Nikon Prime Lenses, Manual Focus

So the Nikon F3 is on my list of tools for a wandering photographer. But a SLR camera body is useless without lenses.

Many people prefer travelling with zoom lenses, because one zoom lens nowadays can double (or even triple) as three prime lenses, thus saving weight and space in their travel bags. The downside for zooms are that they are not great in low light situations because their designs call for a smaller max. aperture. So if one uses films in the ISO 100 to 400 range, handheld speeds of 1/30 sec or less at max. aperture are the norm at around dawn and dusk (the period of the day with most dramatic light), but photos taken at such speeds, handheld, are subject to the dreadful vibrations. One can also use a tripod, except it is a bore to carry.

If you like to take pictures around dusk and dawn but don’t like lugging a tripod, then prime lenses with maximum F2.0 apertures are your best friend. Since I use a F3, which is a manual focus body, I like to pair it up with the following manual (AI-S) Nikkors: 35mm F2.0, and 50mm F1.8. They all have wonderful optics, and are inexpensive and plentiful in the used market, and they all share 52mm filters. Best of all, they are all compact and I won’t get shoulder pain after a day of shooting.

And to round out the wide and medium telephoto ends of my arsenal, I usually take the 24mm F2.8 and 105 F2.5 with me as well. These are less suitable for low light situations due to the smaller max aperture, but they are also lightweight and share 52mm filters.

So here they are:

24mm f2.8

35mm f2.0

50mm f1.4

105mm f2.5

Here is where it gets fun. If I just want to take 3 lenses for street photography, I would choose the 24mm, 50mm and 105mm. If I want to shoot portraits, then I would go for the 50mm, and 105mm. If I only want a lens for a day out but don’t have any subject in mind, I would pick the 35mm. But my ultimate kit for travel photography would be 24mm, 35mm, 50mm and 105mm.