Sonny said:

Let's stay on topic... I had a question that was bugging me for a few days and that is if the older 50mm 1.2 is any good on D800. I was planning to get the 50mm as my "last" lens in a few years but I just want to know if the 50 1.2 is something to consider if I find one for a good price. Also I found something about "coma" and Im not sure if this applies to this lens but if so then it's probably not that useful to me.

I have an early 60's 50mm 1.4 and I use it fine on the D800. Technically the newest lenses produce better photos but when you use older lenses or the 1.2, you are going for a "Look" not technical perfection.

Of the 1.2s probably only the newest version (that is still made) would take the most advantage of the sensor. MF is hard to hit and anything off, you will see it.

Yeah I probably get the 50 1.8G anyway... It seems to me like a very good lens for the price.

Sonny said:
Let's stay on topic... I had a question that was bugging me for a few days and that is if the older 50mm 1.2 is any good on D800. I was planning to get the 50mm as my "last" lens in a few years but I just want to know if the 50 1.2 is something to consider if I find one for a good price. Also I found something about "coma" and Im not sure if this applies to this lens but if so then it's probably not that useful to me.

I can't answer that, don't own that lens. I do have an ais 50f1.4 and 50f1.8, the AFD 50f1.4 and the new AFS 50f1.8. I've accumulated these over the years because there was a time when a 50mm seemed to be sold off with every SLR on the secondhand market or maybe it was just me. Of all those lenses the AFS 50f1.8 is the best, I tried the AFS 50f1.4 at the same time but it weighed a lot more was only a little bit faster and cost a lot more. I stop down to f5.6 or f8 most of the time anyway so it was no contest. The new 50f1.8 is a no brainer it's brilliant, light good IQ. I bought the new one when I decided to go all primes.

As for the 1.2, it's only a tiny bit faster, it costs a lot more, it's manual focus only (ok by me). I have read there is a coma issue but its a really old lens design. Can't imagine why a tiny bit faster is worth it, the 1.4 is pretty good.

This topic is old I already got D800 and a Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 tripod so I think i'm golden there... :)

Sadly I can't upgrade everything at the same time (I wish I could but that would not be that much fun)

rortmanns said:
All those quoting Ken, he's a tosser. There are much better sites.

"one who suffers from chronic masturbation" ... I'm not very sure if urban dictionary helped me with that one. :)

Let's stay on topic... I had a question that was bugging me for a few days and that is if the older 50mm 1.2 is any good on D800. I was planning to get the 50mm as my "last" lens in a few years but I just want to know if the 50 1.2 is something to consider if I find one for a good price. Also I found something about "coma" and Im not sure if this applies to this lens but if so then it's probably not that useful to me.

If you need 36MP in actual resolution, which really requires you to use a tripod, mirror lockup etc, then you will want a very good lens to fully resolve this. In the Nikon literature that comes with the D800 there is mention of lenses they recommend but I bet they only considered current lenses. Nikon have a vested interest in trying to sell their 24f1.4 etc. When I do landscapes I do use a tripod etc and I go for my best lenses. I have also tried my 75-150E lens on my D800e and the results are stunning, are they as sharp as my 85f1.4 at f8, well no but they are still stunning quality if you take care. There is much more to a sharp image than a sharp lens. Most people don't need to resolve all 36MP, I like to get max sharpness and res for my landscapes and I've slowly migrated to all primes for that work. If I shoot a portrait, I am happy with the 75-150 hand held, the D800 is a stunning camera and out resolves the D700 even hand held.

Buy a D800 use old lenses and be happy you get 20MP in res or whatever but when you do use the best lenses you'll get the best results possible. It depends on your work if you really need that quality.

All those quoting Ken, he's a tosser. There are much better sites.

Wataru said: (There, now I have promised to use the lens and post pictures!)

Please do :) Im still not really sure what wide angle to get but i guess all i will be shooting with it will be landscape and startrails.

Wataru said:
Wide angle lenses (I use the 24 mm all the time) are glorious with FX sensors.

Yaaay :)

Sonny said:
What a fool I was. Now that I own D800 14-24mm is the lens I pretty much want right now. ...

I bought one with funds from a client at the beginning of the year. My client elected to use the 17 to 35 lens for his application instead so I got to keep the 14-24.

I haven't used it yet, as it is not something I use for work, and I have never used a lens wider than 24 mm before. I will try to take some pictures with the widest of angles on my holiday trip to Nikko next week and post them on PAD. (There, now I have promised to use the lens and post pictures!)

