Which wide angle zoom or prime for Nikon DX?

lindsay

lindsay

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Lindsay
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I feel the need for a lens in the region of 18-35mm for my DX cameras (Nikon D300 and D500), but critically I want fast - f1.4/1.8 preferably, max f2.8. The options I'm seeing are:

Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 DC HSM zoom
Sigma 24mm f1.4 DG HSM Art prime
SIGMA 20mm F1.4 DG HSM Art prime

Is there another option I've not identified, or if not, any recommendation from the above list? I'm trying to keep the cost reasonable, eg I can't stretch to the Zeiss lenses, and I will look for good second hand examples if I can find them. The task is urban/landscape primarily. Brought about by the frequent dull weather lately, and not wanting to let the ISO creep up too far to compensate. I'm not bothered about something that may be of use if I go FF as I really don't see that happening; APS-C is fine for me for the foreseeable future and after that I'll be a poor pensioner!
Ideas welcome, thanks.
 
All of those lenses are awesome.

What is your reason for wanting a relatively wide field of view and fast maximum aperture, i.e. what is the intended use?

I've just bought a sigma art 12-24 f2.8 to use as a wide angle zoom on my D500 which as I'm sure you know is a DX sensor.

If that gave you the reach it would also future proof you if you went full frame.
 
Intended uses are urban and other landscapes, but with the ability to shoot in fairly dull light without pushing the ISO too far. It was prompted by an outing this morning where the max aperture of my existing all-purpose zoom (18-200)_ of 3.5 wasn't enough to keep the ISO below about 6400 even at 1/30th sec. An extra couple of stops of aperture would have been really useful, to allow me to capture the clouds racing across a landscape (a local park with lake). Obviously that was something specific, but I do want to get some better quality glass for landscapes in general.
That lens of yours sounds great, but I don't think I want to go quite so wide as that. I was thinking circa 24 to 35mm FF equivalent.
 
Thanks Fras - the Tokina is a great lens and is built for DX cameras. I used it on my D7100 and am currently using it on my D810 (it will do 16mm on full FX mode without vignetting, but anything less and the corners start to 'close in'). It may be for sale in the New Year (along with some other DX stuff), so keep an eye on the classifieds if you are still looking for something after Xmas :) An example landscape image can be seen in my thread https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/llyn-ogwen-waterfalls.689415/ - it is the first image in the set.
 
I have a Nikon AFs 12-24mm f1.4 G DX ED lens. cost around £1000 new which is very good, so maybe a used one will suit
 
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Lindsay56 said:
I feel the need for a lens in the region of 18-35mm for my DX cameras (Nikon D300 and D500), but critically I want fast - f1.4/1.8 preferably, max f2.8. The options I'm seeing are:

Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 DC HSM zoom
Sigma 24mm f1.4 DG HSM Art prime
SIGMA 20mm F1.4 DG HSM Art prime

Is there another option I've not identified, or if not, any recommendation from the above list? I'm trying to keep the cost reasonable, eg I can't stretch to the Zeiss lenses, and I will look for good second hand examples if I can find them. The task is urban/landscape primarily. Brought about by the frequent dull weather lately, and not wanting to let the ISO creep up too far to compensate. I'm not bothered about something that may be of use if I go FF as I really don't see that happening; APS-C is fine for me for the foreseeable future and after that I'll be a poor pensioner!
Ideas welcome, thanks.
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The thing is, you don't really want to be shooting landscapes or urban at wide apertures. A tripod would serve much better for what you want to achieve, cheaper too.


realspeed said:
I have a Nikon AFs 12-24mm f1.4 G DX ED lens. cost around £1000 new which is very good, so maybe a used one will suit
Click to expand...

That lens doesn't exist. I presume you mean the f/4 version, which isn't any faster than the kit lenses wide open so won't really help the situation here.
 
