Higher quality Nikon lenses

[trevsorbie]

I'm in the market for a quality DSLR and have always been drawn to the Canon range (D40 to D5 range) so know it quite well together with their range of lenses.

I've recently become interested in the Nikon D300 but have no idea what lenses in the Nikon range would match up (quality-wise).

For Canon they have an L indicating their professional range. Is there something similar to look for in the Nikon range or is that what Nikkor means?

Many thanks

Trev

[lmccauley]

Nikkor is Nikon's brand name for their own lenses (as opposed to 3rd party lenses by the likes of Sigma and Tamron).

You can usually spot Nikon's pro lenses by their price (e.g. Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 £767 from Onestop-digital).

[Yandros]

Heh, yeah the price is usually the giveaway

The classic pair of Nikon 'pro' zooms are the Nikon 17-55mm f2.8 and 70-200 f2.8 VR. There are also some new f2.8 zooms designed more for the D3 (14-24 & 24-70). The superwide Nikon 12-24mm f4 is also a 'pro' lens I gather, but not quite as tank-like in terms of build quality. A popular Nikon landscape lens is the Nikon 17-35mm f2.8

If you want a good build and optical quality, but not so fussed about the f2.8, then look at the new Nikon 16-85mm VR.

If you're looking for high grade primes, the Nikon 35mm f2, 50mm f1.4, 85mm f1.4, 105mm f2, and 300mm f4 are all extremely highly regarded. For macro use, there's the 105mm f2.8 VR

[Radiohead]

For the APS-C bodies the pro zooms start with the 17-55 f2.8 DX. AFAIK that's the only pro level DX zoom. For the FF bodies look at the 14-24/2.8, 24-70/2.8, 70-200/2.8VR, 200-400/4 VR. None are designed for crop bodies.

For primes the pro stuff is the now discontinued 28/1.4, 85/1.4, 105 and 135DC's and the 180/2.8 (obviously goes on to include the 300/400/500/600's). There's a consensus that Nikon need to update the 135mm and below primes.

[Yandros]

Guy, I think you might risk confusing the OP.

The full frame lenses (eg the 70-200mm f2.8 VR and 105VR Macro f2.8) are still ideal for the D300. In fact, if you think you might upgrade to a D3 in the future, they're a better long term investment than DX lenses.