Richmond, US
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> Should I assume we are talking Nikkor lenses so far?
Above I referred only to Nikon glass, but that's because I was trying not to make things too complicated all at once. The third parties make some fully competitive lenses, sometimes interesting less expensive, sometimes more.
> Do the third party manufactures have the glass to compete well with the Nikkor glass?
This is an extremely controversial subject, and much has been written about it. Try starting with this thread.
> the weather aspect is important to me because I do like winter and blizzards and thunderstorms.
The problem with this is that nobody warranties anything against water damage, so as someone else put it so succinctly, they're weatherproof - until they're not. Yes some of the newer stuff has seals or gaskets, but if Nikon opens up a lens or camera and finds water damage, it's out of warranty, period. No matter what camera or lens it is. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have the seals and gaskets than not, but it isn't the big deal that people seem to think it is.
For one thing, I surveyed my gear and discovered that I now have a whopping two lenses and zero bodies that are even claimed to be sealed. My profile will show the details, but suffice to say that I have mostly pro level gear. Stuff like my 400/f2.8 AFS is not claimed to be sealed, does not have a gasket on the lens mount, and definitely would be crossed off your list as it is set up now. Other lenses like the pro 28-70/f2.8 AFS, 17-35/f2.8 AFS, the "journalist standard" 35-70/f2.8 AFD, all of the current Micro-Nikkors, the DC lenses, etc - NONE of those have seals, gaskets or are "weather proof." It's only the very latest releases - 14-24, 24-70, 70-200 VR-II, etc that have that. But ya know... there sure are a lot of pictures of rain forests, searing deserts, war zones, pictures in the snow from the Frozen Tundra in Green Bay. And a lot of those were taken with Nikon gear before they released the latest generation of lenses.
And anyway, the better path is a rain cover. Remember that 400/f2.8? Last spring I shot a bike race. I did it with a D3 and the 400/f2.8, and a D2x with 80-200/f2.8 AFS, also unsealed. They were both in rain covers, and about the only water that got on the gear got into the covers on my hands. Did I mention that it was raining an inch per hour? I personally was soaked to the skin, and my toes looked like prunes. But the gear was dry and I did get the shots. I was the only photographer silly enough to do it, so I got ALL the sales. _____
Brian... a bicoastal Nikonian and Team Member
My gallery is online. Comments and critique welcomed any time!
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