Nikon

Last month we tested the industry’s least expensive 35mm f/1.4 lens (the $500 Rokinon 35mm AS UMC). This month, we shift to the opposite end of the pricing spectrum to one of the most expensive: Nikon’s $1,800 full-frame 35mm f/1.4G lens. Like all f/1.4 primes, it’s large and heavy—more than three times the bulk of the 7-ounce 35mm f/2 Nikkor. Its weight is identical to last month’s Rokinon as well as Canon’s comparable 35mm f/1.4. This new Nikkor scales up to 52.5mm on DX bodies.

Nikon kickstarted a revolution in the photography world when it included video recording in the D90, a DSLR that also wowed shooters with its fine imaging and great handling. Now Nikon’s new D5100 finesses that combo further. It’s the company’s first to include full 1920x1080-pixel recording at 30 frames per second. Nikon’s D7000 and D3100 can record 1080p, but only at 24 fps— great for cinema nerds, but not for watching home movies on regular high-definition TVs. The D5100 can please both crowds.

Nikon's longest zoom for cameras with APS-C-size sensors (DX format), this 5.5X 55–300mm f/4.5–5.6G VR ($360, street) scales up to the full-frame equivalent of 82.5–450mm. It offers two elements of ED glass, a high-refractive-index glass element (a DX first), Vibration Reduction II, the quiet SWM focusing motor, and tripod-detection mode. Adding reach to the two 55–200mm DX Nikkors, it promises new capabilities for wildlife, sports, travel, and people shots.

Nikon is adding to its already solid line of G-series primes lenses, this time in the form of a AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G (75mm APS-C equivalent)—offering an alternative to the pricier 50mm f/1.4G lens which came out in December of 2008 ($550 street).