Photo Sharing: Ultra Wide Angle

[My2Girls66]

I've never had that lens. It's probably a great lens, but I think you can get a great lens for less if you look at some third party makers. I have Tokina 11-16 f2.8 and I have to say it is as good if not better than most of my Nikon glass. Excellent build quality and optics and much faster than the Nikon 12 - 24mm. And much cheaper. I know you're looking at used one, but depending on how much you want to spend, you could get a new Tokina for the same price as a used Nikon.

good luck.

Thanks for the response I have myself utterly confused at what to do. Or whether to even get an ultrawide. It just seems like a nice option to have in Paris The 18mm end of my walkaround lens is plenty wide for me most of the time but there will some cool shots to get in a city with an ultrawide.

I had originally planned on buying a Sigma 10-20mm from usedcameras.com for $399. A reasonable price for something I will use to try and get some cool shots like the ones in this thread but won't get a ton of use. Then I happened upon the Nikon 12-24mm for $599, 1/2 of its brand new price and in mint condition minus the hood(which are $16). They also have another in excellent condition(2 steps below mint) with a hood for $8 more. For around the same price at the Tokina I will get 24mm vs 16mm which I think would be better for me. Though, the Tokina gets some great reviews and is a 2.8 vs f/4but the Nikon has great reviews too. Then you have the 10mm vs 11mm vs 12mm??? Running out of time and
Btw....the Nikon has been in my 'cart' for 2 days now waiting for my indecisiveness.........

 

[Scottwdw]

Thanks for the response I have myself utterly confused at what to do. Or whether to even get an ultrawide. It just seems like a nice option to have in Paris The 18mm end of my walkaround lens is plenty wide for me most of the time but there will some cool shots to get in a city with an ultrawide.

I had originally planned on buying a Sigma 10-20mm from usedcameras.com for $399. A reasonable price for something I will use to try and get some cool shots like the ones in this thread but won't get a ton of use. Then I happened upon the Nikon 12-24mm for $599, 1/2 of its brand new price and in mint condition minus the hood(which are $16). They also have another in excellent condition(2 steps below mint) with a hood for $8 more. For around the same price at the Tokina I will get 24mm vs 16mm which I think would be better for me. Though, the Tokina gets some great reviews and is a 2.8 vs f/4but the Nikon has great reviews too. Then you have the 10mm vs 11mm vs 12mm??? Running out of time and
Btw....the Nikon has been in my 'cart' for 2 days now waiting for my indecisiveness.........

Susan, if you have a cropped sensor , you'll want the wider 11-16 or 10-20. The Nikon 12-24 f/4 is NOT a DX lens which means you have to multiply out the 1.5 crop factor and is not nearly as wide. That is why the Sigma and Tokina are better for DX cameras. Nikon also has their own 10-24 DX UWA lens but that's over $1K new.

 

[ColleenG]

I have the Sigma 10-20mm for my Canon and love it! I really only use it when I travel. But I am happy to have it when I need it.

 

[Gdad]

Susan, if you have a cropped sensor , you'll want the wider 11-16 or 10-20. The Nikon 12-24 f/4 is NOT a DX lens which means you have to multiply out the 1.5 crop factor and is not nearly as wide. That is why the Sigma and Tokina are better for DX cameras. Nikon also has their own 10-24 DX UWA lens but that's over $1K new.

Nikon 12-24 is a DX lens
Nikon 10-24 is $899 at B&H
Not sure what you're getting at about multiplying by 1.5, even if the 12-24 was an FX lens 12mm is still 12mm

 

[Scottwdw]

Nikon 12-24 is a DX lens
Nikon 10-24 is $899 at B&H
Not sure what you're getting at about multiplying by 1.5, even if the 12-24 was an FX lens 12mm is still 12mm

Susan, disregard my DX statement on the 12-24 then. I was mistaken.

Jeff, if you use an FX lens on a DX cropped sensor you have to multiply 1.5 for Nikons to get the 35mm equivalent. It works in our favor for telephoto lenses but makes wide angles not as wide.

 

[Gdad]

Jeff, if you use an FX lens on a DX cropped sensor you have to multiply 1.5 for Nikons to get the 35mm equivalent. It works in our favor for telephoto lenses but makes wide angles not as wide.

And if you use a DX lens on a DX cropped sensor you have to multiply 1.5 for Nikons to get the 35mm equivalent as well. I'm still failing to see the difference or penalty of mounting a full frame lens on a crop sensor.

 

[Jamian]

Brooklyn Bridge by Jamian, on Flickr

 

[cpbjgc]

I shoot Canon, but thought I would throw in on the Nikon 12-24 debate. I do believe that was the lens one measured other ultra-wides against for shaprness and IQ, or am I mistaken in that? That's my two-bits

Just got back from our family vacation in Florida and we are so happy to be home to snow and flooding (where is that hysterical crying smilie when you need it?). Out first couple nights we were in Clearwater Beach staying at the Holiday Inn (big shout out to Shelby who lets DISsers use her family and friends rate - huge savings). Here are a couple shots from our balcony using the Tokina 11-16 F2.8.

