Review of nikon kit lenses. Nikon lenses: starter kit for beginners

Publication date: 11.09.2015

What lenses are suitable for my camera? This question is often heard from beginning photographers looking for a replacement for the “kit” lens included with the camera. Of course, the ideal purchase option would be to check the lens in person in the store. But many people buy equipment online and are afraid to buy a pig in a poke. What should you pay attention to in the lens description so as not to make a mistake with your choice? Let's find out.

Bayonet is the head of everything!

Bayonet is a special mount responsible for installing the lens on the camera. It is needed both for physically attaching the lens to the camera and for exchanging data between them, for which special contacts are provided in modern mounts.

Nikon D610 camera with Nikon F mount

Nikon F- SLR photo mount Nikon cameras. All lenses with this mount can at least be physically mounted on the camera. The name of the mount for which the lens is made is always indicated in its characteristics. The Nikon F mount was developed by Nikon back in the mid-20th century. Thus, on your modern camera with this mount you can install even very old Nikon lenses released decades ago. This will be especially interesting to lovers of antique optics.

So, to yours DSLR camera Nikon will accept any lens that has a Nikon F mount. In principle, the article could have ended here, if not for one “but”. By itself, the Nikon F mount will only guarantee the physical compatibility of the camera and lens. But how do you know whether the camera’s automation and autofocus will work?.. Moreover, today some lenses are designed only for cropped cameras. How to distinguish them from the rest, and are they suitable for full-frame cameras? To do this, you need to learn to read the name of the lens. And especially pay attention to some abbreviations. There's a reason the lens names are so long - they contain a lot of useful information!

• How do you know if a lens is designed for crop only or if you have full-frame optics? Let us recall that SLR cameras are divided according to the size of the light-sensitive sensors installed in them: full-frame (having sensors the size of a regular photographic film frame) and cropped, that is, cropped (they have a slightly smaller sensor installed). Some lenses are designed so that they can only project an image onto a smaller, cropped sensor. Thus, manufacturers make their design easier and cheaper.

In the case of Nikon lenses, everything is simple. Cropped lenses have an abbreviation in their name DX. Full-frame lenses do not have it. For example, the Nikon AF-S 35mm f/1.8G DX Nikkor lens is designed only for crop, while the Nikon AF-S 35mm f/1.8G ED Nikkor is designed for full-frame cameras.

• Is it possible to install a cropped lens on a full frame camera? Yes. With Nikon devices this is quite possible! But you need to remember that optics designed for crop on full-frame cameras will produce strong vignetting - darkening at the edges of the frame. By the way, the darkening strength will depend on the specific lens model. At the same time, full-frame Nikon cameras recognize when a DX lens is installed on them and simply crop the frame to fit the size of the cropped matrix. This is how a full-frame camera turns into a cropped one. This function, by the way, can be disabled in the camera menu and you can get full-frame images with strong darkening at the edges. In principle, this darkening can even be used as a kind of creative technique!

Of course, if you have a full-frame camera, it’s hardly worth buying a specially cropped lens for it. However, if you switched from “crop” to full frame and you still have a cropped lens, keep in mind that you can continue to use it with the new device.

Is it possible to install a full-frame lens on a cropped camera? Undoubtedly! At the same time, all its functions will be preserved. The only thing worth considering is the crop factor. On cropped devices, all lenses “zoom in” closer. This is worth remembering when choosing optics, so that it doesn’t turn out that you are shooting in a cramped room, and the lens does not allow you to take a general shot.

Will auto focus work? All modern Nikon lenses with the abbreviations AF and AF-S in their names are equipped with autofocus capabilities. But there are subtleties here.

Lenses marked AF use a motor located inside the camera to achieve focus: the motor rotates and moves the lens lenses to focus. This type of autofocus drive is popularly called “screwdriver” due to the similarity of the part that protrudes from the mount and is responsible for moving the lenses in the lens, with the end of a screwdriver. There is no “screwdriver” autofocus drive in the most affordable and compact cameras 3xxx and 5xxx series (for example, Nikon D3200, Nikon D3300, Nikon D5300, Nikon D5500). So if you put a lens designed for “screwdriver” autofocus on such a camera, autofocus simply will not work - you will have to aim it manually. In this case, the focus confirmation function will work. It works as follows: the photographer selects the desired autofocus point, and then manually turns the focus ring on the lens. The rangefinder built into the camera (it is present in all modern Nikon cameras) will tell you in which direction to turn the lens focusing ring, highlighting the corresponding indicators in the camera viewfinder (they are located in the lower left corner). They also work with automatic focusing, but with manual focusing they become most useful.