I came across the Tokina last night whilst net browsing, yes that might be the thing, although again, I didn't really want to go that wide (16-24mm FF equivalent).
I have a good Manfrotto tripod and indeed for regular landscapes I would choose that option regardless, but given that my current lenses leave a quality gap at the lower end (I have the kit 18-200 f3.5-5.6, Sigma 105 f2.8 macro and Sigma 150-600c), a good <50mm fast lens is what I feel necessary. Understood that in most cases I'd be better shooting landscapes at >f8, but for flexibility of use, a fast lens provides more options; and there are definitely places where you can't set up a tripod and run a long exposure safely.
 
Nawty said:
The thing is, you don't really want to be shooting landscapes or urban at wide apertures. A tripod would serve much better for what you want to achieve, cheaper too.




That lens doesn't exist. I presume you mean the f/4 version, which isn't any faster than the kit lenses wide open so won't really help the situation here.
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has 1.4 G on the lens. Anyway it is an alternative which was asked for. I have the d300 and it does not come with a "kit lens" if you want to be pedantic about it

GwVHwZ9.jpg
 
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Good point about the "kit" lens on my D300 - it wasn't a kit, but the 18-200 f3.5-5.6 was the general purpose lens I bought with it originally in 2009 or thereabouts.

That Tokina is indeed an f4 lens. Nice, but not really what I was looking for (though it would be tempting nonetheless)
 
forget the d300 very old hat now it can't handle low light half as good as the d500
try the sigma 10-20mm great image iq and you can shoot at very slow shutter speeds
 
Fair point, I should keep the D300 for less challenging situations. I've barely started using the D500 yet, but perhaps this is telling me to relegate the 300 to a backup role rather than using both for discrete purposes.
I'd still like some new nice glass though! I'll look at that Sigma.
 
Your first paragraph basically describes the sigma 18-35 1.8. The other two sigma primes are lovely but they’re both pretty big so that they work well on FX and whilst there’d be nothing wrong with using either on DX I think you’d be missing out by not going for the zoom. It’s an incredible lens and completely without rival.

Only thing I would say though is that you need to bear in mind that if you’re hand holding a VR equipped ‘slow’ lens will offer you way more advantage than a couple of stops of brighter aperture. And give you a more usable depth of field. The sigma 18-35 will be a brilliant all rounder but when reading your other replies a decent VR system makes more sense for your specific use scenarios.
 
realspeed said:
has 1.4 G on the lens. Anyway it is an alternative which was asked for. I have the d300 and it does not come with a "kit lens" if you want to be pedantic about it

GwVHwZ9.jpg
Click to expand...

What the others said...

That’s 1:4, a ratio of focal length to max aperture, i.e. f/4.
 
just remember 3rd party lens's may not work on your nikon camera or future camera's
thats why its better to stick to nikon lens for nikon body
 
Like gad-westy said... Sigma 17-55 f/2.8 OS is nice and does 4 stops of stabilisation. Or Nikkor AF-P VR if you are after a really cheap second hand (£50!) but surprisingly good lens for the D500 (won't work on the older camera).
 
Interesting replies thanks; and everyone is correct that I was not thinking this through fully with respect to DoF/Light/stabilisation.

gad-westy said:
Your first paragraph basically describes the sigma 18-35 1.8. The other two sigma primes are lovely but they’re both pretty big so that they work well on FX and whilst there’d be nothing wrong with using either on DX I think you’d be missing out by not going for the zoom. It’s an incredible lens and completely without rival.

Only thing I would say though is that you need to bear in mind that if you’re hand holding a VR equipped ‘slow’ lens will offer you way more advantage than a couple of stops of brighter aperture. And give you a more usable depth of field. The sigma 18-35 will be a brilliant all rounder but when reading your other replies a decent VR system makes more sense for your specific use scenarios.
Click to expand...

To satisfy the GAS need, this is what I'll go for I think. In addition though, for the situations where I don't feel I can use a tripod and long exposure, I might resurrect an old monopod so that I can go for slightly longer exposures than hand-held. I also take the point about VR and IS, that will inform my future lens choices too.
 
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