I've decided on what Nikon lenses I will get

[DavidEccleston]

Part of that $1000 can go towards a KatzEye so that you can use MF effectively.

[Mark Elberson]

I was thinking about doing the Samyang 14mm f/2.8, 35mm f/1.4, and 85mm f/1.4, then cover my autofocus needs with just the Nikon 24-70 f/2.8. That still leaves $1000 or so left over for something else.

For a video shooter this sounds like a great idea. With the extra g-wiz I'd consider an SB-910 for starters.

Congrats Daniel, you have done what Jon & I have only dreamed of! I still have very high hopes for the Mark III though :-)

[Daniel Browning]

Hmm... maybe I was too quick to pass over the Sigma 85mm f/1.4. Bryan's trouble with focusing issues has me worried, but maybe it's better for the Nikon mount. Neither of the Nikon 85mm's are speed demons, they say.

[Dr Croubie]

The samyang 35/1.4 is what I've got, it's optically a very nice lens, but the build quality seems to get worse every time i use it.
Not that it's falling apart, i've used kit-zooms that felt looser and wobblier. But for a start, it's really hard to get infinity focus (sometimes it tops out at 100m or so), I've really got to pull it right to the end (nb: this could very well be related to the fact that it was 2nd-hand and I had to do some minor repairs, specifically to the focussing system at the infinity-end, I'd hope that a new-bought would be better).
Also, I've read about the new 24mm in a review that when changing focussing direction there's a mm or two of travel before it starts changing focus. This is what my 35mm does, i've never read that in a review of the 35 though (again, it could very well be related to my repairs). If it also happens on new lenses, it could get a bit annoying, especially on video.

But there's no going 'past' infinity like on my 15-85 and 70-300L, even just 1mm past infinity would be enough to focus it nicely, even with my problems.

On the plus side, undo a handful of screws and you can de-click the aperture (there's no stop between f/1.4 and f/2.0), could be good for video (any manual aperture is good for video i suppose).

As for the 14mm and 85mm, never used them. From what i've read the 14mm is as sharp as the canon L in the centre, but borderline-fisheye barrelling (ie landscapes fine, cityscapes not). And I picked the EF 85/1.8 over the zeiss, sigma and samyang 85/1.4, no regrets (the nikon 85/1.8 should also be nice), for me in that length for kids-running-around-portraits the AF was worth more than the extra bit of a stop.

[DavidEccleston]

If you want the smooth adjustments for video, they've made it easier for you. Some of the newer Samyangs come in two models, priced the same. One without clicks for video work, and one with clicks. I'm assuming for non-video work the only reason you'd want the clicks because shutter speed and ISO are 1/3 or 1/2 stop based, and the clicks help ensure you're not at an adjustment that can't be balanced by adjusting one of the other settings. Personally I'd think it more advantageous to be able to control the DOF finely than to worry about over/under exposure by 1/6th of a stop on average.

[Daniel Browning]

Neat. I didn't realize they had a variant with a smooth iris ring. I don't need it very often for the type of video I do, but it would be nice to have.