New Nikon(5600),Best prime lens please.

[Drunk Bender]

Hey girls and guys, as the title suggests, I am after a good prime lense for the d5600, I am tossing between the 35mm or the 50mm. I am aware of the difference between APC&full frame sensors, hence why I am asking?
My subjects will mostly be flowers and mushrooms (not that it is the time of year here for mushrooms in AUSTRALIA. But anyway. ). I would also like to take some nice portrait shots if possible. I am new to dslrs, so please be patient.
I did own a couple of film slrs, back in the day, but that was almost 20 years ago, and a lot has changed since then. So any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Peter.

 

[OtherMoe]

Hi, I have been doing a lot of research recently. I think both a 35 and 50 prime lens are great and I eventually plan to have both, but think the 50 will be the first. For most typical portrait shots the 50 is likely to be better. For wider whole body with some background you might want the 35. For flowers and mushrooms are you expecting to take extreme close up shots? You might want a macro or what Nikon refers to as micro lens for that. I don't know that they do not exist, but i have not seen a 35 or 50 with macro in my research. I think Nikon does make a 40mm macro, you would have something between the 35 and 50 plus have macro.

Edit: BTW, like you I have SLR experience from back in the day but looking to get back into it. You are a step above me right now as I'll likely end up with the N3500 to start with and see where it goes.

 

[Go West Young Man]

I'm still very much a beginner photographer, but I've been working at it and getting pretty good results using a D3300.
I have the $200 Nikon 35mm prime, and it's a great lens; I've also rented the 50mm version and loved that too.
35mm is great for street shots, landscapes, groups, etc. 50mm is more of an 'multipurpose' length - decent at for both wide and close work, it's really going to come down to your personal preferences.

Two suggestions -
1. I presume you're using a kit lens, 18-55mm or something like that? Use that for a while, and pay close attention to where you end up using it the most. Are more of your favorite shots being taken the lower or higher end of that range? Your comfort zone will emerge all by itself pretty quickly.

2. Rent lenses. Never buy a lens until you've rented it. Not sure what Aussie options are, but in the US we've got 3 or 4 very competitive options for renting pretty much any gear you're interested in.

 

[OtherMoe]

@Go West Young Man If you don't mind sharing, what 3-4 sources are you using to rent lenses. I think that is a good idea and perhaps I should that also.

Thanks,

Moe

 

[sarimento1]

forget prime.

this is best single lens.

16-80mm VR f/2.8-4.0

 

[Legion]

Hey girls and guys, as the title suggests, I am after a good prime lense for the d5600, I am tossing between the 35mm or the 50mm. I am aware of the difference between APC&full frame sensors, hence why I am asking?
My subjects will mostly be flowers and mushrooms (not that it is the time of year here for mushrooms in AUSTRALIA. But anyway. ). I would also like to take some nice portrait shots if possible. I am new to dslrs, so please be patient.
I did own a couple of film slrs, back in the day, but that was almost 20 years ago, and a lot has changed since then. So any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Peter.

If portraits are your thing, then the 50mm will be more appropriate.

For your close ups of flowers and mushrooms you may want to invest in a macro lens. Nikon make a fairly inexpensive 40mm macro, and you could also use it for portraits, though you will not get quite as much background blur, since the aperture is f2.8 rather than 1.8. But if you need one lens to do both, the 40mm would be my recommendation.

 

[Drunk Bender]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Love the look of the 16--80 , might have to check out prices. RE macro shots, has anyone had experience using tube extentions, too make a prime macro? Thanks again. Regards, Peter.

 

[troy]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Love the look of the 16--80 , might have to check out prices. RE macro shots, has anyone had experience using tube extensions, too make a prime macro? Thanks again. Regards, Peter.

I use extension tubes on my Panasonic and love them the're a very good bang for your buck option. Just make sure you get a set with built in electronics, so you still have control of your aperture, auto focus, and image stabilization (if your lens has it). For some examples of shots I've gotten with the tubes check out this thread. Creepy Crawlies! I use my tubes on a zoom lens though. One downside of the tubes is when there on you you will only be able to focus on things that are very close to you. Depending on the length of tubes and the MM the lens is set to it may be a couple of feet or less than an inch.

 

[Drunk Bender]

Thanks for the heads up @troy , love the mantis shot that is your avatar. All those shots in the creepy crawly thread, show me that I have much to learn and also to look forward to. Cameras are much more of a money pit than razors. LOL.

