Reccomend a cheap Full Frame wide angle for Nikon

[Gary Coyle]

OK on a budget here of no more than £200, i need a wide angle lens for a few jobs ive got coming up, i wont be keeping it so need to spend as little as possible as money is currently tied up for another D3S

Would like something in the 12-40mm range, probably no slower than f/4 wide open, might get away with something in the 17-40 range but if i did then IQ must be excellent at 17mm with little or no distortion.

Happy to look at 3rd party lenses but i do need superb IQ

Will be used on a D3S so no DX lenses

Are there any Nikon hidden gems i should look for

Throw me your reccomendations please.

 

[PaulF]

If you've no intention of keeping the lens, have you considered hiring it?

http://www.lensesforhire.co.uk/ for example I'm sure would be able to give you advice.

 

[Gary Coyle]

Thanks Paul, but i need it for approx 2 months and hire then becomes expensive and wasteful when i could buy it and get all my money back when i re sell it

 

[puddleduck]

Tamron 17-35 sounds like the man for the job.

The Sigma 15-30 is also very good.

All 17mm lenses are going to have distortion, thats physics, not optics - perhaps the Nikon 14-24 is going to be the best here but way out of your budget.

 

[PeteStewardson]

Tamron 17-35 doesn't matter whether you have Nikon or Canon, it's a damn sharp little lens. ( And tougher than it looks )

Pete

 

[Gary Coyle]

I have owned a Tamron 17-35 but theses too much distortion at 17mm

 

[grumpybadger]

As far as I am aware, they don't exist for that price. For FF, Sigma 12-24 is the widest I know of.

14-24 will be out of budget and potentially not wide enough.

You are going to get distortion at 17mm on FF whatever happens as you are trying to map a circular field of view to a rectilinear image space. True distortion free is fisheye but I doubt that is what you are looking for.

Sigma 15-30 is an unsung hero - great WA lens if you get a good copy

 

[viewfromthenorth]

Hmm, you might struggle to find something for £200, but best of luck nonetheless.

I got a Sigma 14mm F2.8 prime least year for about £350, couldn't find anything comparable for the money.

 

[Merc]

The Nikkor 18-35mm is not too bad. I had to buy a lens quick after smashing my D90 and 12-24mm. I needed one for a Holiday to go on my D700. This link http://www.flickr.com/photos/36686662@N00/ shows some images with the 18-35 on a D700 All the seascapes on the front page apart from the Man O War shots were shot with a 18-35mm.