DX ultra wide angle lens

lucien

Senior Member
Hi I'm looking for a recommended 11mm-20mm. 11mm would be the starting point, that is recommended for someone just starting out in the wide angle world. I was looking at the tokina 11-16mm I think or was it tamron


thanks, DX ONLY
 

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
Although I have not used one myself (yet), I've recently started researching that same focal range in hopes of getting one also. What's caught my eye so far is the Nikkor 10-20mm AF-P (I love my 70-300mm AF-P!) and the Tamron SP AF 10-24mm. Both seem to have gotten good reviews, and the price - especially used - seems quite reasonable.

There are plenty of other members here who have much more experience than I, so hopefully they'll be able to give you advice based on actual experience.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
One of our former mods who passed a while back, Don Kunkendall, swore by the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens.

Here is a thread where a member asked about either a Nikon 10-24mm f/4 or a Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. https://nikonites.com/wide-angle/23797-nikkor-10-24-tokina-11-16-a.html#axzz6wpZWwcIg

Any lens with a somewhat bulbous front element might experience more issues with lens flare simply due to the roundness of the front glass. That seems to be the biggest concern, yet many people said it wasn't a problem. Since I tried out a Nikon 10-24mm f/4 but wasn't happy with its sharpness or contrast - plus it had a warm color cast to it - I'd suggest not even considering it.

You can search through some of Don's posts about the Tokina. He liked it so much that when he upgraded to a D750, he purchased the Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8 for FX. https://nikonites.com/search.php?searchid=8206739#axzz6wpZWwcIg
 

TwistedThrottle

Senior Member
I have the Tokina 11-16 and recommend it whole heartedly. It has a metal mount, takes 77mm filters and is sharp! I use it mostly for astrophotography but works great dialed down for day shots too. There is a version that goes to 20 but I've heard its not as good as the 11-16, (never used it though) plus when paired with the 18-xxx, theres hardly a gap. I was intending on using it as a 16mm prime on the Z6, but the new Z cameras automatically switch to DX mode when a DX lens is attached as opposed to being able to over ride the camera and force it to stay in FX no matter what lens is attached, (like my FX DSLR). Still, its a lens I will keep as long as I have a crop camera. Oh, and it works perfectly well on my old school D40x too!
 

Peter7100

Senior Member
Although I have not used one myself (yet), I've recently started researching that same focal range in hopes of getting one also. What's caught my eye so far is the Nikkor 10-20mm AF-P (I love my 70-300mm AF-P!) and the Tamron SP AF 10-24mm. Both seem to have gotten good reviews, and the price - especially used - seems quite reasonable.

There are plenty of other members here who have much more experience than I, so hopefully they'll be able to give you advice based on actual experience.

I also have been looking at obtaining a DX lens in this focal range, but the lack of AF/MF switch on the Nikkor 10-20 somewhat puts me of this one.
 

lucien

Senior Member
One of our former mods who passed a while back, Don Kunkendall, swore by the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens.

Here is a thread where a member asked about either a Nikon 10-24mm f/4 or a Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. https://nikonites.com/wide-angle/23797-nikkor-10-24-tokina-11-16-a.html#axzz6wpZWwcIg

Any lens with a somewhat bulbous front element might experience more issues with lens flare simply due to the roundness of the front glass. That seems to be the biggest concern, yet many people said it wasn't a problem. Since I tried out a Nikon 10-24mm f/4 but wasn't happy with its sharpness or contrast - plus it had a warm color cast to it - I'd suggest not even considering it.

You can search through some of Don's posts about the Tokina. He liked it so much that when he upgraded to a D750, he purchased the Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8 for FX. https://nikonites.com/search.php?searchid=8206739#axzz6wpZWwcIg

And they are really "cheap" on ebay.ca, averaging about $345 cdn used of course but mint condition
 

lucien

Senior Member
I think it was Blues man, sorry if I spelt it wrong. suggested that 14mm is too wide and said that 20mm is the way to go. I was looking at the wide lens area before I posted that.