Wide angle lenses (I use the 24 mm all the time) are glorious with FX sensors.

Sonny said:
I WASN'T planning on getting 14--24 mm f/2.8G ED, 24 mm f/1.4G ED or 35 mm f/1.4G

What a fool I was. Now that I own D800 14-24mm is the lens I pretty much want right now. :)

I understand davideanastasia wants to use 18-35mm or something like 20mm 2.8D on D800.

I can't help you with 18-35 but I personally use 24mm f/2.8D until I get cash for something better. :) It's a good lens that's pretty sharp for the price. Quote "It is as sharp as the $1,800 24-70mm AF-S" Quote -Ken Rockwell
Im not sure about the 20mm 2.8D but I think it's not bad either just don't look in the direction of a 28mm 2.8D and you will be good.

msmoto said:
New member (davideanastasia) was asking about

old Nikkor 18-35 on D800?

Any thoughts?

Should work fine just fine short of something being wrong with the lens. From what I can tell it is an AF lens so there shouldn't be any issues at all with it.

New member (davideanastasia) was asking about

old Nikkor 18-35 on D800?

Any thoughts?

The Nikon D800 is no way a beginners camera and you will need top pro lenses to get best results. Invest in lenses first then upgrade your camera. The D800 is a fantastic camera and well worth the money but you will need a fast computer with plenty of storage. The D800 is not the type of camera that you can snap away taking photos of anything that moves. You have to think more when taking photographs and just shoot the images you need (i.e., who needs 300 pics of a squirrel , lol) been there, done that. Think of the type of photography you want to do, then buy the best lens you need to do the job. Just because the D800 is a top class camera, it won't give top results using cheap lenses so think before you buy. As others have said, there are new Nikon cameras to be released in 2013 so I would wait a little longer and see what is available then. Good luck with your choice. theoldnikonian

we seem to be going a bit off topic

so I have started a new thread

http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=13613#post-125641

@Paperman: Ah, gotcha - and no programmable ranges on the D300 either.

I have to say that I would probably never use auto ISO as a default if I were you, then you would have to switch it on rather than switch it off.

Paperman said:
. The only way to protect this is to switch Auto ISO OFF ( by going into the menu - an annoyance ),

you do not need to go to the menus
press the ISO button (top left) and turn the front command dial

spraynpray said:
I'm not so sure about this. Even when using manual I don't want to have to do manual everything, so I like it that manual only relates to exposure.

Can't you use a programmable range to get what you want?

The problem arises when I switch from S or A mode ( which I do prefer to use with Auto ISO ON ) to Manual when the light is tricky and the ideal exposure is already set in my mind.

Once in manual, the camera does not care about the manually set exposure and goes for what ever it reads from the scene - changing the ISO to get it right. The only way to protect this is to switch Auto ISO OFF ( by going into the menu - an annoyance ), which I more often than not forget for a good number of shots. ( Am I the only one forgetting this :-) ? )

A stop or two higher ISO may not worry those with newer DSLRs but it does make a big difference when shooting landscapes with a D300 , which ISO Noisewise sucks even at 400.

I have read in other forums users complaining about the same issue, some suggesting there should be a menu setting giving a choice of Auto ISO ON / OFF when in Manual mode. After all, when you are in manual, you expect everything to be manual.

Paperman said:
A minor detail for most probably but as someone unable to understand why Auto ISO is not automatically turned off in MANUAL mode ( in previous models ), this is just another annoyance ( for me ) to get used to - in probably all new Nikons to come....

I'm not so sure about this. Even when using manual I don't want to have to do manual everything, so I like it that manual only relates to exposure.

Can't you use a programmable range to get what you want?

Paperman said:
D800 is not a journalist/sports photographer camera.

Sorry I not realise this,I will stop doing journalistic and sports photography immediately

Paperman said:
A minor detail for most probably but as someone unable to understand why Auto ISO is not automatically turned off in MANUAL mode ( in previous models ), this is just another annoyance ( for me ) to get used to - in probably all new Nikons to come....

I don't know why ether but the auto ISO legend does flash to remind you when switch to Manual

TaoTeJared said:

It doesn't matter if it is a tele or wide - the adjustment basically pushes it up or down based on the focal length. Neutral is usually Shutter = focal length and it moves the ISO from there. The adjustments then push up the shutter 1-2 stops in either direction.

