Want Lens Recommendation Please

[bump]

Greetings!

I'm going to be getting a new lens soon and am asking for some advice.  I'm very much an amateur but I buy pro lenses usually.  My current camera is a D200 I bought new when they came out.   With that D200 I also bought a Nikon 70-2-- 2.8 VR lens.  And I also bought a cheap Nikon 24-85 off a friend for $100.  

I buy pro lenses because I am kinda hard on my camera gear by taking it everywhere with me.  It goes boating, dirt biking, hiking, camping, surfing and so forth.  The camera and 70-200 are usually strapped to my chest when I'm riding my dirt bike in the deserts of So Cal.  The D200 has seen some real heat as I often ride in the summer.  Before that my Nikon film camera did the same.

I'd like the best portrait lens or the best landscape lens; can't afford both and leaning landscape.  I'll be getting a new Nikon DSLR in another two years or so as I think my oldest daughter will be ready to inherit my D200 and 24-85 by then so I'm buying the lens with the intention of using it long-term with a full frame sensor Nikon camera.  Probably spend in the $2K budget range.

Thanks Photographers!

[DarkPenguin]

You might want to check the bythom.com reviews.

[PeterAit]

You should look at the Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 ED. It's performance is truly excellent although at the wide end, perhaps 24-28mm, it is not as stellar as at other focal lengths (still quite good, though). At 70 mm you have a portrait lens, and the focal length range encompasses many landscape needs. It costs about $2k, I think. It is not compact or light, I'll tell you that!

[Lisa Nikodym]

Bjorn Rorslett has excellent thorough reviews of Nikon lenses:

http://www.naturfotograf.com/index2.html

Look for the "Lenses" link on the left hand side...

Lisa

[bump]

Great reference!  Explored that site for two hours there last night.

Thanks!

You might want to check the bythom.com reviews.

[lookit]

A 50mm f/1.8 would cost very, very little and provide good magnification and shallow depth of field for portraits with your crop-sensor D200.  A 50mm f/1.4 would give slightly shallower depth of field, and probably be more sturdily constructed.  For landscapes a prime lens can be nice because of its lack of geometric distortion--many though not all zooms have quite a bit, especially at the ends of the range.  The focal length would depend on your preference, but the aperture need not be large, which will keep it cheap.