Thanks so far. I have the tamron xr di II sp 17-50mm 1:2.8 (if) Can I get by with this one? Or get a dedicated wide lens. I want to get into landscapes as well that's why
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I think it was Blues man, sorry if I spelt it wrong. suggested that 14mm is too wide and said that 20mm is the way to go. I was looking at the wide lens area before I posted that.

Thanks so far. I have the tamron xr di II sp 17-50mm 1:2.8 (if) Can I get by with this one? Or get a dedicated wide lens. I want to get into landscapes as well that's why

14mm might be a tad wide for landscapes using FX, but for DX it is equivalent to 21mm. What other subjects are you looking to photograph? There are a few zooms that start at 18mm or so. There's one by Tamron that members here liked, but offhand I can't remember which one (there's more than one Tamron zoom that starts at 18mm). Or perhaps a preowned copy of the Nikon 16-80mm f/2.8-4E that is the kit lens for some of the DX bodies. That is equivalent focal length to the Nikon 24-120mm zoom that is the kit lens for FX bodies.
 

lucien

Senior Member
landscapes lol, just kidding. I just want to expand my resume with some more variety just like I'm try to shoot macro. I'll probably get the tokina 11-16mm later on. I can experiment with my 17-50 tamron and the 18-55mm nikon kit lens which I like very much. It's pretty sharp for a kit lens. I have the 35mm 1.8 nikon but it's too narrow. Although I live in the city there are things to shoot if you look around.
 

TwistedThrottle

Senior Member
You can always do a panorama until you can get a wider lens. I often find myself using this technique when all I have with me is the 70-300. I'll put the camera vertical and take several shots, overlapping each by a third and keeping it as level as possible and then combining in lightroom. Some people take a picture of their hand to indicate start and end of pano, but I typically shoot horizontically so the vertical shots are my panos:encouragement:
 

lucien

Senior Member
thx could go that way for a bit. Works in a pinch. But doing a pano and editing it seems to me like a pain in the .............. over the long haul.. I was thinking of that myself though. It's not really work but don't to carry a tripod or a mono with me all the time? last but not least. I can back up 50 feet or so, but that doesn't work all the time. : )
 

lucien

Senior Member
If I can't do a Macro without a tripod, how can you do a pano without one. esp a stitch ? I meant real macro = real pano. Different scale . I think I will wait for more opinions to weigh in. And consider this closed on Sunday. Thanks for everyone's input
T
 

BF Hammer

Senior Member
I feel the difficulty in choosing an ultra-wide lens in DX. It was something I used to research regularly and just could not convince myself to buy. The widest I could always shoot at was 18mm. I still have a Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 Art (and I recommend that lens unconditionally for DX shooters). But it can hardly be called ultra-wide. 18mm is 27mm FX equivalent. You would need to look at 10mm to get something close to the 14mm FX experience. My eventual solution was just to finally buy a FX DSLR and increase my wide angle options dramatically. I have a Sigma 20mm f/1.4 now as my widest and will eventually pick up a 14mm, possible manual-focus Samyang.
 

BF Hammer

Senior Member
If I can't do a Macro without a tripod, how can you do a pano without one. esp a stitch ? I meant real macro = real pano. Different scale . I think I will wait for more opinions to weigh in. And consider this closed on Sunday. Thanks for everyone's input
T

Easier than you think to do handheld panos. There is dedicated software out there for the job.

https://autostitch.en.softonic.com/

Hugin Download

Autostitch is stupid-easy to use, but you are limited to jpg. I've used it for years.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
lucien, since you are interested in eventually getting an ultra-wide angle lens for landscape, you might want to look at how to compose images with that lens. Since an ultra-wide can exaggerate the size of subjects along the edges (especially anything close to the lens), having some type of foreground element is what brings interest to its images. Here are a couple of articles that might allow you to see how distortion along the frame's edges can positively impact images.

https://photographylife.com/ultra-wide-angle-lens

https://fstoppers.com/education/how-make-impactful-photos-ultra-wide-angle-lens-476631
 
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