Symbols for the focusing process in the viewfinder:

	Focused
	The lens is focused closer than necessary
	The lens is focused further than necessary
(flashing)	Automation cannot determine focusing accuracy. This happens when there is insufficient lighting or when trying to aim at a very uniform, low-contrast object (for example, a white ceiling). In this case, try to combine the focus point in the viewfinder with some contrasting object in your future frame.

However, “screwdriver” lenses are gradually becoming a thing of the past, long ago giving way to a more modern series of lenses with ultrasonic motors located directly inside the lens. Such lenses are designated by the abbreviation AF-S, and they work faster and much quieter than their “screwdriver” counterparts.

With AF-S lenses, autofocus will work on all modern Nikon cameras.

, D800E , D810 , D810a , D850 , , D3x , , D4s , , + (and its modifications) and Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n (and its modifications) + , S3 Pro UVIR , IS Pro .

List of all Nikon digital mirrorless cameras with Nikon Z mount

List of all Nikon Nikkor Z lenses for mirrorless cameras with Nikon Z mount

• Nikon Nikkor Z 58mm 1: 0.95 S Noct (not officially presented)

Exact list of system mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses Nikon 1:

Nikon has released a range of mirrorless cameras with interchangeable optics and Nikon 1 mount and 1 Nikkor lenses (also called Nikon CX).

• , Nikon 1 J2 , Nikon 1 J3 , Nikon 1 J4 , Nikon 1 J5 .
• Nikon 1 S1, Nikon 1 S2
• Nikon 1 V1, Nikon 1 V2, Nikon 1 V3

It is best to use specially designed Nikon CX lenses (same as 1 Nikkor) on these cameras.

Exact list of all 1 Nikkor lenses:

UPD: in the summer of 2018, the Nikon 1 system ceased its development.

Nikon FX and Nikon DX digital cameras and lenses, their differences

Depending on the size of the sensor, Nikon digital SLR and mirrorless cameras are divided into two types: FX and DX. Lenses for these cameras are also marked in the same way.

FX lenses are designed for full-frame FX cameras (also called full-frame, or full-size, or Full-Frame).

DX lenses are designed for cropped DX cameras (also called crop cameras, or cameras with APS-C sensor size).

Nikon FX cameras have a matrix the size of a classic 35 mm film, DX cameras have a smaller matrix, the so-called ‘cropped’ one, with a frame diagonal 1.5 times smaller than in FX.

The full-format camera is marked 'FX' on its body. Shown here with a full-frame lens

Before the advent of Nikon DX cameras, there were only full-frame cameras and Nikon FX lenses, which don't actually have an FX designation, since at that time there was no need to separate the full frame and the cropped one. Examples of lenses from full-frame cameras:

As you can see, the 'FX' prefix is ​​not indicated in the lens name. If there is no DX or CX designation on the lens, then it is a full-frame lens for an FX camera.

After the advent of Nikon DX digital SLR cameras, the manufacturer began producing DX lenses to save on glass, metal and plastic. And all lenses for cropped cameras already had the DX designation. Examples of DX lenses:

As you can see, all lenses have the letters DX in their names.

Important about DX and FX

Exact list of all Nikon DX cameras:

All Nikon DX series cameras have the same actual physical size of their sensor (matrix). Size is approximately 23.6 mm X 15.8 mm. Physical size is not directly related to the number of MegaPixels.

Exact list of all Nikon FX cameras

Very important, so important that everyone should know this: All Nikon FX series cameras have the same actual physical size of their sensor (matrix). The size is approximately 36 mm X 24 mm. Physical size is not directly related to the number of MegaPixels.

