Nikkor Wides

I'm looking at Nikkor 15mm and 18mm lenses for landscape and wide-field time lapse work. I'm looking for optimum optics and don't care about auto focus at this focal length. (Not to say I wouldn't buy auto-focus, I just don't see it as needed: I'll likely be setting hyperfocal focus and leaving it there.) I'll likely seldom use them wide open aperture wise.

What are your thoughts of the various models of these lenses and what do you recommend?
Thak you.
WM

I've lookied at UW primes a lot and was not impressed with reviews on the Nikons. If I were to need that range I'd get the 15mm ziess, their 18mm doesn't fair as well in reviews

Budget?

Nikon 14-24mm f2.8.

Rick M said:

I've lookied at UW primes a lot and was not impressed with reviews on the Nikons. If I were to need that range I'd get the 15mm ziess, their 18mm doesn't fair as well in reviews

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gqtuazon said:

Budget?

Nikon 14-24mm f2.8.

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Rick and Glenn,

Thanks! My new budget and schedule are both in the way of your suggestions, right now. If neither were a problem, I'd end up with one, if not both, of these great options. However, I'm now locked into the schedule of needing this lens by mid- to late July. In addition, I am going to need them over a time-frame of six or seven weeks, which makes the rental option a non-player. So, it's likely to be one of the Nikkor primes.

WM

If filters will be required, the Nikon 16-35mm f4 VRII or Nikon 18-35mm f3.5-5.6 VRII are great suitable lenses that meets your criteria instead of just one prime lens.

gqtuazon said:

If filters will be required, the Nikon 16-35mm f4 VRII or Nikon 18-35mm f3.5-5.6 VRII are great suitable lenses that meets your criteria instead of just one prime lens.

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Glenn,

Do you know how well these lenses hold their focal length when they're pointed down at forty-five degrees or more?

Optically, how do you think they compare?

Thanks for this suggestion.

​WM

Rick M said:

I've lookied at UW primes a lot and was not impressed with reviews on the Nikons. If I were to need that range I'd get the 15mm ziess, their 18mm doesn't fair as well in reviews

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I was also looking for a UW and finally settled for the Zeiss 18mm. You are right that there were a number of reviews that favoured the 15mm against the 18mm. In the end, I bought the 18mm partly because of the dimensions of the 15mm. It is a big and heavy lens compared to the 18mm.

Here is a couple of shots with the 18mm. You will notice that unless taken at close to horizontal level, the distortion (inward tilting of the image when aiming up) of UW will be huge.


A clear day - Hong Kong


Singapore Raffles City

I think the Zeiss 18mm performs reasonably well and can be outstanding in a clear bright day.
Manual focussing is not really an issue.

Very nice Watch! The 18 looks very sharp! I did notice the zeiss 21 gets great reviews, but was not as wide as I wanted.

The 16-35mm is rock solid at just about any angle. It's a fixed length tube with all movements inside, so you don't get the creep associated with other zooms. At least I don't. Down 45 degrees should be no issue. It's a fantastic lens. Marcel posted some comparison shots between it and hte 14-24, and those plus the fact that I can use filters with it is what sold me on the lens.