Reader Comment / Question: Lenses for Nikon D850?
Get Sigma DG HSM Art at B&H Photo.
Subscriber David W writes:
You continue to be a source of inspiration to me (photographically - I envy your energy and breadth of knowledge and skill). My nephew - a keen middle-aged triathlete -takes courage from your achievements and is spurred on to try harder.
Last winter I decided to simplify and downsize my camera kit.
I opted for a Hasselblad X1D system to replace my professional kit (H6D-100 and many lenses) and my travel kit (Nikon D810 plus 24-70 and 70-200). This has proved to be a mistake for me as the X1D in my hands does not do either of these jobs very well or at least not conveniently. As a tripod based system it lacks a cable release and some of the usefully utilitarian features of the H6D. As a travel camera it lacks any kind of IS and all of the lenses are quite slow so, in my 70 year old hands, I am not getting the sharpness I would like.
I have therefore decided to go back to the Nikon eg the Nikon D850 and use a Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG HSM Art for travel and casual stuff.
I just wondered if you could suggest your top five autofocus prime lenses for the Nikon D850. I seldom go over 200mm or under 20mm (or at least that is what metadata in LR tells me) so I was thinking of the Sigma ART series perhaps with a 70-200 zoom (Nikon, or the new Tamron?).
DIGLLOYD: I am finally recovering nicely from a post-concussion setback. Indeed, I just finished a 150 hour coding-bender so hopefully that won't overdraw my brain account. I have now deployed a major overhaul of the related/topics aspect of this site; see for example this page.
I offer one-on-one consulting for this sort of thing; when making a very large investment I can help a lot in deciding on the best choices, and avoiding overspending on things that might not work out.
Autofocus rules out Zeiss, so I'd be looking hard at Sigma Art lenses for autofocus on the D850:
- Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art (outstanding!)
- Sigma 12-24mm f/4 DG HSM Art (outstanding!). I love the 12/13mm range but beware of focus shift). Alternately, just the Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG HSM Art.
- Nikon 28mm f/1.4E ED
- Toss-up on the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG HSM Art and the Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR. I don’t know which is better since I have not used the Sigma 24-70. I suspect that the Sigma is better, and I prefer the Sigma build style.
- Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art
- Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art
- Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art (outstanding!)
- Sigma 105mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art (outstanding!) or Nikon AF-S 105mm f/1.4E ED (if you want smaller/lighter a bit less strong of a performer)
- Sigma 135/1.4 DG HSM Art (outstanding!)
- Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR (outstanding!)
- Nikon 200mm f/2 ED VR II (I once once owned the original version and it produced gorgeous images).
See my Nikon DSLR lenses wish list.