It works quite well. I do wish it would "remember" my settings for each lens as for VR lenses I can adjust down a couple of stops vs. non-VR.

Of course if you want a "look" the camera can't tell you do, it just always wants to get the "proper" exposure. I do like the button layout on the D800 - I can change every setting from the buttons very quickly for manual exposure and do not have to dive into the menus.

D800 is not a journalist/sports photographer camera. If it were the D4 doing this - where the photographer has to get the necessary speed for freezing the action or getting the shot no matter what the quality, I would understand the compromise that comes with increased ISO .

D800 is a 36 Mp camera and its strength comes from the detail and IQ it offers. When it is a fact that minimum ISO = best IQ, I can't give credit to Nikon for its preference to use AUTO ISO this way - unlike previous cameras. It is giving very little control to the photographer.

And it is annoying to see AUTO ISO managed different ways in different cameras. The D5000 came with different Auto ISO behaviour than previous models in flash mode. Now with the D800, you have to remember to be in S mode if you want traditional Auto ISO - ( which chooses lowest ISO when possible )

A minor detail for most probably but as someone unable to understand why Auto ISO is not automatically turned off in MANUAL mode ( in previous models ), this is just another annoyance ( for me ) to get used to - in probably all new Nikons to come....

We shall see what happens. My camera is expected to arrive tomorrow. UPS usually delivers to my house around 8pm

I decided to give Amazon a try. A camera customer concierge person sent me an email saying she was tracking my shipment and would alert me to any problems. she gave an email and a phone number to contact for problems. I was quite pleasantly surprised by this.

Rx4Photo said:
@ Geoff_K, you could probably feel safe with ordering a D800 by now. I got mine from the Nikon Store, I don't know, a few months ago, and the Lot # was #3028XXX. Totally flawless for me. I even shoot occasionally using the leftmost (and right) focus points and get focused images. Honestly, I don't know if lot # has any bearing on what problems lurk inside but they should be pumping out those higher lots by now. Best of luck to you.

+1 - everything was fixed by the 3 batch (4th month after release) and have never heard of issues from the new cameras. Remember they built up stock before releasing it, so it took a time for it to appear and made it seem worse than what it was. Of course there are always outliers here and there.

Paperman said:
I was under that impression since you said it chose a higher ISO for the sake of a higher shutter speed - when a tele lens is on.

It doesn't matter if it is a tele or wide - the adjustment basically pushes it up or down based on the focal length. Neutral is usually Shutter = focal length and it moves the ISO from there. The adjustments then push up the shutter 1-2 stops in either direction.

It works quite well. I do wish it would "remember" my settings for each lens as for VR lenses I can adjust down a couple of stops vs. non-VR.

Of course if you want a "look" the camera can't tell you do, it just always wants to get the "proper" exposure. I do like the button layout on the D800 - I can change every setting from the buttons very quickly for manual exposure and do not have to dive into the menus.

sevencrossing said:
I don't think it does. in daylight. between f4 and f 8 it will normally chose native ISO

I was under that impression since you said it chose a higher ISO for the sake of a higher shutter speed - when a tele lens is on.

@ Geoff_K, you could probably feel safe with ordering a D800 by now. I got mine from the Nikon Store, I don't know, a few months ago, and the Lot # was #3028XXX. Totally flawless for me. I even shoot occasionally using the leftmost (and right) focus points and get focused images. Honestly, I don't know if lot # has any bearing on what problems lurk inside but they should be pumping out those higher lots by now. Best of luck to you.

Paperman said:
but it would be frustrating to see the camera choose "not the minimum ISO" when light conditions actually allow it.

I don't think it does. in daylight. between f4 and f 8 it will normally chose native ISO

Thanks Sevencrossing...

I am not sure if this is a function that would please everyone. It actually makes using it complicated and out of control. I like using the Auto ISO but it would be frustrating to see the camera choose "not the minimum ISO" when light conditions actually allow it. Just like I find it frustrating to be unable to shoot in manual mode with Auto ISO on ( where the camera changes the exposure to its liking shifting the ISO - totally disregarding the photographer's exposure choice. Every time I switch to manual, I have to remember to also switch off the Auto ISO )

Anyway, I don't have a D800 yet so no need to worry :-)

Yes. As the focal length increases, it sets a higher ISO value and higher shutter speed

but it will NOT go above the MAX ISO value you have set

nor, of course, will it go below the ISO value you have set

it does not seem to take into account if it is a VR lens

I set my max ISO at 6,400 and the default at 100