Ultra Wide Angle recommendations for Nikon - Sigma 14mm Art, 12-24 Art or Nikkor 14-24?

Stevies

Stevies

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Stephen
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Hi guys,

I use a D810 and for my ultra wide angle jobs I use the Nikkor 16-35 f/4. The 16-35 is ok for the interior type photography I do but just not great in the corners. At the weekend I used it at a dinner to take photographs of people who wanted their whole (round) table in the picture and didn't like the results at 16mm at all and did much like them at 35mm either and quickly swapped over to my Sigma Art 24-105.

It has put my seriously in the notion of changing but can't find anywhere on the net where somebody compares the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art against the Sigma 12-24 f/4 Art - anybody tried both and able to offer any advice. Both are similarly priced and I'd like to do some astro so the 14mm has serious attraction and I am from what I've watched is razor sharp. On the other hand the 12-24 has the zoom and can go that wee bit wider. For my boat interior work I'm using lighting anyway so wouldn't be stopping past f/4 anyway for that.

The other lens that I'd possibly consider would be the Nikkor 14-24 f/4.

Anyone able to give me some guidance who own either of the Sigma's?

Thanks

Stevie
 
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I have a Sigma 12-24 and it's incredibly well corrected for rectilinear distortions. Expect pretty extreme perspective at the wide end though - that's due to the laws of physics (and ye cannae break them, ye ken!)
 
Hi Nod,

Thanks very much for the reply - appreciate it. How do you find the 12-24 from a sharpness point of view? Tbh I would expect any of the Sigma Art's to be good if the primes are anything to go by! You are definitely right that you can't expect to go that wide and not have some strange effects!

Stevie
 
Have you looked at the Irix 15mm f2.4 I have this lens and love it.
Supported by Lightroom for lens correction.
There are 2 versions, ones more weather sealed than the other but both have the same optics.
I have the cheaper version as I dont plan to take both Camera and Lens out in the rain.
 
Ah I see you in N.I. There's a guy on my FB who lives out there (somewhere) and who also has a Irix 15 F2.4, he swears by the Irix.
 
Stevies said:
Hi Nod,

Thanks very much for the reply - appreciate it. How do you find the 12-24 from a sharpness point of view? Tbh I would expect any of the Sigma Art's to be good if the primes are anything to go by! You are definitely right that you can't expect to go that wide and not have some strange effects!

Stevie
Click to expand...


Mine is pre-Art series but is plenty sharp for my wants/needs (A3+ prints).

As I'm sure you know, there's a fair amount of difference between the fields of view of a 12mm and a 15mm. There are a few 14mm f/2.8 options - the 2 I know about are the Samyang (MF) and the Tamron (AF and automatic aperture).
 
I use the Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 for building interiors work and it is very sharp in the corners. As with all wide angle lenses it does have a lot of anamorphic distortion in the corners which gets progressively worse at the wider settings and really shows up when items are close to the lens. When I am photographing smaller rooms I try not to use it below about 18mm due to the distortion. Even if the Sigma does go to 12mm and no doubt it will be very sharp as with the other ART lenses the anamorphic distortion in the corners will be very noticeable particularly in a small space like a boat interior.

This image was shot at 16mm wide on the Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 and you can see the basin in the LH corner is badly distorted.

p1633974155-4.jpg
 
I see that Irix do an 11mm as well - pity they are manual focus but for the quality of the lens they appear to be great value. You could be very right on 12mm distorting the boat interiors way to much - I've noticed 16mm doing that a lot especially the way further away objects narrow. Tricky to get the balance right. Won't let me share photographs from my phone.
 
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Another one to consider is the Tamron 15-30 2.8. It's on a similar level to the nikon optically and has stabilization. I liked it so much i went and swapped out my filters for 150mms and got a holder :)
 
Stevies said:
I see that Irix do an 11mm as well - pity they are manual focus but for the quality of the lens they appear to be great value. You could be very right on 12mm distorting the boat interiors way to much - I've noticed 16mm doing that a lot especially the way further away objects narrow. Tricky to get the balance right. Won't let me share photographs from my phone.
Click to expand...
There is one other lens you may not have heard about, laowa (venus) , I think they do a 11mm and they claim near zero distortion but....... It's over £800 I think.
 
Stevies said:
I see that Irix do an 11mm as well - pity they are manual focus but for the quality of the lens they appear to be great value.
Click to expand...

I generally use manual focus when photographing interiors so I wouldn't let that put you off.

But if you look at this image from the Irix website you can see the 11mm lens has the same the same anamorphic distortion in the corners as other wide angle lenses. Look at the spotlights in the ceiling which are far from round.

blackstone-bg.jpg
 
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