• All Nikon DX lenses can and should preferably be used on cameras with crop sensors from the Nikon DX series ( exact list indicated above).
• All Nikon DX lenses can be used on full-frame cameras such as Nikon D3, D3x, D4s, D800E, D810, D810a, D850, but the camera will either use only part of its sensor to take a photograph, or the resulting image will be incorrigible and other distortions at the edges and corners of the frame. This is due to the fact that DX lenses cannot project images onto the large sensor of FX cameras. Using DX lenses on FX cameras is not recommended. Full frame cameras can automatically recognize a DX lens and configure itself to work with it. Personally, I don’t see the point in buying an expensive full-frame DSLR camera and using more ‘simple’ DX lenses on it.
• For all Nikon FX cameras, it is recommended to use only Nikon FX lenses.
• All full-frame lenses (lenses from FX cameras) can be used on DX cameras without any problems, you just need to take into account visual effect from .

As an example, a shot taken with a full frame camera FX(Full Frame) and a cropped lens. The camera is set to full frame mode ‘image area FX‘. It can be seen that the cropped lens produces black corners (vignette) and the photo is not suitable for use.

If you take the same photo, but in camera mode, the ‘image area DX‘, then the camera will automatically use only the central area of ​​its sensor and as a result the picture will be like from any other Nikon DX camera. Below is the same photo FX(Full Frame) in ' mode DX image area‘.

Indeed, full-frame Nikon FX cameras can use cropped lenses in the 'DX' crop mode. In this mode, only the central part of the camera sensor will be used, equal in size to the sensor used in Nikon DX cameras, which will avoid the use of a cropped lens on full-format cameras. To do this, in the camera menu, just enable the ‘Image area’->’Select. image area’ and select the value ‘DX 24x16 format’ there.

If we summarize the above points, it suggests small conclusion- regular FX lenses can be used on all types of cameras: FX and DX. And lenses from cropped DX cameras are not recommended for use on full-frame FX cameras.

Exact list of all Nikon DX lenses

Prime lenses:

1. Nikon DX A.F. Fisheye Nikkor 10.5mm 1:2.8GED with a gold ring ()
2. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 35mm 1:1.8G SWM Aspherical ()
3. Nikon DX AF-S Micro Nikkor 40mm 1:2.8G SWM ()
4. Nikon DX AF-S Micro Nikkor 85mm 1:3.5G ED VR SWM IF Micro1:1 ()

Wide-angle zoom lenses

1. Nikon DX AF-P Nikkor 10-20mm 1:4.5-5.6G VR ()
   
2. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 10-24mm
3. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm 1:4 G ED SWM IF Aspherical with a gold ring ()

Versatile zoom lenses

1. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 16-80mm 1:2.8-4 E N ED VR Nano Crystal Coat SWM IF Asphericalwith a gold ring ()
   
2. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 16-85mm
3. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 17-55mm 1:2.8 G ED SWM IF Aspherical with a gold ring ()
4. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G ED SWM Aspherical [black/silver] ()
5. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6GII ED SWM Aspherical [black/silver] ()
6. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G SWM VR Aspherical ()
7. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6GII VR II ()
   
8. Nikon DX AF-P Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G ()
9. Nikon DX AF-P Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G VR ()
   
10. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G ED SWM IF Aspherical ()
11. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm
12. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 18-135mm 1:3.5-5.6G ED SWM IF Aspherical ()
13. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 18-140mm 1:3.5-5.6G ED SWM VR IF Aspherical [Thailand/China] ()
14. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm 1:3.5-5.6G ED SWM VR IF Aspherical [Japan/China] ()
15. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm 1:3.5-5.6GII ED SWM VR IF Aspherical ()
16. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 18-300mm 1:3.5-5.6G ED SWM VR IF Aspherical ()
17. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 18-300mm 1:3.5-6.3 G ED SWM VR IF Aspherical ()

Telephoto lenses

1. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 55-200mm 1:4-5.6G ED SWM [black/silver, Japan/China] ()
2. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 55-200mm 1:4-5.6G ED VR IF SWM ()
3. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 55-200mm 1:4-5.6GII ED VR II ()
   
4. Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 55-300mm 1:4.5-5.6G ED VR SWM HRI ()
5. Nikon DX AF-P Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4.5-6.3 GED()
6. Nikon DX AF-P Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4.5-6.3 GED VR ()
   

Professional Nikon DX lenses

It’s not out of malice that I called Nikon DX lenses more ‘simple’. It just so happens that all Nikon professional optics are full-frame lenses. The only ones professional lenses for Nikon DX cameras we can consider:

These lenses have gold ring near the front lens- a sign of lenses upper class. These lenses are on the Nikon NPS (Nikon Professional Services) list.

