Which Wide Angle Lens?

Angelo · March 31, 2005

OK so I bet this question will generate significantly more responses than any of my photo posts...

What exactly is a wide angle lens and how is one distinguished from any other type of glass?

I am encouraged to try more WA shooting thanks to Andy's street work and can't seem to accomplish it with the lenses I own (see my bio for short list).

Thanks in advance for your answers and direction.

Harryb · March 31, 2005

Hey Angelo,

A wide angle lens is considered to be any lens with a focal length of less than 50mm. In the real world any lens with a focal length of 28mm or less is considered to be a w/a lens (don't forget your 1.5X factor). So your 18-70 lens can be considered to be a w/a zoom.

No if you want to go wider than your current 18-70 there are the following choices from Nikon

the w/a zooms
the 17-35/2.8 (considered to be the best Nikon w/a zoom) - $1379.00
the 12-24/4.0 - $1199
the 17-55/2.8 - $1650

the w/a primes
the 14mm/2.8 - $1299
the 18mm/2.8 - $1299

As you can see these are pretty pricey lenses. Thats why my W/A lens is the 18-35 ($439.00). Of course there are the 3rd party lenses (Sigma, Tamaron & Tokina) which you may want to look at. I saw some early reviews of the forthcoming Tokina 12-24 lens that were positive (should be around $400-$500). http://photographyreview.com has a good collection of user reviews of the various lenses.

Khaos · March 31, 2005

:poke

1. Buy a Canon 20D

2. Buy the 10-22 EF-S

3. Much happiness ensues.

wxwax · March 31, 2005

Man, I'd love to have a 14 f2.8.

The good thing for you is, Nikon's strength is said to be in the short focal length lenses, so you have the right camera system if you want to go wide.

Harryb · March 31, 2005

wxwax wrote:

Man, I'd love to have a 14 f2.8.

The good thing for you is, Nikon's strength is said to be in the short focal length lenses, so you have the right camera system if you want to go wide.

I want it too. Now all I need to do is get my wife into a comatose state.

Andy · March 31, 2005

Angelo wrote:

OK so I bet this question will generate significantly more responses than any of my photo posts...

What exactly is a wide angle lens and how is one distinguished from any other type of glass?

I am encouraged to try more WA shooting thanks to Andy's street work and can't seem to accomplish it with the lenses I own (see my bio for short list).

Thanks in advance for your answers and direction.

angelo

you own the nikkor 18-70 - that's a great place to start! tape it on 18mm - which is 27mm in 35mm terms - and you'll be shooting wide! anything less than 50mm in 35mm equiv is considered wide angle. remember, you have a 1.5x crop factor.

shoot with your 18mm focal length, get comfortable with it, and then look at some of the most excellent glass that nikon offers

in the wide angle area.

let's see the results!

david_h · March 31, 2005

Hey Angelo,
I have played with the Sigma and Nikon 12-24's and wasn't overwelmed with either. I did prefer the Nikon, but I wasn't really impressed with the build quality. It's hard to use filters with the Sigma because of that protruding round lens.
I've had the Tokina 12-24 on order from Adorama dot com for a while ($499 if I remember correctly).
There's also a Tamron soon to arrive, 11-20 mm I believe. No sign of it arriving in the US though. I think another Sigma has also been anounced, this one a DX type for digital only.
At the moment, the 18-70 is still my widest lens and might be for a while yet.

Harryb · March 31, 2005

david_h wrote:

I've had the Tokina 12-24 on order from Adorama dot com for a while ($499 if I remember correctly).

Hey David,

I'm very interested in the Tokina 12-24 and would love to hear your impressions of it when you fnally get it.

Angelo · April 1, 2005

Harryb wrote:

Hey Angelo,

A wide angle lens is considered to be any lens with a focal length of less than 50mm. In the real world any lens with a focal length of 28mm or less is considered to be a w/a lens (don't forget your 1.5X factor). So your 18-70 lens can be considered to be a w/a zoom.

No if you want to go wider than your current 18-70 there are the following choices from Nikon

the w/a zooms
the 17-35/2.8 (considered to be the best Nikon w/a zoom) - $1379.00
the 12-24/4.0 - $1199
the 17-55/2.8 - $1650

the w/a primes
the 14mm/2.8 - $1299
the 18mm/2.8 - $1299

As you can see these are pretty pricey lenses. Thats why my W/A lens is the 18-35 ($439.00). Of course there are the 3rd party lenses (Sigma, Tamaron & Tokina) which you may want to look at. I saw some early reviews of the forthcoming Tokina 12-24 lens that were positive (should be around $400-$500). http://photographyreview.com has a good collection of user reviews of the various lenses.

Harry / Andy:

What's the 1.5X factor? (sorry)

Angelo · April 1, 2005

andy wrote:

angelo

you own the nikkor 18-70 - that's a great place to start! tape it on 18mm - which is 27mm in 35mm terms - and you'll be shooting wide! anything less than 50mm in 35mm equiv is considered wide angle. remember, you have a 1.5x crop factor.

shoot with your 18mm focal length, get comfortable with it, and then look at some of the most excellent glass that nikon offers in the wide angle area.

let's see the results!

Andy:

In the first of your St. Pat's pics you shot at 10mm. How close were you actually standing to your subject?

Angelo · April 1, 2005

david_h wrote:

Hey Angelo,
I have played with the Sigma and Nikon 12-24's and wasn't overwelmed with either. I did prefer the Nikon, but I wasn't really impressed with the build quality. It's hard to use filters with the Sigma because of that protruding round lens.
I've had the Tokina 12-24 on order from Adorama dot com for a while ($499 if I remember correctly).
There's also a Tamron soon to arrive, 11-20 mm I believe. No sign of it arriving in the US though. I think another Sigma has also been anounced, this one a DX type for digital only.
At the moment, the 18-70 is still my widest lens and might be for a while yet.

thanks for the input david.

Harryb · April 1, 2005

Angelo wrote:

Harry / Andy:

What's the 1.5X factor? (sorry)

The sensor on the D70 has 1.5 magnification factor so a 12-24 lens becomes a 18-36 lens on the D70. Its great if you want more reach, not so great if you want ot go wide.

Angelo · April 1, 2005

Harryb wrote:

The sensor on the D70 has 1.5 magnification factor so a 12-24 lens becomes a 18-36 lens on the D70. Its great if you want more reach, not so great if you want ot go wide.

Ah, OK gotcha. Thanks.

Which Wide Angle Lens?

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