AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm 1:4G ED
This wide angle zoom was needed when I switched from the DX to FX camera. I used my Tokina's 11-16mm for my D7000, and it was great for that camera. When I decided to buy a wide angle zoom for my new D800E, it was a easy choice for me. For my purpose, I didn't need a fast lens for this range. I mostly use my wide angle lens for landscapes, so f/4 was enough. A lot of people like 14-24mm f/2.8 lens, but I felt this 16-35mm was as sharp and I don't know how many of my landscape pictures had the aperture larger than f/4. Most of them are f/9 to f/12.
It's much lighter and smaller than the 14-24mm. I like climbing rocks and stuff to find the best view for landscape pics that others can't easily get. I thought hiking with the 14-24 mm would be painful. Also, I use a lot of 35mm end on this lens. Even though it overlaps with my 24-70mm, the need for changing lenses is much less with this one because it goes up to 35mm. Wide angle lenses traditionally only worked as a specialized lens but with this 35mm capability, I can use it as a walk around lens as well.
Another deciding factor was the fact that this lens takes a 77mm filter! I use a lot of filters in my landscape pics and most of my filters are 77mm. I'm not patient enough to learn Photoshop at my age, so I need a lot of polarizing, graduated ND filters and so on.
The VR (vibration reduction) feature is nice. I can take pics indoor or at night handheld no problem. But then, I didn't have much problem with my Tokina, which does not have VR, either. Anyways, only problem with this slower lens is that I can't take my hyperactive baby's picture indoor when he is moving fast. The VR doesn't do anything for that. But again, I bought this lens mainly for landscapes, and I normally use my 50mm prime lens for my baby pics.
It feels nice on my D800E. It feels more plastic than the 24-70mm professional lens, however.
This is the lens that I used the most during my Arizona trip.
It's much lighter and smaller than the 14-24mm. I like climbing rocks and stuff to find the best view for landscape pics that others can't easily get. I thought hiking with the 14-24 mm would be painful. Also, I use a lot of 35mm end on this lens. Even though it overlaps with my 24-70mm, the need for changing lenses is much less with this one because it goes up to 35mm. Wide angle lenses traditionally only worked as a specialized lens but with this 35mm capability, I can use it as a walk around lens as well.
Another deciding factor was the fact that this lens takes a 77mm filter! I use a lot of filters in my landscape pics and most of my filters are 77mm. I'm not patient enough to learn Photoshop at my age, so I need a lot of polarizing, graduated ND filters and so on.
The VR (vibration reduction) feature is nice. I can take pics indoor or at night handheld no problem. But then, I didn't have much problem with my Tokina, which does not have VR, either. Anyways, only problem with this slower lens is that I can't take my hyperactive baby's picture indoor when he is moving fast. The VR doesn't do anything for that. But again, I bought this lens mainly for landscapes, and I normally use my 50mm prime lens for my baby pics.
It feels nice on my D800E. It feels more plastic than the 24-70mm professional lens, however.
This is the lens that I used the most during my Arizona trip.