Is Now the Time to Buy Used Nikon DSLR Lenses?

Nikon F-mount cameras and lenses have been around for 65 years. In that time, Nikon has introduced more than 90 different types of lenses, ranging from the 6mm f/2.8 Circular Fisheye to the 2000mm f/11.0 Reflex. In 2016, the 100 millionth Nikkor lens rolled off the production line. Yet just two years later, the Nikon Z Mount was born, and Nikon all but ceased paying attention to their venerable F Mount lenses.

Does this mean F Mount lenses are on the verge of obsolescence? I don’t think so. In fact, I think now is the ideal time to buy used DSLR lenses as a Nikon photographer.

In the past, a rule of thumb was that the price of cameras would drop more than the price of lenses. For example, the former dream camera, the Nikon D3 from 2007, cost $5000 when it was launched – today, it can be found used for a tenth of that price. By the way, it’s still a respectable camera after all these years, as you can read in the article Nikon D3 vs Nikon Z9: Titans from Different Eras.

However, when Nikon decided to shift focus from DSLRs to mirrorless, the established order of used prices changed quite a bit. DSLR lenses that held their price for many years suddenly became significantly cheaper. The lenses have not gotten any worse – in some ways, they got even better. For example, lenses without vibration reduction gain a few stops of in-body image stabilization if you use them on mirrorless.

As for prices, consider the Nikon AF-S 500mm f/4E FL VR. This is a $10,300 lens – or, rather, it was. These days, it can be found on eBay for about $4500 (eBay affiliate link). And what about the older 500mm f/4G VR? That lens is selling used for about $2000 (eBay affiliate).

These are practically criminal prices. What once would have bankrupted a family of four can be purchased for hardly more than the Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3. I recently put my money where my mouth is and bought a used copy of the Nikon 500mm f/4E FL, rather than shelling out $14,000+ on one of Nikon’s newest Z System exotics. It has now become my main lens as a wildlife photographer.

Reasons Not to Buy a Used DSLR Lens

What’s behind the low prices of used DSLR lenses? Probably the most common and understandable reason is that Nikon has seemingly shifted to mirrorless for good. If you want such a good deal on a DSLR lens, it will be used, with comes with the possible fear of a hidden defect. (To avoid this inconvenience, some time ago we wrote a guide on how to buy used lenses.)

There are other arguments against buying a used DSLR lens that should also be considered:

1. The Z-mount lenses have lived up to expectations; most of them are sharper and faster to focus than their F-mount counterparts.
2. To use a DSLR lens on a mirrorless camera, it must be adapted via the FTZ adapter, which some may find annoying.
3. As lenses age, their serviceability decreases due to lack of spare parts.

On current Nikon Z-mount cameras, the bottleneck for communicating with DSLR lenses is the FTZ adapter. Some great lenses lost autofocus on Z cameras, including Nikon’s older AF-D glass. If you want to adapt a Nikon DSLR lens to mirrorless, you’ll want to check ahead of time to see if there are any compatibility issues. We have a full list of FTZ-compatible lenses here.

Reasons to Buy a Used DSLR Lens

Despite this, I personally believe that DSLR lenses represent the best value of any used lenses today. There are many reasons to buy one:

1. Significantly lower price makes previously unattainable lenses affordable.
2. They can be used both on DSLRs and mirrorless cameras, unlike mirrorless lenses!
3. You can sell a used lens for about the same price that you buy it, allowing for long-term “rentals” without losing much money.
4. The optical improvement of Z System lenses is usually much smaller than the price difference. For example, the Nikon Z 400mm f/2.8 is slightly better optically than the most recent F-mount version, yet is $10,000 more expensive.
5. If used on a mirrorless camera, older F-mount lenses can shine. Focus peaking and image stabilization can be added to old lenses that never even had autofocus. There is no loss in optical quality adapting a DSLR lens to mirrorless.
6. Many F-mount lenses still have no Z-mount equivalent, yet have still decreased in price. For example, the Nikon 58mm f/1.4, Nikon 300mm f/2.8, and Nikon 500mm f/4.
7. Did I mention the price?

Recommended Used DSLR Lenses

To give you a sense of context for how much cheaper used DSLR lenses have gotten these days, I’m listing some of my favorite lenses and their prices below. The telephoto lenses in particular are excellent deals, generally selling for less than half of their original price, yet performing at exceptional levels optically.

