Canon and Nikon lenses on special

Camera Electronic has some Canon and Nikon lenses (and one Nikon flashgun) on special at the moment. I’ve divided them into a few categories to make it easier to find items of interest.

Canon consumer zoom lenses

These lenses are for Canon’s EF-S bodies (i.e., 1.6x cropped frame relative to 35 mm film; e.g., EOS 1200D, EOS 70D, EOS 7D Mk II).

• Canon EF-S 18–135 f/3.5–5.6 IS – $50 off. If you have a recent Canon body, you probably already have this super-zoom lens or something similar. It would be suitable for general photography.
• Canon EF-S 55–250 mm f/4–5.6 IS – $100 off. This is a short telephoto zoom lens for EF-S bodies. Currently at two thirds of the list price, this represents major savings. If you’ve been shopping for a Canon EF-S telephoto lens for shooting daylight sports, this could be it.

Nikon consumer zoom lenses

These are consumer-grade lenses in that their optical performance and build quality aren’t quite at the same standards as Nikon’s professional lenses.

• Nikkor AF-S 18–300 mm f/3.5–5.6 DX VR – $50 off. This is a super-zoom lens for Nikon’s DX bodies (i.e., 1.5x cropped frame relative to 35 mm film; e.g., D3300, D5500, D7200). If you have a recent Nikon body, you probably already have this lens or something similar. It has the biggest zoom range, but would also be the biggest and heaviest in this class. From memory, Thom Hogan advocates its 18–200 mm sibling as the better overall lens (slightly better optically, weighs less, and with no significant sacrifice in zoom range—the visual difference between 200 mm and 300 mm is small). Interestingly, I note that the second version of this lens is also listed for sale, and slightly cheaper.
• Nikkor AF-S 24–85 mm f/3.5–4.5 VR – $75 off. This is a standard zoom lens for Nikon’s FX bodies (i.e., full frame relative to 35 mm film; e.g., D610, D750, D810). On-line reviews differ regarding whether this is as good as the 24–120 mm (see below) or not, but all seem to agree that it’s a competent lens for general photography.

Nikon professional zoom lenses

These zoom lenses are all for Nikon’s FX bodies, but can be used on DX bodies, too.

• Nikkor AF-S 14–24 mm f/2.8 – $150 off. This is an ultrawide-angle zoom lens for FX. It’s reputed to be one of the finest lenses of this class ever made, and only recently matched by Canon’s EF 11–24 mm f/4. For most people, this would mainly be a specialist lens for landscape photography.
• Nikkor AF-S 24–70 mm f/2.8 – $150 off. This is a standard zoom lens for FX. It’s Nikon’s best lens optically in this class, but lacks VR. This would probably be the first preference for a professional photographer needing a Nikon zoom lens with this focal length range.
• Nikkor AF-S 24–120 mm f/4 VR – $100 off. This is a standard zoom lens for FX. While Nikon would claim this is a professional lens, reviews suggest that the optical quality is more consumer-grade than professional. If I were a professional photographer needing a standard zoom lens, I’d probably take the f/2.8 above instead (even with the absence of VR), or just shoot with prime lenses.
• Nikkor AF-S 70–200 mm f/2.8 VR II – $150 off. This is a short telephoto zoom lens for FX. It’s Nikon’s current flagship lens in this class, and you’d only really need this for low light sports or professional work.
• Nikkor AF-S 70–200 mm f/4 VR – $75 off. This is a short telephoto zoom lens for FX. By all accounts, this is an excellent lens and much better value for money than the f/2.8 (above). If you don’t need to shoot in low light, this would clearly be the better purchase.
• Nikkor AF-S 80–400 mm f/4.5–5.6 VR – $200 off. This is a telephoto zoom lens for FX. We’re getting into super-telephoto range here, but with smaller apertures than you’ll find on the professional super-telephoto lenses (which would cost $5,000 or more), making this lens lighter and cheaper. This would be fine for daylight shooting.

Nikon professional prime lenses

These prime lenses are all for Nikon’s FX bodies, but can be used on DX bodies, too.

• Nikkor AF-S 35 mm f/1.4 – $100 off. This is a wide-angle prime lens for FX. If you have a DX body, you’d probably be sacrificing nothing optically by going with its f/1.8 DX sibling instead, and saving a lot of money in the process (around $2,250).
• Nikkor AF-S 58 mm f/1.4 – $100 off. This is a normal prime lens for FX. My impression is that the 50 mm f/1.8 has faster focusing and is more than $2,000 cheaper, while the 50 mm f/1.4 loses nothing optically and is also around $2,000 cheaper. I don’t believe this would be a sound purchase.
• Nikkor AF-S 85 mm f/1.4 – $100 off. This is a short telephoto prime lens for FX. It’s reputed to be an excellent lens, and optically better than the AF model it replaced, but possibly with marginally slower focusing. This is probably a good point at which to mention that, if you’re looking to save money and you have a Nikon body with a built-in autofocus motor, get the older AF lenses while you still can.

Nikon flashgun

• Nikon SB-700 flash – $59 off. This is an upper mid-range flashgun, second only to the SB-900 in Nikon’s current range, if I remember correctly. At just under $400, I’d consider this a decent price for this unit, but wait for a bigger discount unless you want or need this right now.

The Nikon lens discounts are cashback offers from Nikon Australia, and in effect until the end of this month (May 2015). They aren’t big savings, but if you’re keen on buying one of those lenses, any discount is worth at least a look.

It would be well worth shopping around. The Nikon cashback offer should apply regardless of the store you buy from, as long as the lens is ‘official’ Australian stock and not ‘grey market’ (i.e., privately imported by the retailer rather than through Nikon Australia). Consider asking at Plaza Cameras, PRA Imaging, and Team Digital. Looking at their websites just now, I can see some prices lower than at Camera Electronic, but do check if the products are grey market items or not, if you have concerns about official Nikon warranties.