Canon EOS 50D Focal length:11 mm Exposure:1/200 at f/8 ISO 100

and at night

Canon EOS 50D Focal length:11 mm Exposure:30s at f/11 ISO 200

 

[stenogoddess]

Thanks for the response I have myself utterly confused at what to do. Or whether to even get an ultrawide. It just seems like a nice option to have in Paris The 18mm end of my walkaround lens is plenty wide for me most of the time but there will some cool shots to get in a city with an ultrawide.

Just thought I would throw in my .02. I rented a wideangle for our Backstage Magic tour because I knew there would be a lot of buildings that I wanted to get all of and many interior shots where I would want the whole room. I also really wanted one of those shots that's the entire castle and forecourt at Disneyland. It was worth every single penny. I rented it a week early to try to get a feel for it around town before we left, which wasn't enough for me, 'cause I'm slow!, but it's all the time I had. I'm so glad I did it. I rarely changed lenses except for my people shots, but I was mostly about structures on this trip so it worked out great. If you already have a shot list in mind and you know you can't get what you want without the wideangle, totally get one if you can! Hope that helps further muddy the waters for you!

 

[mrcricket]

Relaxing bench by the River in Fort Worth

 

[Experiment_626]

I shoot Canon, but thought I would throw in on the Nikon 12-24 debate. I do believe that was the lens one measured other ultra-wides against for shaprness and IQ, or am I mistaken in that?

Pretty sure you're thinking of Nikon's full-frame 14-24 zoom. That's the one so good that Canon users have been known to buy adapters to use it on their cameras. See: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/14-24mm.htm

Scott

 

[Jamian]

Spaceship Earth Fountain by Jamian, on Flickr

 

[My2Girls66]

I did start looking at the Nikon 10-24mm. Showed it to hubby and he says if photography is your hobby and you need/want a wide angle just get it. What's another $300 over the used Nikon 12-24? Well, they are out of stock everywhere except grey market ones at Adorama. Not that I am sure enough about needing this lens that I would spend $900.......
So off to Ritz and Best Buy to see if I can actually look through one and get an idea if its something I want/need or if I am just in awe of the photos posted here that I think I need one.

 

[My2Girls66]

Spaceship Earth Fountain by Jamian, on Flickr

Jamian, just beautiful! How far were you standing from the fountain in this shot?

 

[Scottwdw]

I did start looking at the Nikon 10-24mm. Showed it to hubby and he says if photography is your hobby and you need/want a wide angle just get it. What's another $300 over the used Nikon 12-24? Well, they are out of stock everywhere except grey market ones at Adorama. Not that I am sure enough about needing this lens that I would spend $900.......
So off to Ritz and Best Buy to see if I can actually look through one and get an idea if its something I want/need or if I am just in awe of the photos posted here that I think I need one.

You could always rent one for your trip. I use LensRentals.com who are great to work with.

 

[My2Girls66]

You could always rent one for your trip. I use LensRentals.com who are great to work with.

I have actually been thinking about doing that. $102 for 10 days on the Nikon 10-24mm.
I went to Best Buy and Ritz. Neither had an ultrawide for Nikon in the store to even look at Best Buy had a canon 10-22 and I tried it on one of their Canon bodies but it just wasn't the same as looking through my Nikon body. At Ritz they could get me a Tamron 10-24mm in 2 days if I want. $449 after rebate

 

[mrcricket]

Reflections of Fort Worth.

 

[cpbjgc]

Ah, the 14-24 is indeed what I was thinking of! Thanks for the link Scott.

Now on to business!

All Hail Zurg!

 

[ColleenG]

Spaceship Earth Fountain by Jamian, on Flickr

Jamian, is this shot HDR? It's beautiful. I have a similar shot but not at all as nice as yours! Here's mine...

f/8, 5 sec, ISO 200, at 10 mm

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I did start looking at the Nikon 10-24mm. Showed it to hubby and he says if photography is your hobby and you need/want a wide angle just get it. What's another $300 over the used Nikon 12-24? Well, they are out of stock everywhere except grey market ones at Adorama. Not that I am sure enough about needing this lens that I would spend $900.......
So off to Ritz and Best Buy to see if I can actually look through one and get an idea if its something I want/need or if I am just in awe of the photos posted here that I think I need one.

Now I'm not one to shy away from spending money on a lens, rotfl2 and I love my ultra wide's, but that's a big price difference for 2mm IMO unless the 12-24 is not a good lens (which I don't believe to be true). I've had a 10-20, an 11-18 and a 12-24 as I've changed camera bodies etc. I switched from the 10-20 to the 11-18 b/c I prefered the colors produced by the coating better on the 11-18 and the 1mm wasn't that different. Then when I got full frame I got the 12-24mm which was a full frame lens. I now use that on the crop body b/c the difference between 12mm and 11mm did not make that big of a difference. If anything for a crop sensor I'd look for an 8-16mm or such b/c you do start to see a difference by that point. Just my opinion you didn't ask for!