Wide-angle zoom or fixed-focal length?

[Sunesha]

I am pondering alot over this question. The primes Sigma 20/1,8 EX DG, Nikon AF 20/2,8D or going for the Tokina 12-24 f/4 which is a acceptable pricerange for my economy. I am currently a owner off a 18-70mm which I bought with my Nikon D80. I shoot alot of architectural at the wide angle.

As I believe that I will use the lens quite stopped down as I use mostly a large depth of field.

I pondering as I want shoot more night shoots which maybe the higher aperture would help from the primes. After spending loads off time at photozone.de reading the same reviews over and again.

Will it be worth going prime at wide angle or is zooms better at this length, concerning border to border sharpness?

I have seen the mtf charts and so on, but I always have hard time to put this results into how it will look in reality. Especially when photozone not always provide sampleshots.

For this lens I would wish good border to border sharpness, more then super duper high sharpness in the middle. Weight is not a issue, heh I am strong swedish viking . Also AF isnt that important as I mostly use manual focus on my 18-70 for external architecture shots.

I seen millions of posts on the forums about the wide angle zooms, but I am quite interested in primes.

If you got any other prime ideas under 20 mm in that pricerange of the lenses I mentioned earlier, then I am very interested.

Cheers,
Daniel

Ps. Excuse my english for being both not a native speaker and dyslexian Ds.

 

[Chris101]

Well, if you get either 20mm lenses, it will be a focal length that is covered by your 18-70 zoom. Since you say you will be using the lens at a small aperture, there doesn't seem to be any advantage to the fast prime lenses, other than size. But if you carry it in addition to you other lens, that advantage is gone.

So... if you really want another lens, and want the best advantage you can get from it, I would suggest that you get the 12-24 zoom. The difference between 12mm and 18/20 mm is enormous!

 

[MontyDog]

#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax;

 

[Clix Pix]

From the ones you have listed, I'd go with the 12-24mm zoom, as it will give you the most flexibility. There's also a 10-20mm zoom that Sigma makes. If you really want to go with a prime, the 14mm Nikkor would fit the bill, but it is pretty expensive and still isn't as wide as the 12mm would be....

 

[Cleanmaxx Brian]

I will add a vote for the Sigma 10-20 as well. It mates up nice to whith your current zoom and goes to 10mm on the wiiiiiide end! It will be my next lens purchase

 

[Sunesha]

Well, if you get either 20mm lenses, it will be a focal length that is covered by your 18-70 zoom. Since you say you will be using the lens at a small aperture, there doesn't seem to be any advantage to the fast prime lenses, other than size. But if you carry it in addition to you other lens, that advantage is gone.

So... if you really want another lens, and want the best advantage you can get from it, I would suggest that you get the 12-24 zoom. The difference between 12mm and 18/20 mm is enormous!

Thanks sincerely for your input, I am very surprised how well my 18-70 mm performs at the wider angle comparing to the very old Film SLRs I shoot with in the 80s highschool photo class.

Ha! Chris said exactly what went through my mind.

Also, the wide primes aren't necessarily better than the wide zooms on dSLR cameras, due to light (angle-of-incidence for micro lenses) reasons.

So, another vote for the 12-24/4, a very useful addition.

From the ones you have listed, I'd go with the 12-24mm zoom, as it will give you the most flexibility. There's also a 10-20mm zoom that Sigma makes. If you really want to go with a prime, the 14mm Nikkor would fit the bill, but it is pretty expensive and still isn't as wide as the 12mm would be....

I tried the 14 mm my local pro dealer that had one in. It was a amazing lens. Thou maybe one day in the future I will save up money for it.

I will add a vote for the Sigma 10-20 as well. It mates up nice to whith your current zoom and goes to 10mm on the wiiiiiide end! It will be my next lens purchase

I havnt even got that lens under my frenzy reading reviews on the internet. This will be maybe a even greater lens for me. The tokina isnt sold at my dealer, which just provides, nikon, hasselblad, sigma, leica and zeiss stuff.

Just looked and saw that they had a few 10-20 in stock have to visit and get real life valuation of it.

Thanks for all sharing your knowledge and experience, especially when mine is quite limited. I am very surprised to get so many good ideas in such polite and quick manner.

I guess maybe primes arnt nothing to gain at the wider angle, at least if you are on tight budget. As I decided to pick up a used 35 mm this month from dealer for my social shooting.

Thanks alot and really hope I can contribute something back to you.

Cheers,
Daniel

 

[Julien]

I have both the 18-70 and the 10-20 , so trust me when I tell you that that 8mm difference will blow your mind ! Look here to find more examples of shots taken with the Sigma 10-20 :wink:

Oh and welcome to the Café by the way !!

