Nikon Digital SLR System part 3

digital bodies

• Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC for Nikon, $439, ultrasonic motor, equivalent to a 45mm perspective on a film camera; Nikon does not bother to make a competitive lens
• Nikon 35mm f/2.0 AF, $360 (review); designed for a film camera and the viewfinder will be only half as bright as the Sigma, but possibly higher optical quality, especially since you're only using the center portion of the lens.

film AF

• Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor, $135, a great lightweight bargain and one of the highest optical quality lenses in the Nikon line; you could use this as a portrait lens on a digital SLR
• Nikon 50mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor, $335 (review), less than one f-stop faster than the 1.8; similar optical quality

film manual focus

• Nikon 45mm f/2.8 Nikkor AI-S Manual Focus, $400, very compact and designed cosmetically to go with the FM3a nostalgia body
• Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor AI-S Manual Focus, $680, a half-stop faster than the 50/1.4, but you lose autofocus and the image quality at f/1.2 is not very good

In terms of flare, contrast, and sharpness, these are the highest quality lenses that you will ever attach to your camera. If you can do the job with a normal lens, as many of the 20th Century's greatest photographers did, you can save yourself a lot of weight and cost. There are good zoom lenses, but they are very expensive and heavy.