D600 (RM 5900) + Nikkor 35mm f/2D (1050) + SB700 (1k)
Nicely in your budget

First off, i wanted to ask you, if maybe you would know. Is the "dust problem" with the D600 solved/fixed already in newer batches? and how to know whether new batches or not? I'm asking about this because I read about it online and it's quite a problem especially if you are a landscape shooter (using small apertures). I thought "OK THIS IS JUST A SMALL PROBLEM" but it happened to my close friend who bought it maybe 4 months ago (not sure exactly when) and it was a big problem as shooting at even f/5.6 already shows the problematic dust bunnies on your images. Wonder what will happen at f8 or f16... and for some reason after he send it for cleaning the AF just stopped working and need to send it again for a 2nd time (the AF thing was maybe a fluke, not sure)

Secondly, I had the AFS 28 1.8G Nano for about 2 months. Read about the reviews online before buying. The good thing - the price is good and it's very light. Now to the bad thing - Basically the main problem most people are talking about the lens is that it has focus shift problems (you can read about it online for more details). Some say the problem is really pronounced and some say it just doesn't exist and it the cameraman's fault.

I used the 28G on mostly on a D3s and sometimes on a D7000. I used the 28G for several wedding shoots. This is what happened :

1. When shooting and viewing it on the camera's LCD it is okay and has good bokeh and colors.
2. When I got back home and checked in on my Adobe Camera Raw I was like "what daaafuuuu~~" The focus shift that some people are talking about really exist and it's not my fault! I do understand that with big apertures I need to be aware & careful of my focusing, but the thing is - my wide open shots at f/1.8 was fine and my f/4 & especially f/5.6 shots was making me crazy mad and worried to use the lens ever again!!!

3. The problem with this lens is focus shift, which most primes have to a certain extend but the thing that makes this lens especially heartbreaking is that is has a FOCUS SHIFT + FIELD CURVATURE. Double the trouble!

At f/1.8 and f/2 the focus is nice and the field curvature problem is not pronounced and most of the time you dont even know it has it. Going down to f4 and f5.6 you get serious problems here, the focus shift + field curvature problem is very pronounced.

EXAMPLE 1 : I was shooting a bride & groom next to each on a malay pelamin (bridal bed) and the background was the flower decoration on several images at f1.8, 2.8 all towards f4. Guess what? The bride & groom is sometimes in focus (not sharpest) and sometimes not in focus but the weird thing is that the decoration at the back has perfectly sharp focus like I was purposely focusing at the decoration. At first I thought I wrongly focused at the back OR the lens has backfocus problems but it turns out that ONLY my f/1.8 shots were fine and the focus field was as I would expect. At other smaller apertures it went backfocus.

EXAMPLE 2 : I was taking a picture of a bride & groom sitting by each other on a bed. I was kneeling straight 90 degrees towards them and using f/2.8 at around 1 meter from the couple. Yes their faces are really close like 10cm from each other & it was a wide shot & NOT a tight close up shot.Guess what? The focus on the bride is just barely okay and the groom just beside her is just like @#%^&! it's not in focus. People might think the lens is not sharp but the thing is that the bed/decoration behind the groom is really sharp and in perfect focus.. i was like WTH? THE SOLUTION : I SOLD THE LENS AND GOT A 16-35 VR. IT WORKS!

This is what i mean:



I had the D700 for quite some time and was satisfied by the performance. I tested out the D600 and was disappointed. The focus speed of d300/d700 was faster and more so in lowlight. 1/4000s on d600? Yeah.. that's why the initial price d600 was the same as the last price of d700 which is around 6k. The initial price of the d700 was 8-9k if im not mistaken. Again this is your choice if you are okay with the D600. I am not okay with it personally.

I had the 28G and really really really hated it because of that focus shift problem. It does not show (at least in my testing it) on DX but it does show this particular problem on FX. It would be a great lens with the Nano coating, decent price, colour, image quality and lightweight but it's not because of what I experienced. I say this : For environmental portraits (only one subject) shooting wide open (f1.8 or f2) this lens is really great and you don't notice the problem. For couple/group/family shots, basically if you have more than one subject and shoot at this aperture "f2.8-f5.6" forget this lens.

The other options like the AFD 20mm, 24mm & 28mm (all f/2.8) does not have the wide open sharpness & colour rendition of the 28G but these lenses work. FORGET the sigma equivalent it's much worse.

If you are on a limited budget I recommend this :

D600 + AFD 28 or AFD 35 + SB900

As far as I know, focus shift happens to most, if not all prime lenses. The only difference is that whether it has a large or small focus shift. It usually disappears or appear to be gone by f/8 or smaller.

This is what happens to my 28 1.8G :

1. I focus and shoot at f/1.8 - Dslr achieves focus but on this particular lens (28G) the range of the area in focus will be a little bit more towards the back, but still the subject will be clearly in focus. Not a problem here for me.

