I have the D800 and a number of nikon's best pro lenses (prime and zoom). Personally I find the 70-200, and 14-24 to be the best. The 24-70 is also good.

I shot a figure skating event this past weekend. Handheld, ISO 4000 with f2.8 and 4 and shutter speeds of 100-250. Worked beautifully. Frame rate is a bit low for this type of work but the overall results were great.

I'm a Nikon man and always have been birdman, but from the testing I've seen unless you need 36MP, wouldn't you be better with a 5D mk3?

If you already owned a D7000 and tested some of the lenses on that, you should already have a clear idea of the center performance since the two cameras have almost identical pixel pitch. Same thing on the hand holding hype.-- The sensor doesn't make the images blurrier, just means you can get even higher resolution images if you are using the lens properly. Re: Tokina, I have the Pro II and recall some vignette on 35mm film (certainly can't take thick filters), some purple fringes when I pixel peep, but didn't find resolution to be any different than the Nikon 50/1.8 (tested F=2.8 through F=11) studying 35mm prints with a loupe (center and edge) or Pixel peeping NEF's from D7000.

the question is, what focal lengths do you use the 17-40 for mainly, and what focal lengths do you use the 70-300 for?

if you use your 35 1.4L alot, get the 35 1.4G. 24 is obviously not the same.

the nikon 70-300 is soft at 300 and is likely to be less than impressive on a d800 (at 300). but the 70-200VRII and 300 f4 are quite a bit more.

birdman said:
will these be good choices for the D800?

1, 3 - Definitely YES (I can personally vouch for the 24mm 1.4G and I know the 35 as well)

The others - depends on how picky you are. For the long end I would pick the Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 EX OS HSM which is very good with the Sigma 2x TC also. And dirt cheap compared to any decent Nikkors in the same class.

Aye, the 24mm f/1.4 is absolutely brilliantly sharp. I have the 16-35mm f/4 VR too and it's pretty nice, but on the my D7000 it is ever so slightly less sharp (and noticeably less sharp at 35mm), and it flares worse than the 24mm f/1.4.

The 70-200mm f/2.8 VR old version is nice on a crop sensor, but on full frame I understand it exhibits pretty bad vignetting and is softer in the corners than the new version. However, there's also the older AF-S 80-200mm f/2.8G, as opposed to the AF 80-200mm f/2.8D which they still make. While that lens doesn't have VR, I understand it would look better on a full frame than the old 70-200, and would be a much less expensive option than the new 70-200.

mmmm..... I have the 16-35 VR...Love it!
Long zooms I am not fond of.... but I also have the 24-120 VR and it is an excellent piece of glass... see some images elsewhere on NRF.
70-200VR....I would try to go with the II version. Also tested by me on the NRF with the TC-20EIII and it is sharp.
The 24mm f/1.4 is IMHO much better choice over the 35mm. El_Pickerel has bunches of great stuff with this. And the 35mm is very close to the 50mm.

OK, with what you have, my suggestion (I love wide angle) is to add the 16-35VR and see how it goes. If you needed a long lens... then the ones you have outlined are fine.

If you like primes....the 135mm f/2.0 is a phenomenal lens....

Good luck and welcome back to the world of the true believers....... ha, ha, ha... I was going to ask "What is a 5d2?"

My D800 has not yet arrived I use a D700

I have 70-200 its one of Nikon sharpest lens

my 16-35 VR needs to be stopped down to f 8 or f11 to get the corners sharp

my 24 -120 f 4 VRII is an excellent lens and is sharp at f4 but better at f8

The most common cause or unsharp photos, is camera shake ( not lack of mega pixels).
To get the best out of the D800, I suspect one is going to have shoot at ISO 100 and preferably stop down a bit, so unless you are shooting in bright sunshine, flash or a with a wide angle lens, to get pin sharp results, a tripod is recommended . Nothing new Ansel Adams nearly allways used one

I am waiting on my D800 to arrive. When it does, will compare to my 5d2 using similar lenses. I do have a few good Canon lenses: 17-40L, 35/1.4L, 50mm/1.4, 70-300 IS (non-L)

If I sell are my Canon gear and buy the following, will these be good choices for the D800?

1) 16-35VR
2) 70-300VR OR 70-200VR (first version)
3) 35/1.4 or 24/1.4
*4) 50/1.8 AF-D
*5) 85/1.8 AF-D
*6) Tokina 28-70/2.6-2.8 ATX I

* I currently own lenses #4,#5, & #6 listed above, as I had the D7k and kept some glass. I would want to keep the Tokina for sure, but if not sharp enough may have to upgrade to either Nikon 28-70/2.8 or 24-120/f4 VR

I am curious to how much hype goes into having to use faster shutter speeds on D800 36MP sensor? If this is the case, nearly every shot would have to be from a tripod or monopod.