# by DxO - "Best lenses for the Nikon D810"



## ruifo (Oct 15, 2014)

Best lenses for the Nikon D810: Exceptionally high sharpness and detail but no advance over D800E - DxOMark

*Best lenses for the Nikon D810: Exceptionally high sharpness and detail but no advance over D800E*
_*By Kevin Carter - Wednesday October 15 2014*_

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Here is the ranking for the D810 by the DxOMark Score:
Camera Lens Ratings by DxOMark  - DxOMark

*Best Primes on the D810*

Carl Zeiss Distagon T* Otus 1.4/55 ZF.2 Nikon

Carl Zeiss Apo Planar T* Otus 85mm F14 ZF.2 Nikon

Carl Zeiss Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 ZF.2 Nikon

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 200mm f/2G ED VR II

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G

Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM A Nikon

Carl Zeiss Makro-Planar T 100mm f/2 ZF2 Nikon

Samyang 85mm f/1.4 Aspherique IF Nikon

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 400mm F2.8G ED VR

Carl Zeiss Distagon T 25mm f/2 ZF.2 Nikon

Sigma 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM Nikon

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/2.8G ED VR II

Samyang 35mm F1.4 AS UMC Nikon

Carl Zeiss Distagon T 35mm f/1.4 ZF2 Nikon

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G ED

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.8G

Carl Zeiss Distagon T 35mm f/2 ZF2 Nikon

Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM Nikon

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.4G

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D IF

Tamron SP 90mm F/2.8 Di MACRO 1:1 VC USD Nikon

Nikon AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED

Samyang 24mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC Nikon

Nikon AF DC-Nikkor 105mm f/2D

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G

*Best Zooms on the Nikon D810*

Tamron SP 70-200mm F/2.8 Di VC USD Nikon

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM S Nikon

Tamron SP 24-70mm F2.8 Di VC USD Nikon

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4G ED VR

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

Sigma APO 120-300mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Nikon

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G ED

Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED

Tamron SP AF 70-200mm F/2.8 Di LD (IF) MACRO Nikon

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G ED VR II

Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG APO OS HSM Nikon

Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG APO Macro HSM II Nikon

Tokina AT-X 16-28 F2.8 PRO FX Nikon

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 24-85mm f/2.8-4D IF

Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG APO HSM Nikon

Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 IF EX DG HSM Nikon

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G ED VR

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical [IF] Nikon

Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G ED

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED

Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5D IF-ED

Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO Macro Super II Nikon

Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 DG OS Nikon


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## Braineack (Oct 15, 2014)

dat tamron.


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## DevC (Oct 15, 2014)

Wow, surprised by tamron...


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## Braineack (Oct 15, 2014)

DevC said:


> Wow, surprised by tamron...


why? It's always been rated better than the Nikons.

The only reason any review ever put them behind the Nikon is "build quality".

There are, however, charaterics of the Nikons that I think beat out the Tamrons.  Bokeh quality/transition for one.   Cost not being the other.


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## Designer (Oct 15, 2014)

Braineack said:


> dat tamron.



Taking your word for it, I put one on my wish list.


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## KmH (Oct 15, 2014)

How about the 3 Samyang primes on the list.


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## Braineack (Oct 15, 2014)

I've always been fond of them.

The VC is amazing--It engages smoothly and has an almost gyroscopic feel to it.

Both are sharp even at f/2.8, but really impress when you start stopping down.

The 24-70 exhibits onion bokeh balls, so it's nice quite as pleasing as the nikon, but it's also kind of interesting.

Both are smaller, lighter, and less expensive as their Nikon counterparts.

Tamron and Sigma are going to force Nikon to step-up their game; both coming out with "first-in-class" lenses that are most impressive.


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## Braineack (Oct 15, 2014)

KmH said:


> How about the 3 Samyang primes on the list.



Both being at $400, I'd rather just stick with the 85mm 1.8G over the Samyang 85mm f/1.4.

But the 35mm is interesting at ~$400 again;  damn thing is huge though and it's manual focus.