 

[Sunesha]

I am a fixed focal length lens lover and I would love to recommend the Nikon 20mm f/2.8 to you, I think it is a great lens, but if you are not going to be using f/2.8 – f/4 then you really don’t need this lens. Either stick with what you have, or add a focal length that you do not have. You could do this with any of the super wide zooms like the 12-24’s or perhaps a 10-20, or if you really want to try something different you could go for the Nikon 10.5mm fisheye.

worth thinking about,

I will have to dig a bit deeper. Thou a fisheye will screw up my buildings. Never tried one. I knew from your posts from a other forum that you seemed to be fixed focal guy.

Will have to try track down 20 to check out also. Have friend with tokina thou it is fitted on Canon. So cant try it out myself.

I have both the 18-70 and the 10-20 , so trust me when I tell you that that 8mm difference will blow your mind ! Look here to find more examples of shots taken with the Sigma 10-20 :wink:

Oh and welcome to the Café by the way !!

Oh sweet, thanks man. Didnt knew of that site that you could browse lenses. As I tend to check out the photos more then the MTF, this is even greater I can look how lenses do subjects that I like to shoot.

I checked your sitw, loved the paris stairs photos. Quite surreal feeling to them. Wished they had some real wicked structures at my town.

Cheers and thanks.

 

[Chris101]

... Wished they had some real wicked structures at my town.

Get that fisheye and everyone will think you've got wicked buildings!

... the wide primes aren't necessarily better than the wide zooms on dSLR cameras, due to light (angle-of-incidence for micro lenses) reasons. ...

That was my suspicion too Paul. I actually ran some tests with my (formerly Frits') 20mm f/2.8 vs my 12-24mm DX lens. If I ever get the time to do so, I'll post my results. The bottom line to my eye supports your statement.

 

[shadow]

I shoot almost exclusively primes. I have a 20mm f3.5UD AI lens which I thought was wide. In fact I put off the purchase of the 10-20 for a long time, but I finally pulled the trigger and got it. I'm glad I did. Although I've only done a few test shots with it so far, it is a gem. The extra 8-10mm you get from it is a very nice and interesting perspective. I still like my primes, but there is something about this guy which is amazing.

 

[brownie2d2x]

How's the CA on the Nikon 10.5. Does anyone have recommendations for settings on the D2x with the 10.5? Thanks.

 

[brownie2d2x]

Thanks, Edward. My wonderful husband just bought me the Nikon 10.5 mm f/2.8 and I just ordered the 18-200 mm VR. So, even though I drive a "gas guzzling" SUV, I'm a happy Nikon Cafe camper. :smile:

 

[Rich Gibson]

How's the CA on the Nikon 10.5. Does anyone have recommendations for settings on the D2x with the 10.5? Thanks.

I've had significant CA shooting trees especially branches against bright overcast skies. Capture NX has a feature to address CA.

Rich

 

[brownie2d2x]

Thanks, Rich, I'll try it. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

 

[Sunesha]

I must say that I am even more uncertain of my choose of lens. My current creditcard is lying and burning in a drawer and the lust to swipe it is big. I have yet dared to visit my photostore so I dont buy something on impulse.

There seems to be many good options each with different strengths. So deciding what I really need and gonna be happy with my newbought item. I think I have to really think it over many times. At the moment I think the Sigma is the one that is mostly attracting me. But also tokina or the more expensive Nikon version.

The thing I ponder most over is that I dont wanna buy something that I would exchange. As electronic musican I have bought many expensive synths for later exchange them for the more expensive ones resulting a big loss of money.

After trying the Nikon 14 mm, it hunts my mind. But the price is damn high for my current economy.

Heh, I think if I try the Sigma and like it. I will buy it without hesitation. The problem is that nowdays when stopped care about my salary and money. I dont have the same money to spend. So I guess I would have to make good choice.

Thanks all for your input, thou I feel like girl trying out clothes for a important party.

Cheers,
Daniel

 

[Sunesha]

Hmm I just checked the currency and the dollar is damn low. I going for a roadtrip in the states in about a month. That means almost the halfprice on a lenses.

I love US dollar right now. Thats about buying stuff on 50% sale for me.

I think I shall wait and buy my lens in the states..

Now I feel very happy

 

[MontyDog]

#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax;

 

[Sunesha]

Well, hope that works out for you - here "they" get you back by levying import taxes, customs charges, etc. when you import from US :redface:

I think they do the same, I guess I have to smuggle it in:biggrin:

But they can never know if I had the lens when left the country.

Hmm, didnt thought about that. Never bought something very expensive thou. I will have to talk to my father about it. He goto Las vegas every year. He bought some expensive stuff.

Cheers,
Daniel