Telephoto Lenses

• Nikon 800mm f/5.6E FL: Was $16,300 new, currently $6000 used (eBay affiliate) – See our review. Even 12 years after its introduction, this 4.6 kilo (10.9 pound) hulk remains on top. It is still the sharpest lens in the 800mm+ category that we’ve tested. When photographing small or distant animals from a tripod, this lens will shine for years to come.

• Nikon 600mm f/4E FL: Was $12,300 new, currently $5000 used (eBay affiliate) – See our review. The new Nikon Z 600mm f/4 is a little sharper, a little lighter, and a little better at focusing. But all these improvements are just “a little.” The biggest practical difference is the built-in teleconverter. If you can forego that, you can save enough cash to take this lens around the world. You could even go for an older version like the f/4G, which is still optically impressive and costs about $3000 used (eBay affiliate). Just make sure that there are no problems with the focusing motor, since a replacement can be hard to find these days.

• Nikon 500mm f/4E FL: Was $10,300 new, currently $4500 used (eBay affiliate) – See our review. It’s an optically excellent lens with no direct Z Mount equivalent yet. It’s light enough to handhold, with the perfect focal length for wildlife photography. This is the lens I bought used, and I look forward to many years with it as my main workhorse. The older version is a little less sharp, but a 500mm f/4 for about $2000 (eBay affiliate) is incredible if you’re on a budget.

• Nikon 500mm f/5.6E PF VR: Was $3600 new, currently $1800 used (eBay affiliate) – See our review. An absolute gem in the Nikon telephoto portfolio. Incredibly light (1460 g / 3.21 lb) and compact. It’s a pleasure to shoot handheld. It has very good sharpness, not much of which is taken away by the TC1.4x. It also focuses very well on Nikon mirrorless cameras, even with the teleconverter. This lens was born to travel. The only compromise is the f/5.6 aperture. However, with today’s high ISO performance and software options, noise is not nearly as much of an issue as it used to be.

 

• Nikon 400mm f/2.8E FL: Was $11,200 new, currently $5000 used (eBay affiliate) – See our review. An optically excellent wildlife all-rounder that can be used for larger animals as well as for birds. Weighing in at 3800 g (8.36 lb), the 400mm f/2.8E is a piece of lens. In this respect, the new Nikon Z 400mm f/2.8 TC is better. Still, most photographers shoot with these lenses from gimbals, at which point the weight only matters while you’re lugging it to the location. The older generation 400mm f/2.8G is also very sharp and fast-focusing, and it sells for a stunningly low $2800 on the used market (eBay affiliate). If you don’t mind the weight (4.62 kilos / 10.2 lbs) and front-heavy design, that may be the best bargain you can get today as a wildlife photographer.

• Nikon 300mm f/2.8 G VR II: Was $5500 new, currently $1700 used (eBay affiliate) – See our review. If you’re comfortable with a 300mm focal length and need a maximum aperture of f/2.8, there’s nothing to think about. It’s an amazing lens that tolerates teleconverters very well, and it’s lighter than the other “exotics.” Plus, there isn’t a Nikon Z equivalent yet.

• Nikon 300mm f/4E PF: Was $2000 new, currently $800 used (eBay affiliate) – See our review. The main advantage of this lens is its compactness. You can carry it around in your camera bag like a standard zoom lens. It’s a great companion to the Nikon 500mm f/5.6E PF when you don’t need as much reach. This lens’s light weight (755 g / 1.66 lbs) and portability may outweigh everything else.

• Nikon 200mm f/2G VR II: Was $5700 new, currently $2800 used (eBay affiliate) – See our review. This is definitely a specialty lens. For wildlife photography, 200mm is often too short. So its main use is as a portrait, concert, or wedding lens, or for larger wildlife nearby. The main selling point of this chunky lens is the f/2 aperture and the beautiful bokeh. It has no Z System equivalent, yet sells for much less than it did new! The older VR version sells for under $2000.

• Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E VR: Was $1400 new, currently $750 used (eBay affiliate) – See our review. One of two zoom lenses to find its way into my telephoto selection. While there are a few things to criticize about this lens objectively, there’s not much to complain about where price is concerned. If you’re looking for a very good wildlife lens on a budget, the 200-500mm f/5.6 has a lot to offer. Its best partner is the Nikon D500, which is also available today for a fraction of the original price, making it the ultimate budget wildlife combo.

• Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8E FL VR: Was $2450 new, currently $1200 used (eBay affiliate) – See our review. This is the last of the holy trinity of f/2.8 lenses and represents the pinnacle of zooms from the DSLR era. It’s one of the sharpest zooms we’ve ever tested; the Z version is even a step sharper, but this one won’t hold back even a 45 megapixel sensor. Where the lens really shines is its focusing speed, where it can even keep up with attacking skua.

Standard Lenses

As focal lengths shorten, the performance gap between F-mount DSLR lenses and Z-mount mirrorless lenses begins to widen. However, some are still worth your time. Which ones are my favorites? Among the lenses that retain autofocus on the Z system, these are the ones that stand out.

• Nikon 105mm f/1.4E: Was $2100 new, currently $1200 used (eBay affiliate) – See our review. I’m not a portrait photographer, but I’m very tempted to buy this lens. The 105mm focal length is a great compromise between 85mm and 135mm in my opinion. Even by today’s standards, the lens is sharp as a piranha’s teeth. Yet it also delivers bokeh as soft as a baby alpaca’s fur. Even on Z cameras, it focuses reliably and benefits from a stabilized sensor. I think I just convinced myself.

• Nikon 58mm f/1.4G: Was $1600 new, currently $850 used (eBay affiliate) – See our review. This is the kind of lens that looks ordinary in the lab but shines in real use. I know several Nikon photographers for whom it is their number one lens. When photographing weddings, portraits, or street photos, this lens provides beautiful bokeh, lovely contrast, and beautiful colors.

• Nikon 28mm f/1.4E: Was $2000 new, currently $1100 used (eBay affiliate) – See our review. Forget what I said earlier about Z-mount lenses outperforming their F-mount counterparts. This lens defies that rule. It is, in fact, still the sharpest lens that we’ve ever tested in the lab (at least in the center – though the corners are seriously sharp, too). Not to mention that if you love the 28mm focal length, f/1.4 is larger than anything you’ll get on the Z mount. It’s a one-of-a-kind lens.

Wide-Angle Lenses

When it comes to extreme focal lengths below 24mm, development has come a long way, and most wide-angle mirrorless lenses are better-corrected than their DSLR counterparts. However, there is still a pair of Nikon DSLR lenses that stand out.

• Nikon 20mm f/1.8G: Was $800 new, currently $420 used (eBay affiliate) – See our review. Even though the Nikon Z 20mm f/1.8 S is sharper, that doesn’t mean that a DSLR 20mm is a bad choice. This lens still has the best sunstars of any lens on the market, and it’s impressive enough for Milky Way photography wide open at f/1.8. Given the price, I think that many landscape photographers should consider this lens first, even if shooting mirrorless.

• Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G: Was $1750 new, currently $700 used (eBay affiliate) – See our review. This lens was introduced in 2007 along with the 12-megapixel Nikon D3. Yet even on today’s 45-megapixel cameras, the sharpness lens holds up. Stopped down to f/4 or f/5.6, it’s within sight of the Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S (itself the sharpest wide-angle zoom we’ve tested). It’s the obvious choice for a DSLR, and when you factor the current price into the equation, it’s worth considering for mirrorless as well.

Conclusion

In the title of this article, I asked if now is the time to buy used DSLR lenses as a Nikon shooter. And as you can see, the answer is yes. The prices are so low these days that I believe many photographers should consider an F-mount lens before a Z-mount lens. And the list above only scratches the surface; there are dozens of F-mount lenses that I haven’t included above, and almost every one is selling for a deep discount these days. If you have a favorite that I haven’t mentioned, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

These are golden times for photographers who don’t mind buying used. High-quality equipment has never been cheaper, and all of these lenses were built to last for a long time. While some photographers drop many thousands of dollars on the newest mirrorless equipment, photographers on a budget can pick up high-end DSLR gear for pennies on the dollar and take equally good photos.

This is especially beneficial for wildlife photographers. Even exotic F-mount telephoto lenses now sell for a fraction of their original price. Lenses like a 400mm f/2.8 or 500mm f/4 were previously out of reach, and now, they are suddenly attainable by mere mortals. Other lenses, like old manual-focus glass, can be used with features like focus peaking and in-body image stabilization, making them even more useful than ever, despite their lower prices.

It can be easy to forget, but now is one of the best times to ever be a photographer, especially if you’re on a budget.