frjeff wrote:
Thanks. Have decided the 35mm. However, I am highly confused with all of the many variations of this prime: D, G, etc.
Also, it appears that some have a built in focus motor which would not be necessary since the D700 has the motor in the body.
So, specifically, which iteration should I buy?
Thank you for the help!
You can buy whichever fits your budget as they will all work with the D700.
The G lenses are usually AF-S lenses which do have built-in motors. They also lack the aperture ring which generally is not important since when you use a lens with an aperture ring you turn it to the smallest aperture and leave it there. You then choose the aperture by turning the control ring on the camera, especially when you use aperture priority.
AF Nikkors and AF-D Nikkors do not have built-in motors and are usually cheaper than the G lenses. They do have aperture rings when you need them. The AF-D lenses will have the D in the title of the lens on the barrel such as 50mm f/1.8D. The D lenses may be a few dollars more than the AF Nikkors as they are newer. The D on the AF-D lenses stands for distance as the lens sends distance information to the camera to use in flash calculations.
Hope this clears things up.