Paul Cox Photography

It’s often said that you should ‘invest in glass’ which is very true. However ‘invest’ to me means spend wisely rather than buy the best of what is currently available. This is particularly true now that lens prices have increased so much of late so thought I’d share my experiences with some of the lower priced glass. My experience is based on Nikon but bargains are no doubt available for other mounts as well.

Best of breed – Nikkor AF DC 105mm f/2

Best price new – £750

Alternative – Nikkor 105mm f2.5
Purchase price – £114

Saving – £636

Pros

• Sharp as sharp can be
• Draws the scene beautifully – great bokeh
• Built like a tank (I dropped mine almost as soon as I bought it on to the pavement, dint in the filter ring but otherwise works perfectly)
• Small and light
• Meters just fine on the Nikon pro (D3 etc) and semi pro (D300 etc) line

Cons

• You lose just over half a stop compared to the newer lens
• It’s manual focus which even on full frame can take some getting used to
• Metering isn’t supported on the ‘non pro’ Nikon range

Best of breed – Nikon AF-S 200mm f/2G ED-IF VR

Best price new – £2900

Alternative – Nikon 180mm f2.8 AF
Purchase price – £205 (ebay 2004) still available new at £582 but plenty on ebay close to the price I paid

Saving – £2695

Pros

• Stunningly sharp lens with great bokeh
• AF plenty fast enough for most things
• Well built metal bodied lens
• For the focal length it’s quite light

Cons

• No VR (use flash to mitigate lack of VR)
• Newer lens is even sharper
• You lose a whole aperture stop which makes focus in dark places more tricky
• Focus is much slower than the newer lens
• You lose 20mm but if that’s an issue steer well clear of most zooms!
• You can sometimes get a touch of CA

Best of breed – Nikon AFS 300mm f2.8 G ED VR II

Best price new – £5000

Alternative – Nikon 300mm f4 ED AF (not the current f4 lens)
Purchase price – £475 (ebay Oct 2009)

Saving – £4525

Pros
Very well built metal bodied lens
Comes with a great hard case and tripod foot
Nicely sharp with good bokeh

Cons
Slow to focus, but accurate when it does
No VR
Wont be as sharp as the newer lens
You lose a whole aperture stop

So as you’ll see there are some bargains to be had out there. Obviously a more realistic comparison for the 300mm in particular is the current f4 version which is only 100% more expensive than the older version but doesn’t meet the ‘best of breed’ criteria. Incidentally the first 2 lenses in particular are often included in lists of the best ever Nikon lenses so don’t think you’ll be compromising on quality.

If you found this post useful please tag and or share it. Feel free to comment with your bargain glass suggestions also!