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## Vince.1551 (Oct 15, 2014)

Also, Tamron's 90mm VC macro lens beats Nikon's macro lenses hands down. I'm waiting to see the test on the 150-600mm


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## ruifo (Oct 15, 2014)

KmH said:


> How about the 3 Samyang primes on the list.



Their only problem is that they are manual focus only lenses.


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## ruifo (Oct 15, 2014)

Braineack said:


> I've always been fond of them.
> 
> The VC is amazing--It engages smoothly and has an almost gyroscopic feel to it.
> 
> ...




The Tamron zoom are just stunning. I've been using the Tammy 70-200 2.8 VC with the D810 with amazing results. And the Tamron trinity will soon be completed, with the current development announcement of the Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 VC.

Nikon will really need to come up with a renewed trinity to step up again against Tamron.


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## Braineack (Oct 15, 2014)

I want the 150-600 before I look into the 15-30.


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## TheLost (Oct 15, 2014)

It makes you wonder.. why is Nikon slow releasing new lenses?

The 24-70mm f/2.8 is 8 years old.  You think they would have a VR version in the works by now.
And i cant even talk about the 14 year old 300mm f/4 (that didn't even make the list!!!)

Tokina, Tamaron and Sigma are knocking them out of the park each new release...  

(*sad face*)


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## Braineack (Oct 15, 2014)

laurels & fan boys.


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## hamlet (Oct 15, 2014)

Third party lenses are kicking butts.  Now people on a budget can have the best for half the price.


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## ruifo (Oct 16, 2014)

While the first ranking took into account the overall DxOMark score of the lenses for the D810, below another ranking, now based on DxOMark sharpness rating, measured in P-Mpix (Perceptual MegaPixel), intended to express the resolution of which a combination of camera and lens is capable of resolving image data, being the maximum result for the D810 36 P-Mpix, given its 36 mpix sensor.

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Camera Lens Ratings by DxOMark  - DxOMark
____________________________


*Sharpest Primes Lenses for the D810:*

35 P-Mpix - Carl Zeiss Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 ZF.2 Nikon
35 P-Mpix - Carl Zeiss Apo Planar T* Otus 85mm F14 ZF.2 Nikon
33 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S Nikkor 200mm f/2G ED VR II
33 P-Mpix - Carl Zeiss Distagon T* Otus 1.4/55 ZF.2 Nikon
33 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S Nikkor 400mm F2.8G ED VR
32 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/2.8G ED VR II
30 P-Mpix - Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM A Nikon
30 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G
29 P-Mpix - Carl Zeiss Distagon T 25mm f/2 ZF.2 Nikon
28 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.8G
27 P-Mpix - Samyang 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC Aspherical Nikon
27 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G ED
27 P-Mpix - Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D ED-IF
26 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G
26 P-Mpix - Tamron SP 90mm F/2.8 Di MACRO 1:1 VC USD Nikon
25 P-Mpix - Samyang 24mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC Nikon
25 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S Nikkor 58mm f/1.4G
25 P-Mpix - Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D
25 P-Mpix - Carl Zeiss Distagon T 28mm f/2 ZF2 Nikon
24 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR
23 P-Mpix - Sigma 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM Nikon
23 P-Mpix - Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Nikon
23 P-Mpix - Carl Zeiss Distagon T 35mm f/2 ZF2 Nikon
23 P-Mpix - Carl Zeiss Makro-Planar T 100mm f/2 ZF2 Nikon
23 P-Mpix - Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D
23 P-Mpix - Sigma 150mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM APO Macro Nikon
23 P-Mpix - Carl Zeiss Distagon T 35mm f/1.4 ZF2 Nikon
23 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED
23 P-Mpix - Sigma 28mm F1.8 EX DG ASP Macro Nikon
23 P-Mpix - Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM Nikon
*Sharpest Zoom Lenses for the D810:*

