Best wide prime?

dt2003au

dt2003au

Senior Member
stgermaine said:
Hi

I have a D90 with a 50mm 1.8
50mm is great for portraits but I need something wider.
Besides portraits, I like landscape/architecture.

Recommend me something for under $400. Is the 28mm f2.8 any good?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

If you don't mind manual focus/metering, I can recommend Sigma 24mm f2.8. It works as a standard wide on a DX camera (D90 in my case), as it works out to be equivalent of 36mm (unless I'm mistaken). It can be picked up really cheaply on ebay (~80 bucks).
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E

Eye-level

Banned
In terms of the old school Nikkors my favorite of the wide angle jobs is the 28/2.8 AIS...it is hard to beat this lens - close focus of like 1/2', super sharp at any aperture, no barrel distortion, floating elements, just a fantastic lens and you can still buy them BRAND NEW that ought to say something right there considering we are deep into the digital age nowadays. The 28/3.5 is one of the cheapest lenses you can buy and it performs pretty dang good too.

The other wide I like is the 24/2.8 Basically for many of the same reasons noted above.

With that being said there is a HUGE difference between 24 and 28 IMO...you just have to shoot both and figure out what you prefer.

Anything under 24 is super wide angle to me and 35 is to close to standard in my book.

And one can make some cool pictures at 35 no doubt. :)
 
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Berkerk

Berkerk

Senior Member
Tokina 11-16 or Sigma 10-20 (previous model not the latest fixed f3.5 one - not because of price but because it's a better lens IMO) are both in your price range and good on DX.
 
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stmv

Senior Member
since you are looking at primes, a I like my 20 mm 2.8, which you can buy used on ebay for under 400, new around 550, lately I have been using my 28 mm 2.8D. the 20mm makes it around 30 on the DX sensor, so that is in the realm of wide angle.
 
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McNikon

Senior Member
Why are wide angle prime lenses more expensive than 50mm ones?

I love my 50mm 1.8 (bought for less than £100) and want something like it - fast and sharp - only with a wide angle.

I'd like something that will be obviously wider than the 50mm pictures. Looked at some pictures taken with a 28mm and they aren't wide enough for me. As I'm on a budget I prefer to have things which do very different tasks.

I have the 18-55mm which came with my D40 but I don't like using that as the quality of the pics is poor compared to the 50mm.

Any advice?
 
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McNikon

Senior Member
I've ordered a D7000 now thanks to all the advice and posts here. Will only have a 50mm 1.8 lens to use with it so I need a wide angle lens eventually.

It seems the Tokina f/2.8 11-16mm would be a good choice. The primes are too expensive and on a DX body won't be wide angle really.

Are there any other I could look at? I didn't expect I'd have to spend £500+ !
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Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
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Stangman98

Senior Member
I know the price range was $400, but I would have to suggest the Tokina 11-16. I just got done using one for a week while photographing the beach, ocean, and sunrises and that will be my next piece of glass and the only non Nikon glass I will buy.
 
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McNikon

Senior Member
It looks like the one to get. On Ebay UK they don't go for under £400 (US$625) so I'm gonna wait until I have a paid job for it to do before I buy.
 
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stmv

Senior Member
the title is Prime, so assume you are asking which prime non tele lens, so, what is your sensor type? DX or FX? Really comes down to how wide you want, I love the 15mm Prime 3.5, and I also use the 20mm 2.8 quite a lot, followed by the 28mm.

You really can't go wrong with any of the Nikkor wide angle Primes. Again, depends on your camera for lens compatibility. So,, I like using the old Prime AIS lens, manual focus, but lot of DSLRs can't meter this old glass.
 
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