London A noob with aspirations in wide angle photography

ross.anderson.58

ross.anderson.58

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Ross
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Hi all.

I'm fairly new to photography but have played around for a while on my girlfriends cameras. I own a Nikon D90 and really want to get into wide angle photos (I just love the odd perspectives and stuff).

My question is this: is a 28mm prime lens OK to start on? I mean I'd love a 12-24 but the budget won't allow me a £300++ lens.

Thanks

Ross
 
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Hello Ross :welcome:

Can't help with the lens query :canon: someone will be along shortly :)
 
The Sigma 10-20mm lens is a fine choice for wide angled work.

Hello and a very warm welcome to you.

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Hi Ross, And welcome aboard TP."Enjoy".
 
Hi Ross I met a photo blogger in London recently he was using an em1 with a fisheye can't get wider than that. I will try and find his blog and post a link for you.
 
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Mrbaker said:
Hi Ross I met a photo blogger in London recently he was using an em1 with a fisher can't get wider than that. I will try and find his blog and post a link for you.
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Thanks. Appreciate it. Have been looking at the 10-20 sigma lens. Also a 20mm prime nikkor lens. And a few other. It a bit baffling how many there are and what is a good investment. Especially as I don't have any of my own lenses yet. The cameras not getting much use.

Thanks
 
Hi Ross and a warm welcome to TP.
Hope you enjoy yourself here :)
 
ross.anderson.58 said:
Thanks. Appreciate it. Have been looking at the 10-20 sigma lens. Also a 20mm prime nikkor lens. And a few other. It a bit baffling how many there are and what is a good investment. Especially as I don't have any of my own lenses yet. The cameras not getting much use.

Thanks
Click to expand...


The sad truth is that very, VERY few pieces of (modern) photographic equipment are a good investment! All will depreciate from new at an alarming rate. However, this does mean that 2nd hand prices aren't as scary high as new so decent kit can be found at affordable prices.

For wide angles on a crop sensor, the aforementioned Sigma 10-20 is a very good start. IIRC there are 2 versions, a slightly older one with a variable aperture (f/4-5.6 or so) and a newer one with a fixed aperture of (IIRC) f/3.5. The older version is sometimes said to be marginally better so is probably the one to go for (it's cheaper as well, always a bonus!) Fisheyes are a bit of a one trick pony but if you want that trick, nothing else can do it. My choice was the Sigma 8mm since that's what came up 2nd hand first but other options are available, including a 4.5mm which will give a circular image on a crop sensor.

For the time being, play with whatever lens came with the D90 (probably an 18-55 or 18-70) and hone your exposure skills, seeing what effect aperture has on the final image and practise hand holding slower shutter speeds.
 
Nod said:
The sad truth is that very, VERY few pieces of (modern) photographic equipment are a good investment! All will depreciate from new at an alarming rate. However, this does mean that 2nd hand prices aren't as scary high as new so decent kit can be found at affordable prices.

For wide angles on a crop sensor, the aforementioned Sigma 10-20 is a very good start. IIRC there are 2 versions, a slightly older one with a variable aperture (f/4-5.6 or so) and a newer one with a fixed aperture of (IIRC) f/3.5. The older version is sometimes said to be marginally better so is probably the one to go for (it's cheaper as well, always a bonus!) Fisheyes are a bit of a one trick pony but if you want that trick, nothing else can do it. My choice was the Sigma 8mm since that's what came up 2nd hand first but other options are available, including a 4.5mm which will give a circular image on a crop sensor.

For the time being, play with whatever lens came with the D90 (probably an 18-55 or 18-70) and hone your exposure skills, seeing what effect aperture has on the final image and practise hand holding slower shutter speeds.
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Yea. I get that. Luckily my girlfriend has a few lenses already. I'm using her kit lens 18-55 but she has a 50mm, an 85mm, a 70-300mm and a few others as well. So I am using those. But I've always liked the wide stuff and looking through reams of example photos online I have mostly been drawn to wide angle photos without knowing it. Obviously we will share lenses but it would be nice to be to own one of my own.
 
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What about a sigma 8-16
 
Welcome

How about a second hand Samyang/Rokinon 14mm lens? Around £270 new, they sometimes pop up cheaper.
Manual focus, but to be honest, stick it on f8, focus it at 3 feet and you've got about 1 foot to infinity in focus. It's great at f2.8 for night skys, stars etc.

156430993.jpg


good for street photography also
154585430.jpg
 
Yeah I've got a good 14mm samyang ! Only thing is filter system of you wanted one is 165mm size
 
Not really designed to take a filter as the lens hood is fixed. I've some large filters for broadcast cameras I picked up, some glass, some film, but I've never found the need to use them much and then it's hand held or elastic band.
I did once use my polarising filter held in by bluetak :D
 
ross.anderson.58 said:
Hi all.

I'm fairly new to photography but have played around for a while on my girlfriends cameras. I own a Nikon D90 and really want to get into wide angle photos (I just love the odd perspectives and stuff).

My question is this: is a 28mm prime lens OK to start on? I mean I'd love a 12-24 but the budget won't allow me a £300++ lens.

Thanks

Ross
Click to expand...

I hope you've worked out that 28mm isn't all that wide on a D90... Other than that...

Wide angle photography can IMO be very challenging to do well but as you've spotted striking results are possible.

Practice, stick at it and use your eyes and your brain and I'm sure you'll get some striking results.
 
woof woof said:
I hope you've worked out that 28mm isn't all that wide on a D90... Other than that...

Wide angle photography can IMO be very challenging to do well but as you've spotted striking results are possible.

Practice, stick at it and use your eyes and your brain and I'm sure you'll get some striking results.
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Yea. I know. But the 28mm seem to be a tad cheaper than the zoom wide angles. And I'm having trouble finding something in my price range.
 
Byker28i said:
Not really designed to take a filter as the lens hood is fixed. I've some large filters for broadcast cameras I picked up, some glass, some film, but I've never found the need to use them much and then it's hand held or elastic band.
I did once use my polarising filter held in by bluetak :D
Click to expand...

I've got filter system for it! From samyang
 
ross.anderson.58 said:
Yea. I know. But the 28mm seem to be a tad cheaper than the zoom wide angles. And I'm having trouble finding something in my price range.
Click to expand...

Sorry to repeat myself but 28mm isn't wide on an APS-C camera, it equates to about 42mm in "full frame 35mm speak" on a Nikon APS-C camera and that's usually thought of as "standard" rather than wide. A 17-50mm will be a lot wider than a 28mm. 17mm on APS-C would equate to about 28mm on a full frame camera.

18-55mm f3.5 - 5.6 "kit" lenses are available for below £50 but as it's a looooong time since I used a Nikon I don't know if they'll fit your camera but in your place I'd be looking at a 18-50mm or wider for wide shots, not a 28mm.
 
The sort of images that you are seeing on the net are probably taken with waaaay more expensive lenses than you are looking at at present. As said a FF camera will avoid the x1.5 / x1.6 crop factor multiplication on the focal length, but ideally save up a few more pennies if you seriously want to get into this WA / UWA photography.

Creating curved glass without distortion isn't cheap and if you look at the prices of the better glass this is very soon apparent. Cheap versions often don't cut the mustard.
 
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ross.anderson.58 said:
I agree. I ride mtb a lot so understand the importance of decent kit. I managed to pool some extra cash and went for a sigma 10-20 f4-5.6 can't wait for it to arrive and get out using it.
Click to expand...

Enjoy it, I've one and really enjoy it when I use it, not as often as I should though...
 
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