Attention: Nikon Nikkor DX lenses indicate not the equivalent (EGF), but the physical real value of the lens. - this is a physical parameter of the lens itself, which does not change when installed on different cameras. For both FX and DX lenses, to find out the EGF when used on cropped DX cameras, you need to multiply by Kf = 1.5X. For example, the EGF of a lens on a cropped camera will be 27-82.5mm (18*1.5 and 55*1.5). The relationship between focal length and viewing angle can be seen.

Healthy: If you select “Off” in the “AF point illumination” setting in the menu of full-format cameras, then after turning on one of the cropping modes (in fact, crop), the unused area of ​​the image visible in will be darkened, which will greatly facilitate sighting using crop. mode. Below is how unused areas are darkened when certain crop modes are enabled.

About the automatic focusing feature

The Nikon Nikkor lens is responsible for the ability to automatically focus the lens designations AF, AF-I, AF-S and AF-P.

What is the difference between AF-S/AF-P/AF-I and AF lenses? In an AF lens, focusing occurs due to the camera motor; in such cases they say that the camera has a 'screwdriver' or a focusing motor. On the contrary, in AF-S/AF-I/AF-P lenses, focusing is achieved by a motor directly built into the lens itself.

Lenses marked 'AF'

The designation 'AF-S' on the main name of the lens, which is usually written in gold letters. The photo shows

Almost always on AF-S lenses you can also find the prefix 'SWM', which means Silent Wave Motor (quiet wave / ultrasonic motor).

'SWM' mark on the lens information plate

Important: SWM motors come in two main types, parts.

If you use optics from other manufacturers, then you need to know for sure whether the lens has a built-in motor or not; each manufacturer has its own designations and does not overlap with the designations of Nikon Nikkor lenses.

Important: Due to certain features associated with cameras, the following 'AF-S D' type lenses will not work normally on D3500 cameras (this only applies to these cameras):

1. Nikon ED AF-S Nikkor 300mm 1:2.8 D
2. Nikon ED AF-S Nikkor 400mm 1:2.8 D
3. Nikon ED AF-S Nikkor 500mm 1:4 D
4. Nikon ED AF-S Nikkor 600mm 1:4 D
5. as well as all lenses,

Lenses designated 'AF-P'

In January 2016, Nikon introduced Nikon Nikkor lenses in the 'AF-P' line. Designation 'AF-P' (A uto F ocus P ulse motor) indicates the presence of a fast and stepper focusing motor. 'AF-P' work similarly to 'AF-S', only quieter, faster and more accurate.

Designation 'AF-P' on the Nikon DX AF-P Nikkor 18-55mm 1: 3.5-5.6G lens

Please note that not all Nikon cameras will be able to work correctly with 'AF-P' lenses; for some cameras you will have to update the firmware to full compatibility with 'AF-P'.

Full list of Nikon 'AF-P' lenses:

Autofocus with AF-P lenses will only work with cameras (exact list):

Automatic and manual focusing will not work with cameras (exact list):

Lenses designated 'AF-I'

The lenses are on the side Nikon AF-I. The lenses themselves are like ‘AF-I’ (Auto Focus Internal Motor)- very rare lenses, and also very expensive. Some users mistakenly call them 'AF-1' ('AF-one').

Some of these lenses use a built-in focusing motor for focusing, built on the basis of conventional electric micro-motors, which are quite noisy during focusing. There is no exact data on what type of motor is used in Nikon AF-I lenses.

Attention: There is no exact information whether amateur level cameras will work with such lenses. But, most likely, no mortal will ever install such a lens on a simple amateur camera.

Full list of Nikon AF-I lenses:

1. Nikon ED AF-I Nikkor 300mm 1:2.8D, 1992-1996
2. Nikon ED AF-I Nikkor 400mm 1:2.8D, 1994-1998
3. Nikon ED AF-I Nikkor 500mm 1:4D, 1994-1997
4. Nikon ED AF-I Nikkor 600mm 1:4D, 1992-1996

When choosing a lens, the most important parameters are its type (FX, DX) and focusing method. If you now know what kind of FX or DX camera you have, with or without a built-in focusing motor, then by choosing a lens based on just these two parameters you will get all the necessary functions for shooting.