29 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4G ED VR
29 P-Mpix - Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM S Nikon
28 P-Mpix - Tamron SP 70-200mm F/2.8 Di VC USD Nikon
27 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II
26 P-Mpix - Sigma APO 120-300mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Nikon
23 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
23 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G ED
22 P-Mpix - Tamron SP 24-70mm F2.8 Di VC USD Nikon
22 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G ED VR II
21 P-Mpix - Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 IF EX DG HSM Nikon
21 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
20 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED
20 P-Mpix - Tamron SP AF 70-200mm F/2.8 Di LD (IF) MACRO Nikon
19 P-Mpix - Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG APO OS HSM Nikon
19 P-Mpix - Tokina AT-X 16-28 F2.8 PRO FX Nikon
19 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G ED VR
18 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR
18 P-Mpix - Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG APO HSM Nikon
17 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED
17 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR
17 P-Mpix - Sigma 50-500mm F4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM Nikon
17 P-Mpix - Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG APO Macro HSM II Nikon
16 P-Mpix - Tamron SP AF 28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical [IF] Nikon
15 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G ED
15 P-Mpix - Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 24-85mm f/2.8-4D IF
15 P-Mpix - Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO Macro Super II Nikon
15 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED
15 P-Mpix - Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5D IF-ED
14 P-Mpix - Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED
14 P-Mpix - Sigma 120-400mm F4.5-5.6 DG APO OS HSM Nikon


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## KmH (Oct 16, 2014)

ruifo said:


> KmH said:
> 
> 
> > How about the 3 Samyang primes on the list.
> ...


Why is that a problem?
There are a lot of shooting circumstances when auto focus can't work.
Consequently, being proficient at manually focusing a lens is a skill photographers still need to have.


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## Solarflare (Oct 17, 2014)

hamlet said:


> Third party lenses are kicking butts.  Now people on a budget can have the best for half the price.


 Err, there is A LOT MORE to lenses, than just good old plain sharpness

+ Focal length range
+ Maximum and minimum aperture
+ Contrast
+ Transmission
+ Distortion
+ Vignetting
+ Over a douzen of errors lenses can have optically, such as coma, CAs, ...
+ Flare
+ Quality of Bokeh
+ Quality of color transmission
+ Build quality, including quality of extras like lens hood and tripod mount
+ Size and weight
+ Autofocus performance
+ Image stabilization
+ Minimal Close Focus and magnification
+ Focus breathing
+ Focus shift when stopping down
+ Being parfocal, or not, for zooms
+ Probably even more, but thats just out of the top of my head

Even sharpness isnt just sharpness - low CAs for example also improve the impression of sharpness, as does better contrast.



KmH said:


> There are a lot of shooting circumstances when auto focus can't work.


 Many modern cameras dont even allow manual focus in a non-masochistic way.


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## hamlet (Oct 17, 2014)

You should really look into what is out there. My 50mm cream machine delivers incredible results across the frame.


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## PaulWog (Oct 17, 2014)

hamlet said:


> You should really look into what is out there. My 50mm cream machine delivers incredible results across the frame.



The 50mm 1.4 Art is clearly a great lens across the board. It isn't a 'cream machine' though!!! On a crop body, you're getting just over a 75mm comparable field of view, and approximately an f2.15 comparable depth of field (calculations = f1.4 x 1.533). The term "cream machine" should be reserved for portraiture lenses, or maybe a fast 50 on a full frame body (even then...). Just my take.

I am pretty surprised that the 50mm 1.4G made it on that list, as well as the 70-300 f4/4.5 - 5.6 lenses. Some of the stuff I see listed doesn't make use of the D810's pixel count. I would assume an article which addresses the "best lenses for the D810" would be focused on sharpness... otherwise, the article might as well say "... and for the D750, D610... and so on..."


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## Solarflare (Oct 30, 2014)

Yes "cream machine" refers to lenses with

(a) very large maximum apertures (i.e. low f-numbers)
(b) very good bokeh (i.e. "creamy" out of focus areas)

Examples for "cream machines" I heard of are:
- Canon TV Lens 50mm f/0.95 [This is a rangefinder optic, not compatible to EOS DSLRs]
- Canon EF 85mm f1.2
- Canon EF 50mm f1.0
- Minolta/Sony 135mm f2.8 [T4.5] STF SAL-135F28
- Nikon AF DC 105mm/135mm f2
- Leica Noctilux 50mm f/0.95
- The new Fuji X 56mm f1.2 APD

Sharpness is not that much of a priority in this definition.


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