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Features

The 5 Best Cheap Lenses for Nikon DSLRs

Chris Gampat
No Comments
06/01/2015
3 Mins read

Nikon Df GServo-20131231-0012

Yesterday, we featured five great cheap lenses for the Canon DSLR system; and today we’re taking a look at what Nikon has to offer. For years, photographers always said that you go to Canon for the lenses and you go to Nikon for the bodies. But in the most recent years, Nikon has been updating and putting out new lenses on a faster scale than Canon does. For starters, they’re determined to make loads of prime lenses at f1.8 and the company is also working on updating their other lenses that were otherwise left from the film days.

Over our years of testing lenses and cameras, we’ve rounded up some of the best and most affordable lenses that are available for the Nikon F mount DSLR system. So if you’re looking for the best cheap lenses for your Nikon DSLR, then look no further.

Nikkor 50mm f1.8 G

Nikon 50mm f1.8 G

In our review we state:

“This lens has been given more utility for DSLRs than its predecessor. It can be used on all FX and DX Nikon cameras.  While its slightly more expensive than its predecessor, it is worth the cost. It’s such a nice lens.”

Buy now $215.95: Amazon | B&H Photo

Nikkor AF-S DX 35mm f1.8

Nikkor AF-S DX 35mm f1.8

 

In our review, we state:

“This is a very sharp lens. The 35mm f1.8 G performs great at f1.8, fantastic at f5.6, and the rest of the f-stops are good as well. This lens has always had great and true color. Skin tones are nice with this lens. I love it in black and white, because it has great contrast. The bokeh is decent, but not anything exciting in my eyes.”

Buy now $196.95: Amazon | B&H Photo

Nikon AF-S DX 40mm f2.8 G Micro-Nikkor

Nikon AF-S DX 40mm f2.8 G Micro-Nikkor

In our review we state:

“This lens is best if you put in the effort with it. You really do get the rewards. This lens has character.  It’s not the fastest lens, but it is pretty marvelous. It’s a big world and this lens helps capture the little details. It’s great for everyday use. The Nikon 40mm can go from a huge landscape to the a smallest flower and not miss a detail.”

Buy now $276.95: Amazon | B&H Photo

Rokinon 85mm f1.4

Rokinon 85mm f1.4

In our review we state:

“Though it does not have the full metal build of many of the Zeiss lenses, one can think of this lens as something in between Canon’s glass and Zeiss’ glass. In fact, I’d liken it to the build quality of some of the recent Sigma EX glass.

Yes, this lens has an aperture ring. That’s something many Canon lenses lack. The Zeiss cinema primes, like the 85mm I had a hands-on with, have a T-stop ring. However, this is one of the few lenses for the system I’ve seen with an aperture ring. That means that you can pretty much forget about the back dial.”

Buy now $281: Amazon | B&H Photo

Nikon 24mm f2.8 D

nikon_24_f2-8d

In our review we state:

“The autofocus on this lens is fast and precise. The closest you can get to a subject is about a foot. The Nikon 24mm 2.8 D focuses on its subject quickly. It never had to focus hunt. When photo walking and keeping the lens between f8 and f16, I always was able to get my shot quickly and move on. The autofocus kept the same speed both indoors and outdoors. The decently-sized manual focus ring was easy to grip and moved smoothly.”

Buy now $359.95: Amazon | B&H Photo

24mm f2.8 35mm f1.8 40mm f2.8 50mm f1.8 85mm f1.4 cheap lens nikon Nikon DSLR Rokinon
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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