with the ease of use with the D3x and all of the above lenses.

Best,
Willem.

[Leonardo Barreto]

(sorry posted 2 times)

[Leonardo Barreto]

Mmm I have the feeling we are in the NIKON forum, but don't know why ... is the world being taken by the miniature format? probably people like the motordrive spray shooting way... I wish someone comes up with an 8x10 sensor... yada yada yada

[archivue]

Good to hear the 24 PCE is a worthy lens...


it looks like that there is a lot of sample variations !

me and others have test it for architecture and landscape, and find it to be a bad lens... i was in the process to take the PC-E and nikon route, i've change my mind after this test !

[Guy Mancuso]

What a great group of suggestions!
Thanks to all that have contributed so far - I appreciate it.

I also find it of note that not one person has said I'm nuts to consider the change to Nikon!
That suggests to me a strong satisfied following of Nikon users.
Of note were several folks that actually preceded me in the transition and did not discourage the move.

That given, it's off to the For Sale tab to post my gear!    

Jack

You did not ask that question but since you brought it up . Sorry bad move unless you want money back in your pocket and want something more flexible to work with. As good as the Nikon D3x files are there NOT MF files and at the end of the day you may not like the fact you took a step backward in the image quality area. Most Pros that are going back are doing this for business reasons more than anything else and/or more flexibility. I thought the same thing and still consider it i can sell everything buy all I need in Nikon which is quite a bit and still stuff 5 grand back in my pocket and have a very capable system with more flexibility but i will take it on the image quality side. Frankly it's a matter of choice and I hear the same words from everyone that did this, It's good enough is the theme in every post made. Which is perfectly fine and on many counts they are right for there intended market of work. Depends on what your expectations are and are you willing to deal with that decision. MF is a different ball game it is just that simple. It's a matter of choice for yourself but don't go by what Pro's are doing, business is off for almost 99 percent of us and we have to make business decisions to stay afloat and also getting a system that is more flexible is not a bad thing and still maintain maybe the best images in 35mm at the moment does not hurt that decision, they are still capable of out putting a great file for there clients. It really is just that simple

[revaaron]

If you like the 105 and use f2.0 a lot also consider getting the 105DC. This is an incredible piece of glass. My most used when still using film. I had both the 105 &135 but they got stolen about 5 years ago and I never bought them again.

I also owned the 85/1.4 which is also a great lens but the AF might be a tad faster IMO. My feeling is we will see an updated version of this lens in the near future, total speculation on my side and probably also a bit of a wish

I know what you mean with only using 1 or 2 lenses while owning a whole bunch of them

they have been "about to update" the 85mm forever. i've been waiting since 2002 for them to update it.

[Lust4Life]

I agree, no way will the Nikon D3x match the resolution of the H3D-II-39, but as I stated in my initial post, there are issues besides quality beyond what I really need that are impacting on my decision.  And I'm aware I'm dropping from 16 Bits to 14.

Frankly, I'm seeing more and more excellent work being done with the top of the line Nikon camera.  And if you look at what Art Wolfe has done with a Canon, that I feel has poor quality lenses compared to Nikon, well his work is a beautiful body of images. (I'd expect Art gets the best of their lenses offered to him by Canon.)

Jack

You did not ask that question but since you brought it up . Sorry bad move unless you want money back in your pocket and want something more flexible to work with. As good as the Nikon D3x files are there NOT MF files and at the end of the day you may not like the fact you took a step backward in the image quality area. Most Pros that are going back are doing this for business reasons more than anything else and/or more flexibility. I thought the same thing and still consider it i can sell everything buy all I need in Nikon which is quite a bit and still stuff 5 grand back in my pocket and have a very capable system with more flexibility but i will take it on the image quality side. Frankly it's a matter of choice and I hear the same words from everyone that did this, It's good enough is the theme in every post made. Which is perfectly fine and on many counts they are right for there intended market of work. Depends on what your expectations are and are you willing to deal with that decision. MF is a different ball game it is just that simple. It's a matter of choice for yourself but don't go by what Pro's are doing, business is off for almost 99 percent of us and we have to make business decisions to stay afloat and also getting a system that is more flexible is not a bad thing and still maintain maybe the best images in 35mm at the moment does not hurt that decision, they are still capable of out putting a great file for there clients. It really is just that simple

[RobertJ]

Hmm, if I was shooting Nikon, these are some must haves:

- Zeiss ZF 21mm f/2.8 and/or Nikon 14-24G.
- Zeiss ZF 35mm f/2.
- Zeiss ZF 50mm f/2 makro.
- ZF 100mm makro, or the Nikkor 105 f/2.5 AIS or f/1.8 AIS manual focus (not macro lenses) are really great lenses, especially the Nikkor f/2.5 version shot wide open - for the price, it's amazing.
- Nikon 85mm f/2.8 PC, the new one or the old one, whichever.  Perspective control and focuses down to 1:2.
- Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 AIS.  Classic lens.
- Nikkor 200mm f/4 AIS.  Compact, cheap, and high performance telephoto.
- Nikon AF ED-IF 200mm f/4 macro (I'd use this on Canon too, for macros).
- Nikon 200mm f/2 G VR (if you win the lottery?)