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The DX Dream Team
© 2009 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

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July 2009     More Nikon Reviews       Nikon FX Dream Team

Introduction         top

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Nikon has been making FX lenses since the 1950s. There are a zillion of them, all of which work with varying levels of compatibility on DX cameras.

Nikon has only been making DX lenses for DX digital cameras since 2003.

We're in luck, since some of these few DX lenses made by Nikon just happen to be exactly what we need for shooting anything with DX cameras.

With nothing but these three Dream Team lenses, the 10-24mm DX, 35mm f/1.8 DX and 55-200mm VR DX, you'll be prepared for any serious assignment.

You're far better off spending your money on these Dream Team lenses and a D40 than throwing money away on fancier cameras.

The Dream Team will outfit you for anything, but I rarely carry even three lenses. All I usually carry is one of the 18-55mm or the 35mm f/1.8 and I'm set.

Basics         top

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All you really need for 90% of everything you might want to shoot is the 18-55mm lens that probably came with your camera.

Nikon 18-55mm II kit lens. (52mm filters, 7.2 oz/203g.)

Personally, I usually shoot my D40 with only the 35mm f/1.8 and leave the rest at home. I move a few steps closer or further away to frame, and I'm good. The 35mm f/1.8 is a tougher, faster lens than the basic 18-55mm zoom.

Nikon 35mm f/1.8 (52mm filters, 6.95 oz/197.0g).

The Dream Team         top

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Either single lens above is all you really need.

If you insist on buying more lenses, here are the only two or three you'll ever need for everything on DX cameras.

If you use the lenses below, leave the 18-55mm at home. Never carry lenses whose ranges overlap. I'm very serious about this. If you carry any lenses which overlap, you'll not only have to lug them all over, you'll miss photos as you waste your time wondering which lens to use for each shot and spend time jamming them on and off your camera.

A pro photographer carries only two lenses, often on two dedicated bodies. With these, he's prepared for everything.

One lens is a wide zoom, and the other is a tele zoom. Often a pro throws a fast, fixed, normal lens in his pocket for low light, but that's it. Anyone who carries more is probably an amateur who doesn't shoot often enough to thin out his bag.

Pros know they don't need to cover every millimeter of focal length. The difference between the long end of the wide lens and short end of the tele lens is close enough that a few steps forward or back makes up the difference. Pros don't bother with mid-range zooms, although some wedding photographers will use a midrange zoom and nothing else.

These three lenses comprise the Dream Team for Nikon DX digital cameras. With these three lenses, you have everything you'd ever need.

Nikon makes just a few lenses specifically for DX, and luckily, a few of these just happen to be exactly what we need for DX cameras.

Click any of the lenses or links for detailed reviews.

Wide: 10-24mm         top

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Nikon 10-24mm (77mm filters, 16.3 oz/463g).

This is the newest lens on the Dream Team, available since May 2009.

It offers superb performance with moderate weight.

It is the heaviest and most expensive lens on the Dream Team.

The Dream Team are lenses for serious photographers, and this is a seriously wide lens. (see How to Use Ultrawide Lenses.)

For most people, the 18mm end of the 18-55mm kit lens, or 18-200mm VR lens, is wide enough. If this is you, forget this 10-24mm lens and use one of those instead.

Fast Normal: 35mm f/1.8         top

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Nikon 35mm f/1.8 (52mm filters, 6.95 oz/197.0g).

The Nikon 35mm f/1.8 is spectacular, especially when you consider that it sells for only $200. Beware: when lenses this good and popular come out and I tell everyone, the price tends to rise for the first year or two, so get yours while you can.

For many photographers, including myself, I could quite happily shoot with nothing but this lens on my camera all day and night.

Tele Zoom: 55-200mm VR         top

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Nikon 55-200mm VR (52mm filter, 11.805 oz/334.6g).

This $200 tele lens is magnificent. It is optically one of Nikon's best lenses, and handles and works great on every DX camera.

More advantages are that it weighs next to nothing, it takes the same 52mm filters as most Nikon lenses like the 18-55mm and 35mm f/1.8 lenses, and that is has Vibration Reduction (Image Stabilization) for sharp hand-held shots at every focal length.

The only negatives to this superb and compact $200 lens is that you need to be careful to grab the camera and not the lens, since the bayonet lens mount is plastic (this keeps weight down), and that you have to move a switch to get into manual focus mode. All the other lenses, except the 18-55mm kit lens, allow instant manual focus override simply by grabbing the focus ring.

I own huge pro f/2.8 tele zooms and the much larger 70-300mm VR, and I still prefer to shoot this 55-200mm VR lens when I shoot DX. I prefer its small size and focal length range.

You can pay more, but all you're getting will be tougher build quality, more weight, the need for bigger filters, instant manual-focus override, and lose the ability to zoom as short as 55mm.

If you really want to pay more (I don't), you can use either of the 70-300mm VR or 70-200mm f/2.8 VR on DX instead, but why pay that much money just to carry more weight? The only good reason is if you need f/2.8 for sports at night.

What About the 18-200mm VR?         top

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Nikon 18-200mm VR.

The 18-200mm VR isn't a team player. It's a fat prima-donna that works best by itself.

The 18-200mm doesn't go wider than 18mm. If this is wide enough for you, then the 18-200mm is all you need instead of two zooms. (You'll still want the 35/1.8 for the dark.)

I've gotten so lazy that the 18-200mm is too heavy for me to want to carry around all day. It suits the chunky D200 and D300, but I don't shoot either of those cameras anymore.

I prefer the 18-55mm kit lens for its lighter weight. I prefer to get closer than to have to carry the 18-200mm VR.

If you carry an 18-200mm VR, carry nothing else except the 35/1.8 for the dark.

If you carry the 10-24mm, do not carry the heavy 18-200mm VR because it duplicates part of the range. If you're going to carry the 10-24mm, bring the 55-200mm VR instead of the bulkier 18-200mm VR.

The 18-200mm VR takes a 72mm filter, while all the other lenses except the 10-24mm take standard 52mm filters.

Compared         top

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Gotchas         top

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Al these DX lenses are of little use on FX cameras. If you see a D700 or F6 in your future, you'll wind up buying all new lenses.

Yes, FX cameras downgrade themselves automatically to DX if you attach one of these DX lenses, but you'll only be using the center of your sensor and viewfinder. You'll quickly tire of that.

Even though Nikon touts "Compatible!," you'll wind up buying FX lenses for any FX camera you buy.

PLUG         top

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Thanks for reading!

Ken

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