Typically, lenses without a built-in focusing motor are cheaper than their motorized counterparts. If you have a camera with a motor, then in a certain sense you can save on lenses. As an example, you can look at this, which is very cheap:

About aperture control options

You can find another interesting thing on Nikon lenses designation - letter 'G'- a lens with such a letter can only control the aperture directly from the camera, and the lens does not have an aperture control ring.

G ('Gelded') lenses are actually impossible to use with some older film cameras, as there will be a permanent lock. Also, lenses with an aperture control ring (Non-G) can be used more flexibly for various kinds photos of surveys, for example, such as .

Myths: It is often said that there are 'D' and 'G' lenses, D - with an aperture control ring, and G - without an aperture control ring. In fact it's a delusion- the letter 'D' (or 'AF-D') indicates the possibility of transmitting the focusing distance to the subject to the camera - this makes it easier to calculate the flash power for the correct one. The misconception is due to the fact that almost all ‘D’ lenses have an aperture control ring, because previously they did not distinguish between lenses with and without a ring.

The difference between a lens G and without G (using the example of lenses and )

A protrusion for reading the extreme position of the ring on a lens, which is a NON-G type lens, that is, one that has an aperture control ring.

Very important: In order to use a 'NON-G' type lens (with a ring) in exactly the same way as a G-type lens (control the aperture from the camera), you need to set the aperture control ring to the maximum F number value, usually F16, F22, F32 and switch a special lock on the lens that will fix the aperture control ring in a stationary position. Different lenses either snap the ring into the extreme position themselves, or require manual locking using a special switch. If this is not done, a number of cameras will display the error ‘fEE’ (ring not installed) on the display.

Some cameras allow you to control the aperture of autofocus NON-G lenses in metering modes A (priority) and M (manual) using the aperture ring. To do this, you need to find the item ‘Setting control dials’ -> ‘Setting aperture’ in the camera menu and set the value to ‘Aperture ring’. In S modes (priority

Nikon photographic equipment is the second most popular in our country. Therefore, debates about which lens to choose can be very, very heated - after all, there are so many people, so many opinions. And when starting to dig into some of your personal impressions, it can be difficult for a beginner - if you start reading someone’s lengthy discussions, flavored with specific terms, you risk burying yourself in your head and only getting more confused. This text was written specifically so that any person can quickly decide what will be best for him.

Why should you believe this choice?

I bought my first lens for Nikon D80 more than 7 years ago. Since then, I've used a lot of different lenses, so yes, I have an idea of ​​what lenses a beginner photographer who chooses Nikon needs. But you are absolutely not obliged to take the word of a stranger. Therefore, this article summarizes not only my experience, but also compilations from discussions of lenses on forums, excerpts from articles on choosing optics written by reputable photographers, and so on and so forth. Believe me, I went through a lot of articles before writing this short and universal text. If I had come across a similar article those same 7 years ago, I would have saved a lot of money and nerves.

FixNikon 35mm F/1.8G AF-S DX Nikkor

For any beginning photographer one of the best ways To develop your skills is to work with lenses whose focal lengths mimic human vision as closely as possible. In other words, photographs come out the way our eyes perceive the world. Neither closer nor further.

Therefore, the first and main lens that I would advise you to pay attention to would be the Nikon 35mm F/1.8G AF-S DX for 13-15 thousand rubles. It has a fairly wide aperture, which allows a lot of light to pass through. This gives you faster shutter speeds, which in turn allows you to take sharp, noise-free photos indoors or at night without the need for a tripod. In addition, this allows you to make maximum use of depth of field and blur the foreground or background (so-called bokeh). As a result, these photos look more professional.

Great fix for a beginner

In terms of a cropped matrix (with a 99% probability this is what your camera has, because if you had a full-size sensor, you would hardly be reading this text), its focal length is 50mm, which is as close as possible to how the human eye sees.

Here's what Phoblographer's Andy Hendrickson has to say about this lens:

could you weld this lens to mine?NikonD7000 and I wouldn't complain. This is one of the cheapest lensesNikon and one of my favorites. It has a surprisingly versatile focal length and is fast enough for handheld shooting in low light.

