Wider companion to the 50mm 1.8?

[Loa]

Hello,

I'm a big fan of my 50mm 1.8 nikkor lens, but I'd really like to find a wider 1.8 lens to go with it.

Any suggestions? (Open to less expensive companies too...)

Thanks

Loa

[cyclohexane]

The 35mm f/2.0D AF Nikkor and Sigma 30mm f/1.4 are pretty much your only AF options. Sigma also makes a 20mm f/1.8 but the image quality is lousy until at least f/2.8.

If you go manual focus, there's a 24mm f/2.0 AIS Nikkor, a 28mm f/2.0 AIS Nikkor, a 35mm f/1.4 AIS Nikkor... all available on the used market, not to mention lenses such as the newer Zeiss 35mm f/2.0 and similar lenses (I think there's a fast 25mm or something...). Unfortunately, you won't have AF, and no metering either on the less expensive bodies.

[mort]

I stuggle to take my 50mm 1.8 off my d80. as it is great lens however the 28mm f/2.0 is a sharp lens and once you are used to the shorter focal lenght a great alternative.

[Loa]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Now I understand why I couldn't find more lenses on the web.

35mm will be too close to the 50mm for my budget: I was looking for something closer to 24mm, with AF on the D70.

Thanks,

Loa

[d2creative]

The 35mm is my favorite lens! Ever since I got it I never use the 50mm. Ever.

When i want wider I use the Sigma 10-20.

[sean_buerger]

I have the Nikkor AIS 2/ 24 (MF) which is really good, if you can live without AF and CPU. Note that it's difficult to focus wider lenses with the viewfinder. The lens is really sharp but does have slightly high magenta / green fringing which can be optimized in RAW conversion.

The SIGMA 30mm lens is also in my lens cabinet. This is something of an interesting lens. The corners are pretty bad but centre sharpness is incredible, even wide open. The lens produces rather ugly purple fringes. However I've grown to like this lens due to it's high contrast and centre sharpness fully open. The AF accuracy is something people tend to complain about. You can override focusing manually at any time. Again it would be difficult to focus it manually with the viewfinder unless you stop down, where focusing accuracy is not vital. If you buy one, inspect it closely! SIGMA's QC is not the most reliable. Note that this lens comes with the silliest (back) lens cap that you have ever seen.

Nikon's AFD 28 2.8 you can safely give a miss. Mine has rather awful corners and the centre isn't that crisp either. My 28 3.5 AIS (MF) lens is just as bad - ashtray category.

If you use D80 (or below) your camera needs a CPU lens for metering. The Zeiss MF lenses do not have a CPU - so no metering! The AI(S) lenses wouldn't meter on a D80 either.

If it's not urgent, perhaps we can wait together to see, whether Cosina Voigtlaender will make a wider SL II lens. So far they have MF 40 & 58 mm lens with CPU. The 58 is really very(!) good, but that's not what you're looking for...

Cheers, Sean.

[NFG]

Sigma's 24mm has been recommended to me by several people, and it's not terribly priced either. It seems to better most of Nikon's similar primes in quality as well. It's next on my lens purchase list.

[Nikonfreak]

The Nikon 35 f/2 is an excellent lens. I've had one for a while and use it quite a bit. I've used it for natural light pics of newborns and a whole lot of other stuff when you really want shallow DOF and when taking certain kinds of "mood" pictures... effect... It's really nice.

There is also the 20 f/2.8 Nikon. It's fairly decent optically and available at a pretty decent price. I don't own it, but I've looked at this lens a number of times and have considered picking one up. At about $400 street price, it's pretty inexpensive.

Julio

[Loa]

Hello,

Thanks for the added suggestions guys. The lens that caught my eyes is the sigma 24mm/1.8. Think my next step will be to go to my local photography shop and try one myself. (When I get the budget, of course!)

Thanks


Loa

[sean_buerger]

Don't forget to post some pix if you go for the lens!

I'm sure a lot of people are interested to see what it can do

Cheers, Sean.

[Nikonfreak]

The 20mm f/1.8 by Sigma is one that got my attention.

The 14mm f/2.8 is also a lens that is quite good, but carries the price tag.

Julio

[Loa]

Originally Posted by sean_buerger

Don't forget to post some pix if you go for the lens!

I'm sure a lot of people are interested to see what it can do

Cheers, Sean.

Sure thing. But don't hold your breath: work isn't all that stable right now... :-(

Originally Posted by Nikonfreak

The 20mm f/1.8 by Sigma is one that got my attention.

Julio

Can you tell m why? Is it the focal length, or optical quality?

Thanks
Loa

[Nikonfreak]

Because it's a nice wide, 20mm lens and the fact that it has an f/1.8 aperature makes it attractive to me for some of the low light work I do.

I don't know how good it is optically as I haven't really had time to go purchase a lens and do testing to see if I like it. For a while I've been considering the 20mm f/2.8 Nikon but haven't gone that way because I have the 12-24 f/4 and the 28-70 f/2.8. I've been kicking around the notion of selling my 28-70 f/2.8 Nikkor in favor of the newer 24-70 to get the extra 4mm on the front end but I still have no f/2.8 or faster option below 24mm except for the 10.5 fisheye.

Julio

[badpickev]

ahhh the sigma 1.8 triplets. 20, 24, 28