Best wide prime?

stgermaine

New member
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!
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
A wide angle lens "picture angle" is often confused with it's focal length. While the two are related they are not necessarily the same. A 10mm lens can have a picture angle of any where from 109 degrees to 180 degrees fish eye. From manufacturer to manfacturer the picture angles may be different even though the focal lengths are the same. The lens you are asking about has a picture angle of 74-degrees. It's a manual focus FX lens which means on a D90 it's more like a 42mm lens. It's gotten good reviews and should work very well for landscape/architecture.
 

LensWork

Senior Member
It's a manual focus FX lens


The AF 28mm f/2.8D lens, while being an FX (full-frame) lens, will auto-focus on the D90 and it will have an angle of view of 53 degrees on the D90. I would not consider this a "wide-angle" lens on a DX body; it is closer to being a "normal" lens. A 28mm lens on an FX body has long been considered the standard wide-angle lens. To get the same angle of view on a DX body (74 degrees), you would need an ~19mm lens. Prime lenses with a focal length of less than 24mm are pretty pricey, well above your $400 threshold. The AF 24mm f/2.8 is about as wide as you can get new for under $400.
 
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Hayley

New member
The AF 28mm f/2.8D lens, while being an FX (full-frame) lens, will auto-focus on the D90 and it will have an angle of view of 53 degrees on the D90. I would not consider this a "wide-angle" lens on a DX body; it is closer to being a "normal" lens. A 28mm lens on an FX body has long been considered the standard wide-angle lens. To get the same angle of view on a DX body (74 degrees), you would need an ~19mm lens. Prime lenses with a focal length of less than 24mm are pretty pricey, well above your $400 threshold. The AF 24mm f/2.8 is about as wide as you can get new for under $400.

I agree I had the AF 28mm f/2.8D for about a month and did not like it very much, I thought it would give me that fish eye effect but it didn't so I sent it back. Interested though in what others recommend as well.
 

Ruidoso Bill

Senior Member
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!

I know you said prime but have you thought of a 12-24 mm, it will give you a little more versatility in long run unless you are looking specifically for faster glass.
 

LensWork

Senior Member
I know you said prime but have you thought of a 12-24 mm, it will give you a little more versatility in long run unless you are looking specifically for faster glass.

Even a used 12-24mm Nikkor is around $600, which exceeds the $400 limit the OP indicated.
 

Ruidoso Bill

Senior Member
For me, the best wide (but not prime) for DX body is the Tokina 11-16 F2.8

Theres is one in ebay right now, brandnew and lower than SRP.
Here is the link: Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 DX Lens for Nikon - eBay (item 330505123280 end time Dec-12-10 17:43:31 PST)

I love ebay, I am now up to three lenses bought there. That 11-16 also has some good reviews and looks like a great lens, it's up to 461 now btw.

I read somewhere recently that Tokina was started by some former Nikon lens engineers and the quality is very good. I only have one 3rd party lens but if it means having the lens or not having the lens 3rd party sound pretty good.
 

Eduard

Super Mod
Staff member
Super Mod
I bought a used 24mm/f2.8 AF-D on eBay early last year for $175 and it is nice when I want to go with a light kit.
 

Ranie

Senior Member
Bill, I have the Tokina 11-16 F2.8 and for me, and some reviews, its better than the Nikon 12-24. It also compliments my 17-55 F2.8.
I have had very good experience with Tokina lenses before and if not having upgraded to Nikon lenses, I could have kept them.
And yes, Tokina was put up by former Nikon engineers.
So for my Nikon bodies, Tokina will be my first consideration when buying third party lenses.
 

Ruidoso Bill

Senior Member
Ranie, good to know and thanks for responding. I wish I would have had one the other day when I shot a choir concert. My 50 1,8 allowed me to shoot without strobe but just wasn't wide enough, put on the 18-200 and then needed strobe due to the slower glass. Frustrating at the time.
 

N~Grace

New member
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!

Hey,

I know you said lenses for landscape and architecture, but I just have to say quickly that I love the 35mm f/1.8 for portraiture as well....I haven't used the 24 f/2.8 but I hear its pretty good :)....also if you're fine with not having a "nikon" brand you should definitely look into a sigma lens they have a 24 f1.8 at a little over $400 but I'm sure if you shop around you can find one for the price you want. Sigma also has a 10-20mm in the same price range. Hope this helps :)

~Nina
 

Jcscoob

New member
The Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 rocks, its a true landscape lens with very good low light capability's. If you dont have one, buy one !!!
heres a couple of samples from yesterday (every time i use mine it impresses me more and more ) plenty more shots in my stream ...







 

Ranie

Senior Member
The Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 rocks, its a true landscape lens with very good low light capability's. If you dont have one, buy one !!!
heres a couple of samples from yesterday (every time i use mine it impresses me more and more ) plenty more shots in my stream ...




Nice shots






Nice shot. Care to share the exif of your pics?
 

Jcscoob

New member
Thank you :))

Yeah no probs heres the exif info ...