An interesting point - if you are more interested in the 50 mm distance (in terms of crop – 75 mm, which is closer to portrait use) and your camera has an autofocus motor, this is for you best choice there will be a Nikon 50mm f/1.4G without the AF-S index costing $340. Yes, Nikon 50mm f/1.8G AF-S has a silent, high-speed motor and is a little more modern. However, for less than $100 you get a luxurious F1.4 lens that will delight you for a long time. But this, I repeat, is if you have your own motor in your camera and you want to photograph people more. Moreover, it is now difficult to buy, except in import stores.

Zoom lens

The next lens I would recommend taking a closer look at is Nikon 70-300mm F/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S VR Nikkor, costing about 45 thousand rubles. Thanks to this lens you can take great sports photos, shots wildlife and use it during tourist trips.

Nikon AF 70-300mm - stands out not only for its price, but also for its image

It's worth noting that quality zoom lenses are usually very expensive. But Nikon AF 70-300mm F /4.5-5.6G stands out not only for its price, but also for its image quality. Look at the great bird photos photographer Tom Hogan got with the D90 and this lens. In his review, he praises the autofocus, stabilization system and notes that in the 70-200mm range there is practically nothing to complain about in this lens.

Another photographer, Ken Rockwell, writes that "...this is the best compromise in size, weight, price and image quality of all Nikon optics."

Macro Lens

If you like to photograph flowers, insects or other objects at very close distances, you cannot do without a macro lens. In this section, I would advise you to pay attention to two lenses. The first is NIKKOR 85mm F/3.5G AF-S DX ED VR Micro. It costs about 35 thousand and allows you to shoot at that comfortable distance when you yourself are close enough to the subject of shooting, but have not yet poked the lens directly into the nose of the insect that interests you.

NIKKOR 85mm F/3.5G AF-S DX ED VR Micro is a great option for macro photography

In addition, this lens is very light, it has fast and quiet autofocus, and it has a good stabilization system. The latter is very important, because allows you to shoot handheld and not use a tripod.

To others good option is Tamron AF 90mm F/2.8 Di SP. This is a good, light and fast lens that can be used (albeit with some stretch) as a nice portrait. Interestingly, it is not much cheaper than the recommended Nikkor 85mm F/3.5G, so the purchase decision is best made based on the availability of lenses in the store. All other things being equal, Nikkor seems to me to be better made, while Tamron has a larger aperture on its side.

If you want to compare both lenses in action, please read the article to the end; in conclusion, I will tell you how to see the lens you are interested in in action, and paired with your camera

Wide angle lens

Interestingly, many beginners first look to buy a zoom lens. While most plots within the city or in nature require either wide angle(so that more interesting things can be included in the frame) or fixation (i.e., capture what the human eye sees). To understand what you really need, I advise you to go to the simulator developed by Nikon and see what all these optical zoom numbers mean.

If you are interested in a wide-angle lens for Nikon, then I would advise you to pay attention to. It costs about 32 thousand rubles, which is almost half the price of a similar lens from Nikkon.

If you're confused about a lens being made by a third party, we can turn to Roger Cicala, founder of LensRentals.com, who handles more lenses every day than I have in my entire life, for advice. So Roger writes that of the third-party manufacturers - and there are only three notable ones: Tamron, Tokina and Sigma - he would not recommend dealing with only one, Tokina. Roger says they have a high defect rate. While the other two manufacturers keep the quality quite at the level. Yes, they may be made from slightly cheaper materials, there is more plastic in them, but they can be very good from an optical point of view.

Returning to the Sigma AF 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM, we can say that it is very, very good. As a rule, the main problem with all wide-angle lenses is distortion at the edges of images, which then needs to be corrected in graphic editor. So, Sigma has the least distortion of most similar lenses, for which it is rightly loved by many photographers. In addition, the lens boasts excellent aperture and good quality the resulting images.

Universal lens for Nikon

A relatively new lens costs 50 thousand rubles. This is the most expensive lens presented in this review, but it is a truly excellent universal lens that can replace some of your usual lenses and allows you to no longer have to worry about changing optics. Seriously, after connecting such a lens, you are unlikely to need to hang anything else. Thanks to its aperture (F/1.8), you can shoot in low light conditions, essentially replacing the Nikon 35mm F/1.8G prime, which I wrote about at the very beginning.

Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM is a great all-around lens

Check out what they have to say about it: FStoppers.com “...without a doubt, this is an excellent lens for portrait photographers and wedding photographers Worldwide"; Chris Gampat from Phoblographer called it a "super-sharp wide-angle" and added that

>...this is absolutely the best concert photography lens anyone can get their hands on.

At the same time, it would be wrong to say that the lens has no shortcomings. The same DPReview, impressed by the sharpness of the lens, noted problems with autofocus in dark scenes and scenes with low contrast. However, as other publications write, this could have been a problem with the original firmware and today's versions of this lens are no longer susceptible to this problem. Interestingly, you can purchase a proprietary docking station for this lens, which connects to your computer via USB and allows you to reflash the lens or fine-tune its properties.

Summing up

If you just bought a Nikon camera and want to expand the boundaries of your creativity, then the lenses listed will be the best investment for you. I would suggest starting with a fix and then moving away wide angle lens. I promise you will be pleased with the results. If, after reading the text, you want to see how the lens you are interested in can shoot, I suggest using another tool - the website Pixel-peeper.com. Using this resource, you can select a specific model of camera and lens, and then look at what kind of pictures photographers take using the selected pair. For example, this is what a selection of photos looks like for the Nikon D3200 and Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM, and this is what it looks like for the Nikon D5200 and Nikon 35mm F/1.8G AF-S DX. As you can see, the results are simply amazing. Additionally, in the menu at the top we can change shooting parameters to see how the lens works in different modes, change the camera and lens model to whatever you like. The site searches for suitable photos on the largest repository Flickr and displays the corresponding images. Luck with searching.

A superficial overview of Nikon's line of lenses

Most likely, if you don't shoot with a Canon DSLR, you use a Nikon camera. While many other companies make excellent cameras, these two companies own the bulk of the market, and their battle is epic - several decades of battle for leadership. Nikon is older, the company's history dates back to 1917 as Nippon Kogaku Kogyo Kabushikigara.

Today digital mirror lenses Nikons are divided into cropped DX (APS-C) and full-frame FX (35mm), but both lens formats use the same Nikon F mount. Since this type of mount has remained virtually unchanged since 1959, modern Nikon DSLRs can (with some exceptions) use the lenses over the past more than 55 years. This is one of the features that allowed the company to gain its fans.

Cropped (DX) Nikon lenses

Designed for beginning photographers using the company's smaller DSLRs, such as the D3000-3200, D5000-5600, D7000-7200, DX lenses are smaller, lighter and generally more affordable than their FX counterparts. It's impressive that Nikon offers about 2 times as many crop lenses as Canon. In addition to the usual kit lenses, you can buy the entire line, from fisheye, macro lenses, to telephoto lenses.

Please note that cropped and full-frame Nikons have the same mount, with very different matrix sizes.

Thanks to the fact that the mount has not changed for many years, you can use both modern and old full-frame lenses with your crop camera. Depending on what model you have, you can use lenses up to 1977 without any problems. By the way, most cropped lenses can be used on full-frame Nikon cameras, thanks to the crop mode.

On older Nikon models (d7000 and older, d600 and older) there is a lever for controlling the aperture position. If you are using older Nikon lenses without electronics, the lever transmits the aperture value to the camera. You only need to specify the maximum value in the camera settings, and then the camera will handle it itself. In addition, on older Nikon lenses, the aperture jumper and autofocus confirmation work (a light comes on in the corner of the viewfinder), allowing you to work as comfortably as possible. For example, Helios-81N on my Nikon D600 is fully functional, except for the lack of autofocus.

Unfortunately, younger Nikon models (3000, 5000 series, D60, D40) do not have a focus motor built into the camera, so autofocus is only possible for them in conjunction with AF-S G series lenses (or similar lenses from other manufacturers). Earlier D lenses will not focus automatically, so you will have to look for modern lenses for them.

Nikon Full Frame (FX) Lenses

Most Nikon F mount lenses released for Nikon cameras are full frame and are labeled FX (which means full frame). These lenses are designed to cover the full frame FX sensors of Nikon cameras such as the D600, D700 and D800 and their successors. This means that they also cover APS-C (crop) DX sensors.

It turns out that these lenses are larger and heavier than their DX format counterparts and tend to be more expensive. Additionally, while there are many versatile zoom lenses and low-cost solutions available, many lenses are aimed at professional photographers and advanced hobbyists. These lenses include super-fast, super-telephoto and high-quality macro lenses.

