Not to nitpick, but, you listed "85mm" as one of Nikon's "best" lenses, which I'm assuming is the 85mm f/3.5 DX Macro (aka Micro). However, it isn't a replacement for the 85mm f/1.4D or f/1.8D, though there's a rumored prime refresh coming next year. Similarly, the
There have been "rumored prime refreshes" for the last 5 years. Nikon's lens folks haven't been driven by marketing outside of the superzoom and kit lenses that get released with each new body. They still get to work a lot on what interests them.
If you've spent less money on your body and you need a macro, then the Tamron 90mm SP Di works fine on your low-end body and works well for portraits too- no big hole there.
105mm f/2.8 AF-S Macro isn't a replacement for the 105mm DC f/2D, nor is there a real AF-S equivalent for focal lengths you didn't list, such as the
The 105 DC was never a heavily popular lens, and frankly the DC portion is generally better-served with PS these days anyway. The 105VR is a replacement for the 105 Micro, which has always been on the short list of great Nikkors. I wouldn't be overly surprised if Nikon weren't selling off a batch of 105DCs from a mid-1990's production run still. Neither of those lenses is a budget lens anyway. Your typical D5000 user isn't going to be interested in the price or focal length.
135mm DC f/2D, or either of Nikon's fisheyes. All of these remain listed on Nikon's website (at least their US site - couldn't be bothered to check others).
Like the 105 DC, the 135DC is a specialty lens, and hardly something a beginner is going to pick up. More importantly, both the 105DC and 135DC are focal lengths that scream out for FX, as the DC is generally used in portraiture where they're both terrible angles of view on DX. I mean, you're
seriously advocating that
defocus control lenses at ~157.5mm and ~202.5 are missed on DX format cameras? Which of the two do you own and use frequently?
Frankly, if you need AF for a fisheye, you've got way bigger problems than we have time to talk about here.
But exotic lenses that never sold in vast quantities even when they autofocused on every single camera Nikon sold are hardly ringing arguments for the current strategy.
Of course, these aren't necessarily lenses that the majority of new camera owners, or really, photographers in general, would be interested in, but they are nevertheless inaccessible - at least, to an extent - to the entry-level
Not only aren't they
necessarily lenses the majority of new camera owners or really photographers in general would be interested in- they're limited-production lenses that never sold in large numbers anyway- in the case of the 135mm DC, I'm pretty-sure it's been discontinued.
Nikon had a choice- they could make the D40 and the bodies that followed it really inexpensive, or they could choose to include a screwdriver focus motor. They chose the right way for the market, otherwise they wouldn't have been selling boatloads of new entry-level cameras and taking market share from pretty-much everyone.
Nikon user. In addition, those with less money to spend can get good deals on useful older lenses, particularly the 50mm f/1.8D or the 35-70mm f/2.8D, but also some of the (admittedly surpassed by the newer zooms) f/2.8 primes. There are also a few third-party lenses that either lack versions with built-in autofocus or have cheaper body-driven versions.
I don't think you've been watching used prices on the 35-70 f/2.8 AF-D if you think there's a "good deal" out there anymore. While you used to be able to pick up a good sample for ~$350, they now
start at $650, and good samples tend to be in the $800 range.
For instance:
http://www.h1photo.com/1963.html
Used, $794.95
Hardly the lens a budget-conscious purchaser is looking for. (I've been considering selling mine and upgrading the the (wider, better) Sigma 24-70 HSM for $150.
As for the 50mm, the 35mm DX costs less than the delta between the bodies that will AF it and the 50mm, and is a more appropriate angle of view on a DX sensor. That's Nikon's answer, and frankly it's a pretty good answer.
In any case, I just think that when people choose to buy a budget camera, they should be able to use budget lenses (to their full functionality, FX/DX quibbles aside) on them, instead of having to (ironically) upgrade in order to do so.
There are plenty of budget lenses available that AF on the low-end Nikon bodies. The market is full of consumer-grade zooms that AF just fine. More importantly, Nikon's current strategy has them selling more cameras and gaining more market share- so they're hardly likely to worry too much about people purchasing 15 year old lenses- and the most likely segment who cares about that are going to be picking up higher-end cameras for the most part anyway. Worrying about the corner cases who aren't going to purchase new lenses would be silly at this point as the strategy is working well enough.