2. I focus and shoot at f/5.6 - When you half-press the shutter button, the camera ALWAYS achieves focus at the widest aperture regardless of the setting on your camera (in this case f/1.8) , but when you fully press the shutter button to snap an image, only then the camera stops down to f/5.6 and the problem here comes because at 5.6 the focus area shifts more towards the back compared to the wide open focus area.
THIS IS WHAT I MEANT BY FOCUS SHIFT

For most zoom lens lets say the 2470G :

1. When i shoot at f/2.8 on a human eye, the focus area is, lets say TOTAL 4 inches (2 inch to the front of the eye and 2 inches to the back).
2. When i change to f/5.6 lets say the focus area is TOTAL 8 inches (4 inches to the front of the eye and 4 inches to the back)

That is usually what happens for zoom lenses or what we would like to it to be. We have more control here.
For primes lets say 28G :

1. When i shoot at f/1.8 on a human eye, the focus area is, lets say TOTAL 4 inches (2 inch to the front of the eye and 2 inches to the back).
2. When i change to f/5.6 lets say the focus area is TOTAL 8 inches (2 inches to the front of the eye and 6 inches to the back)

It depends on the severity of focus shift. If it shifts too much like what I experienced for 28G (especially at close range) it will be useless for shooting at various apertures because you don't know what to expect.

It has a solution however, sort of that is. If you are shooting at only a certain aperture like say you are ONLY shooting at f/5.6, you can adjust the AF-FINE TUNE so that it would have perfect focus at that specific aperture, but the downside is that at other apertures, the focus will be follow the same af fine tune setting, eg. if you set it to be more front focus, at 1.8 it will have too much front focus.

FIELD CURVATURE

The other problem is the field curvature. Nice for environmental portraits because of the way the focus area is curved, but not nice for most other types of shooting especially landscape. The 28G has it and combined with the focus shift as you can see in the image i posted above, the problem got much worse.

I'm not sure sure why this happens and to what types of lenses but I've read somewhere it has to do with the construction or build/shape and/or material of the elements inside the lens. Most people think to make lenses you need glass, but like spectacles, camera lenses also uses plastic optics.

I got the similar experience with you.
28G with D700 got some focus shift issue.
Sold it after 2 weeks.

Yes, D600 AF is not as good as I expect.
Nikon give quite a lot of points, but all clustered at the centre.
I prefer quality than quantity
D700 is a much more reliable when comes to AF performance.

You can see the seriousness of the problem.. he sold it within 2 weeks.. I could have sold it within a month if I had a buyer then, but needed to wait another month for a buyer. You would NOT see the problem when testing it at the shop... unless you can take specific kinds of test shots at the shop and transfer the images into a PC/laptop and look at it. Yeah right...

Like I explained before in my previous post, dont be surprised if some said it is a great lens. They tested it out on a ONE subject at mostly wide open apertures. IT"S JUST IMPOSSIBLE to see it at those settings.Yeah this lens is great at wide open (sharpness,colour) but the reviewers who saw this problem tested it on numerous other things/subjects including a focus chart at various apertures. I just dont know why nikon produced such a flawed lens. Im not so surprised as around the same time they produced the D600 with the dust problem which is a PHYSICAL defect/design & D800 with the left focus point issue. I can understand software/firmware defects but if its physical, especially if it's the insides of the camera or lens.. i'm much better off buying older proven technology.

Yes, exactly.. field curvature does that but the most horrible thing is when this two guys come together : FIELD CURVATURE & FOCUS SHIFT .. Double trouble. I explained it in my previous post. You'll know pain when you take group shots and the center is soft/blurred, the guy standing on the SAME LINE at the left & right is sharp, the guy on the THIRD LINE is sharpest .. WTF?

You can find a used AFD 35 f2... the lens is tough enough cause it doenst have an af motor. a used AF 35mm f2 (non-D) will be much cheaper. Both will AF fine on your camera.

FYI, the OLD Nikon 85mm 1.4D is still in production.. the OLD Nikon 50 1.8D is still in production.. the OLD Nikon 20 2.8D is still in production. Guess what? The 35D is still in production.. why? market wise if this lens was discontinued, what other 35mm prime can you buy for FX? The AFS 35 1.4G? you know how much that costs? Nikon doesnt want people to buy to Sigma/Tamron lenses..they need variety in their product line (price wise).

Dont think Nikon will fix it? Man.. if you buy new, it has a warranty card. THEY WILL FIX IT.

Resale value of the 35D? Around 700-900 depends on age/condition/warranty etc..

used to have 35/2 on my camera

i tot d600 high iso performance is one of the best out there? it's better than 6d definately.

flip coin...
seriously, it's not that hard of a question. you spend too much time on the spec and stuffs.
should use those time to either read up what photography is all about, or, go out and shoot
talking about shooting...
I am sure you are aware of the Kuala Lumpur Photo Awards 2013 competition that is taking place currently.
The deadline for the submission is on the 31st March 2013.

Do submit your creamiest bokeh portrait photographs (prime lens f1.4 + FF sensor)

KL Photo Awards 2013

do you have any lenses from either nikon or canon prior to your purchase to either d600 or 6d?
if not, and then d600's oil problem really irritate you... then your answer is clear isn't it?

i know it's a rm 6000 investment but i think the answer can be simple...

about the noise thing y in dxomark the d600 high iso score is higher than 6d.
bt in dpreview 6d is better than d600?? jz curious..

why dont choose canon? what make you envy nikon shooters so much?

dont feel sad...
i have the same problem like u before...
this is my post last time http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...&#entry56148165

this is the answer from member here http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...post&p=56149613
just lower down ur shutter speed then it will fine already

Gratz on ur purchase bro! Enjoy ur new gear!

How much did u pay for the 35mm f2D?