There are currently about 70 Nikon FX format lenses on the market, plus many third-party models such as Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Samyang. In addition, you can use several generations of Nikon manual lenses with Nikon F mount (specifically Ai and Ai-S) without adapters and start shooting right away.

Terms you need to know

Although Nikon does not patent names and acronyms as aggressively as some other companies, Nikon continues to use some abbreviations and designations on its lenses. The company also uses several terms that are not written on the lenses, but are important for understanding the subject.

Nikkor: name of Nikon's lens division.

DX: DX format lenses are designed for Nikon DSLRs entry level with cropped matrices (APS-C) - D40, D60, D3000, D5000, D7000 and their followers. They can be used on full-frame (FX) cameras in crop mode.

FX: FX lenses are designed to cover the full frame sensor on D600, D700, D800, D3, D4, D5 (and Df) series cameras. Since they have the exact same mount as DX lenses, they can be mounted on DX cameras, with a few exceptions.

G And D types of lenses: The difference is simple: Nikon D lenses have an aperture adjustment ring, while G lenses do not. G lenses have a focusing motor, while D lenses do not. Some newer DX DSLRs (including the D3000) do not support autofocus with D series lenses due to the lack of a motor inside the camera.

VR: Nikon's abbreviation, which is used to refer to optical image stabilization, comes from the English "Vibrant Reduction." More a new version stabilizer, called VR II, works on some new lenses.

AF: Lenses marked with an AF mark use an internal focusing motor SLR camera to focus. These lenses will not focus on lower-end Nikon DSLRs.

AF-S: Lenses marked AF-S have a focusing motor built into the lens. Autofocus of AF-S lenses works on all digital SLRs Nikon.

SWM: Short for "Silent Wave Motor," this term refers to the ultrasonic motor built into AF-S lenses.

N: Denotes Nikon's proprietary nanocrystalline coating, designed to reduce ghosting, ghosting and internal reflections.

ED: The lens contains ultra-low dispersion lenses that reduce the amount of chromatic aberration in photographs.

FL: Some Nikon lenses—especially super telephoto lenses—use fluorite glass lenses, which reduce chromatic aberration and weigh much less than regular glass.

Micro: This is just a peculiar distortion of the word “Macro” performed by Nikon. If the lens description says Micro-Nikkor, then it is a macro lens.

For each lens I indicate estimated price, lens weight and filter thread diameter. Convenience and quality of the lens, i.e. Its most important properties cannot, unfortunately, be expressed in one or two numbers, but I will insert detailed comments where necessary. In addition, the article “Criteria for selecting lenses” is entirely devoted to the parameters of photographic lenses. You can read about what the letters in the names of lenses mean in the article “Marking Nikon lenses”.

It is advisable to use only full-frame lenses on full-frame Nikon FX cameras. Despite Nikon's stated mutual compatibility of FX and DX systems, using DX lenses on an FX camera makes no sense, since the size of the image projected by a DX lens is not sufficient to cover a full-size sensor, and the edges of the frame will inevitably be cropped.

Best Lenses for Nikon FX

There's no point in including a mid-range zoom like the 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G VR - you'll use it too rarely as it will largely duplicate the functions of other lenses. In addition, the 50mm f/1.8G is lighter than any zoom and has a larger aperture.

Instead of three lenses, you can take just one 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G VR, but it will lose to the combination described above both in aperture ratio, image quality, and overall range focal lengths, winning only in convenience.

If you are going to regularly go on hiking trips, then it makes sense to take a lighter one as a standard lens. 50mm f/1.8D, and as a wide-angle – 20mm f/2.8D or 24mm f/2.8D. But, frankly speaking, full-frame cameras are too large for us to seriously talk about “light” FX kits. The cropped Nikon D5500, complete with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR DX II and 55-200mm f/4-5.6G VR DX II, is still better suited for the role of a travel system.

Professional kit

Traditionally, professional photographers who shoot frequently and extensively use two lenses—a telezoom and a wide-angle zoom—usually on two separate cameras. This allows them to work very quickly. If the photographer plans to shoot in low light, he can take with him a normal fast prime lens like 50mm f/1.4G, but the basis of the system is always two zooms.