Wide angle help please.

[sallysue66]

I need suggestions on getting a wide angle lens or converter. Probably the converter because from what I've seen so far the lens' cost more than I should invest. I really don't want to spend more than $200 because I'm not a great photographer. I've had my Nikon D3000 for a couple of years now but use it on the sports setting most of the time cause I'm taking pics of my daughters sports activities. Anyway, we're going on a cruise and I want to get some wide shots of the landscapes and ship. I don't know that I will use a wide angle often after that.
I would really appreciate your thoughts on getting decent wide angle shots on a budget.
Thanks.
Lora

 

[My2Girls66]

You could rent one. I bought myself a Tamron 10-24, for my D80, last spring to take to Paris. I honestly haven't taken it out much since. Though I am glad I have it for the times I want to play with it It was $450.

 

[wbeem]

$200 will get you a rental, but nothing of quality to purchase. The Nikon 14-24mm ultra wide angle is about $2000 brand new. That's OK, though. Renting is a good way to use something when you need it, because it's expensive to own every lens you may ever want to use.

Try LensProToGo.com or BorrowLenses.com.

 

[shawn68]

I bought the noon 10-24 and I love it. Except when doing portraits, or sports, it's always on my camera. It was right at a grand.

 

[photo_chick]

I need suggestions on getting a wide angle lens or converter. Probably the converter because from what I've seen so far the lens' cost more than I should invest. I really don't want to spend more than $200 because I'm not a great photographer. I've had my Nikon D3000 for a couple of years now but use it on the sports setting most of the time cause I'm taking pics of my daughters sports activities. Anyway, we're going on a cruise and I want to get some wide shots of the landscapes and ship. I don't know that I will use a wide angle often after that.
I would really appreciate your thoughts on getting decent wide angle shots on a budget.
Thanks.
Lora

If I were you I'd use the 18-55 kit lens. Really, it's pretty wide and can do landscapes quite nicely. The auxiliary lenses that you screw onto your existing lens really degrade your image quality pretty fast.

Another option is the Samyang 8mm fisheye (It's branded Rokinon, Bower, Vivitar..). It's optics are outstanding for the $250 price tag. The catch, it's all manual so it takes some know how to use it. It takes some patience with it, but it's a heck of a lot of fun for the money.

 

[LordAthens]

As usual, a bunch of great advice.

I would highly recommend renting first. You can get a Nikon 10-24 for ~$50 from most of the popular rental joints. See if it's a good focal length for you. While I love my 10-24, a shoot a lot of architecture. IMO, it's NOT a lens you want for shooting kids, certainly not for portraits, etc. Even at it's max of 24mm, you have to get REALLY close. It's certainly suitable for vacations where you're shooting a lot of sights, buildings, shows, etc. Even if you take 3, week long vacations per year, at the retail of $900, you could rent that lens for 6 years before you break even. Also don't forget, that lens will only work on DX cameras*, so if you move to full frame, no dice.

Also look at the Tokina 11-16mm. It's a super nice lens, and fast at a constant 2.8, but you make a trade off with a very limited zoom range. You can nearly consider it a prime with a heavy focus breathing problem ;-)

If you go with the Rokinon, I would suggest spending the extra few dollars on the newer versions with the focus confirmation chip. This will help with focus, since you're limited to manual focus (then again, at that wide of an angle, nearly everything you shoot is going to be focused at infinity anyhow).

 

[sallysue66]

Thanks Everyone. Renting sounds like the way to go for me. I would have never thought of that.

 

[leeshiebean]

Repeating what everyone else said and recommending a rental for your trip. I don't know of any wide angles worth purchasing under $200 (are there even any?), so you'd be spending money on something that's not that great. Save your money and rent for your trip. Then eventually maybe you'll have enough to buy! I've rented from Calumet (in-store, only in a few cities) and rentglass.com (I price checked vs other rentals websites and they offered the best prices with the best shipping and insurance was included).

 

[LordAthens]

I don't know of any wide angles worth purchasing under $200 (are there even any?),

There aren't any actual lenses available, at all, for under $200. There are however "converters". Typically very cheap glass (or even plastic!) that screws onto the filter threads of an existing lens. You can liken it to shooting through the peep hole on a door. Yes it works, but it's not something you would ever actually want to do.

That said, there are a few *very* low priced wide angles out there, that are actually quite good. Rokinon\Samyang\Bower all make a 14mm 2.8 for under $400. They also have a 8mm fisheye for under $300. The Nikon version of the 14mm goes for $1700 while the Nikon 10.5mm fish runs a little over 700.

There are of course some minor drawbacks to paying significantly less money of course, they're manual focus for one and I've read that they don't always provide the correct data to the body (aperture isn't reported correctly, etc). Manual focus isn't a big deal, like I said above, since at that wide of an angle, you're going to almost always be shooting at infinity. For example, a 8mm 2.8 on a Nikon DX body has a hyperfocal distance of just shy of 4 feet. Stop it down to f/8 and you're now at just over 1 foot. You can basically tape the focus ring to infinity and not worry about it again.

Rokinon also has a 85mm 1.4 for super cheap, $300 cheap actually. I'm considering picking this up to use for portraits as my current 105mm 2.8 Nikon Micro is just to long for most portraiture on a DX body. It was even long on my F5! The equivalent (well, not counting autofocus..) 85 1.4 from Nikon is $1700!

 

[wbeem]

Rokinon also has a 85mm 1.4 for super cheap, $300 cheap actually. I'm considering picking this up to use for portraits as my current 105mm 2.8 Nikon Micro is just to long for most portraiture on a DX body. It was even long on my F5! The equivalent (well, not counting autofocus..) 85 1.4 from Nikon is $1700!

Backup. I typically shoot my portraits at 200mm whenever possible. That 105VR has some wonderful quality glass in it. I don't know anything about Rockinon, but I wouldn't bet on it matching the quality you already have.

 

[LordAthens]

Will,

I agree that would work, however for indoor shoots, my space just isn't that big. At 200mm, a pack of cigarettes (standing up) takes up a third of the frame

I do agree that the 105 is a great piece of glass (mine is the older non-VR), but like I said above, it's long for my indoor space. Plus, I simply don't own a classic portrait lens, like a 85 1.4.

I do use my 105 outside quite a bit, but I find myself using it less and less. The AF is pretty slow and hunts a lot, so I have been contemplating selling it and getting the new AF-S version thinking it might be faster. Not to mention, being able to switch between manual and auto, on that particular lens, without having to do anything, would be a very welcome addition.

 

[wbeem]

If you decide you like that Rockinon better, I'll give your 105VR a good home!

 

[allie7]

You could rent one. I bought myself a Tamron 10-24, for my D80, last spring to take to Paris. I honestly haven't taken it out much since. Though I am glad I have it for the times I want to play with it It was $450.

I bought the same lens before DCL's transatlantic cruise from Florida, to Europe.. WAYY worth it! I got so many incredible shots. I rarely take that lens off my camera.

 

[Experiment_626]

I agree that would work, however for indoor shoots, my space just isn't that big.

I know what you mean; my "studio space" at work is so small that I generally use my 50mm f/1.8 for portraits. The bokeh isn't the greatest — but I shoot portraits against a plain white background so I can composite the photos into various other settings as needs dictate.

I've actually considered printing out a large, "pre-blurred" background (blurred in Photoshop) and mounting it on a piece of foamboard to make a nice portrait backdrop. I may try that the next time I have matte paper loaded in the printer (an Epson Stylus Pro 9800 — one of the greatest non-camera toys ever handed to a photographer).

Qapla'

SSB