 

[troy]

Thanks for the heads up @troy , love the mantis shot that is your avatar. All those shots in the creepy crawly thread, show me that I have much to learn and also to look forward to. Cameras are much more of a money pit than razors. LOL.

Thank you Sir! This hobby can be expensive, but at least shooting digital cuts out a lot of the ongoing costs. You can take hundreds of shots and toss most of them, and wind up with a few keepers with out wasting any thing but time on the duds. And even the time isn't really a waste that's how we learn. Keep on shooting!

 

[bberg100]

I have an older 50 f1.8 and the newer 35 f1.8, both are great lens. The 50 can be had for under $150 new and is probably the sharpest lens I have on my D300s, the 35 is an extremely close 2nd.

 

[Go West Young Man]

@Go West Young Man If you don't mind sharing, what 3-4 sources are you using to rent lenses. I think that is a good idea and perhaps I should that also.

Thanks,

Moe

Lensrentals.com is the big player in the US. I personally use borrowlenses.com, mostly because their office is about 10 minutes from our house, makes impulse renting that much easier
If you google "camera lens rental" you get lots of results, but I've never used any but those two.

 

[OtherMoe]

Thank you, Chris!

 

[Go West Young Man]

forget prime.

this is best single lens.

16-80mm VR f/2.8-4.0

Just for the record, that's an $1100 lens

 

[sarimento1]

Just for the record, that's an $1100 lens

Absolutely true!
And worth it, if you’re into DX!

 

[MarkM10431]

i have an 18-35 that is great

 

[Drunk Bender]

Man, so many choices. I think I will mostly be price motivated as here in Australia we pay a premium for most things.
Liked the look of the 16 - 80 but if it's 1100 US , that's probably 5000 AUD. But thanks guys for the advice. I think I will go with the 35 or 50 with a tube extension........... So much too learn, and I haven't even started editing yet.

 

[KQY61]

Hi,

The best short to mid range zoom was the 28-105 f3.5-4.5 Macro. That would Macro from 50-105 and give half life size. The longer the focal length on a Macro lens, the greater the working distance. I usually use 200mm or 105mm and don't much going shorter. With Macro on a zoom like that, I could have my 105 and also shorter should that work better.

The lens is a full 135 format unit, and it works quite well even in the corners, even with digital. It was even better on APS-H and even better still on APS-C. I have a pretty-much full set of primes from 24mm to 400mm, collected up since 1979. My rule-of-thumb is one wants one focal length shorter for APS-H and two focal lengths shorter for APS-C. So the 50-105 macro range works out quite well on APS-C.

BTW, there weren't many cameras made in APS-H. Canon had their 1D. Kodak had their 6 MP sensors in digital backs for both Canon and Nikon film cameras. And a 10 MP one in thr Leica DMR for the R9 film body. I have one of the 6 MP APS-H Kodak backs on an F5. And have had several APS-C bodies.

Anyway, Nikon killed off the 28-105 some time ago. So, used is all you might find. But, I mention it as they go for under $200. It is a screwdriver AFD lens, and I know some bodies no longer support those. And, I am unsure about the 5600. Others read this stuff, so I thought I would toss it out there.

Stan

 

[Drunk Bender]

Thanks @KQY61 , have been looking around and am leaning towards the 35mm prime for $299 AUS, but while searching I found the 16-80 VR as mentioned by @sarimento1 for $1000 AUD which I think is an offer too good to pass up on. Especially if you pay $1000 US for it. Too many decisions for a newb. It is like have just started wet shaving, LOL.

 

[Adam18]

Hi Drunk Bender .....
I have the Nikon D5600, and it is an absolutely wonderful camera.
Much better than my previous D3400, and since I don't need all the "extra stuff"
of the D7500, it is the perfect camera for me. Contrary to popular opinion, the
AF-P 18-55 is a fantastic "aii-around lens" which stays on my camera most of the
time. My other zoom lenses are the AF-P 10-20 wide angle and the AF-P 70-300 VR
telephoto, two equally terrific lenses. But since your question was originally for a
Nikon prime lens, .... these are my two favorites -----

The 35 is an absolutely marvelous lens, and an amazing bargain at its current price.
And the 85 micro is great for portraits, as well as beautiful macro photography.

And, sorry for the poor quality of these photos, but they were shot with my phone !

Good Luck, and enjoy your D5600 !