Which street lens?

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Jimbob89

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James
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Hi all,

I am looking for a general purpose street lens, particularly for graffiti, i want something that isn't too intrusive.

I would also like the lens to be able to able to take photo's that keep a 42x24 Marine Aquarium (LxH) in frame from a distance of about 3 feet.

Any ideas? I'll be using it on a D90 :)

Thanks!
 
Budget is about £150-200, don't mind buying second hand.

Stock 17-55mm kit lens struggled on my D80 to get the tank in shot. I don't have any others.
 
If a 17 is not wide enough you will be into very wide angle lenses which are not ideal for general purpose as even the wide angle zooms just zoom from very wide to not so very wide!
You may need a dedicated wide angle lens.
 
Don't think you have a great deal of choice, maybe get a used 20 or 24mm Nikon prime - maybe a 35mm = all will be 1.5x the focal length because of the crop factor. All depends on how close you are to your graffiti and how wide it is. Wide angle lenses introduce distortion and that may not be ideal for a a straight wall.
 
That is an odd decision as you have said yourself that the 17-55 does not give a wide enough shot, how is the 35 going to help?
 
The tank is not a deal breaker, i'll continue to use the 17-55 for full tank shots (Or try to). The 35mm seems like a good compromise for the street.
 
right, when you say the 17-55 struggles to get the shot
do you mean in quality or enough light? or in width?

if 17mm is needed, then the tokina prime
or if 30mm is fine, then a 30 or 35mm prime is lovely
otherwise if you want the range still, a 17-50 f2.8

a 50mm equiv is always nice on a camera I think
 
DizMatt said:
right, when you say the 17-55 struggles to get the shot
do you mean in quality or enough light? or in width?

if 17mm is needed, then the tokina prime
or if 30mm is fine, then a 30 or 35mm prime is lovely
otherwise if you want the range still, a 17-50 f2.8

a 50mm equiv is always nice on a camera I think
Click to expand...

Basically, i cannot get far enough back comfortably in order to get the entire width of the tank in shot if that makes sense?

I was hoping to kill two birds with one stone but seems two lenses might be in order :)
 
Jimbob89 said:
I was hoping to kill two birds with one stone but seems two lenses might be in order :)
Click to expand...

The 17-50 2.8 kills 3 birds with one stone. Wide, good quality and useful raneg for street combined with half decent aperture (and constant) for low light.
 
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if you can't get back far enough then you need a 10-20, or 11-16 or 12-20mm lens on your cropped sensor DSLR

to get some extra distance against the wall, is it that you can't get back far enough holding the camera? or can you put the camera with the LCD literally against the wall and shoot from a tethered laptop to get the distance?
 
Jimbob89 said:
Basically, i cannot get far enough back comfortably in order to get the entire width of the tank in shot if that makes sense?

I was hoping to kill two birds with one stone but seems two lenses might be in order :)
Click to expand...

or you could buy a fisheye lens :geek:
:nuts::razz::bonk:
 
ernesto said:
The 17-50 2.8 kills 3 birds with one stone. Wide, good quality and useful raneg for street combined with half decent aperture (and constant) for low light.
Click to expand...

Sounds good, should i go for a Tokina?

DizMatt said:
if you can't get back far enough then you need a 10-20, or 11-16 or 12-20mm lens on your cropped sensor DSLR

to get some extra distance against the wall, is it that you can't get back far enough holding the camera? or can you put the camera with the LCD literally against the wall and shoot from a tethered laptop to get the distance?
Click to expand...

I can get far enough back, its just uncomfortable and i am not afforded the surrounding space in order to get a really decent shot, i didn't realise you could tether a DSLR to the Laptop? If so that would be much easier as i could set up on a tripod.
DizMatt said:
or you could buy a fisheye lens :geek:
:nuts::razz::bonk:
Click to expand...

:thumbs:
 
The 17 - 50 I was referring to was a Tamron which always gets good reviews.
 
I had one of those, the first non VC version. It was a very sharp lens and was light and compact too. There's a bit of distortion at the 17mm end but nowhere near as bad as the Canon 17-85mm it replaced.
 
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