FIRST SHOT ...
Exif data

CameraNikon D90Exposure0.005 sec (1/200)Aperturef/10.0Focal Length11 mmISO Speed200Exposure Bias0 EVFlashNo FlashX-Resolution240 dpiY-Resolution240 dpiOrientationHorizontal (normal)SoftwareAdobe Photoshop CS4 WindowsDate and Time (Modified)2010:12:25 00:04:26ArtistJon CrowtherCopyrightJon CrowtherExposure ProgramManualDate and Time (Original)2010:12:24 15:13:26.00ZDate and Time (Digitized)2010:12:24 15:13:26Max Aperture Value2.8Metering ModeMulti-segmentLight SourceUnknownUser CommentJON CROWTHERSub Sec Time Original00Sub Sec Time Digitized00Color SpacesRGBSensing MethodOne-chip color areaCFAPattern[Green,Blue][Red,Green]Custom RenderedNormalExposure ModeManualWhite BalanceAutoDigital Zoom Ratio1Focal Length In35mm Format16 mmScene Capture TypeStandardGain ControlNoneContrastNormalSaturationNormalSharpnessNormalSubject Distance RangeUnknownCompressionJPEG (old-style)By-lineJon CrowtherCopyright NoticeJon CrowtherGlobal Angle30Global Altitude30Photoshop Quality12Photoshop FormatProgressiveProgressive Scans3 ScansXMPToolkitAdobe XMP Core 4.2.2-c063 53.352624, 2008/07/30-18:12:18 OrientationHorizontal (normal)Creator ToolAdobe Photoshop LightroomMetadata Date2010:12:25 00:04:26ZLens11.0-16.0 mm f/2.8Image Number22496Legacy IPTCDigest73A414600EA5E85C440BEC0F9C010054Color Mode3ICCProfile NamesRGB IEC61966-2.1Formatimage/jpegCreatorJon CrowtherRightsJon CrowtherOriginal Document IDxmp.did:07533634BA0FE01180D4AEBE109F46C7History ActionsavedHistory Instance IDxmp.iid:07533634BA0FE01180D4AEBE109F46C7History When2010:12:25 00:04:26ZHistory Software AgentAdobe Photoshop CS4 WindowsHistory Changed/Viewing Conditions Illuminant TypeD50Measurement ObserverCIE 1931Measurement Flare0.999%Measurement IlluminantD65Color TransformYCbCrFlash ReturnNo return detectionFlash ModeUnknownFlash FunctionFalseFlash Red Eye ModeFalse

SECOND SHOT ...
Exif data

CameraNikon D90Exposure0.003 sec (1/400)Aperturef/10.0Focal Length16 mmISO Speed200Exposure Bias0 EVFlashNo FlashX-Resolution240 dpiY-Resolution240 dpiOrientationHorizontal (normal)SoftwareAdobe Photoshop CS4 WindowsDate and Time (Modified)2010:12:25 00:03:53ArtistJon CrowtherCopyrightJon CrowtherExposure ProgramManualDate and Time (Original)2010:12:24 15:26:16.00ZDate and Time (Digitized)2010:12:24 15:26:16Max Aperture Value2.8Metering ModeMulti-segmentLight SourceUnknownUser CommentJON CROWTHERSub Sec Time Original00Sub Sec Time Digitized00Color SpacesRGBSensing MethodOne-chip color areaCFAPattern[Green,Blue][Red,Green]Custom RenderedNormalExposure ModeManualWhite BalanceAutoDigital Zoom Ratio1Focal Length In35mm Format24 mmScene Capture TypeStandardGain ControlNoneContrastNormalSaturationNormalSharpnessNormalSubject Distance RangeUnknownCompressionJPEG (old-style)By-lineJon CrowtherCopyright NoticeJon CrowtherGlobal Angle30Global Altitude30Photoshop Quality12Photoshop FormatProgressiveProgressive Scans3 ScansXMPToolkitAdobe XMP Core 4.2.2-c063 53.352624, 2008/07/30-18:12:18 OrientationHorizontal (normal)Creator ToolAdobe Photoshop LightroomMetadata Date2010:12:25 00:03:53ZLens11.0-16.0 mm f/2.8Image Number22510Legacy IPTCDigest73A414600EA5E85C440BEC0F9C010054Color Mode3ICCProfile NamesRGB IEC61966-2.1Formatimage/jpegCreatorJon CrowtherRightsJon CrowtherOriginal Document IDxmp.did:05533634BA0FE01180D4AEBE109F46C7History ActionsavedHistory Instance IDxmp.iid:05533634BA0FE01180D4AEBE109F46C7History When2010:12:25 00:03:53ZHistory Software AgentAdobe Photoshop CS4 WindowsHistory Changed/Viewing Conditions Illuminant TypeD50Measurement ObserverCIE 1931Measurement Flare0.999%Measurement IlluminantD65Color TransformYCbCrFlash ReturnNo return detectionFlash ModeUnknownFlash FunctionFalseFlash Red Eye ModeFalse
 

vertrider

New member
I had good experiences with both the AF 24/2.8 and the AF 20/2.8 on FX. try to get them used, then they should be within your pricerange...
 
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