Wide angle lens

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BenD5300

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Ben
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Im a complete newbie to SLR's, I have been happy to use a compact camera for years (DSC-HX5V) and was due an upgrade.

So I decided to get something better. I bought a Nikon D5300 with a 18-55 lens. I am very happy with it but in November I am going to Svalbard to see the Northern Lights.

I would like a reasonably priced (as cheap as possible) wide angle lens to capture more of the horizon and skyline.

Can you buy a lens that just clips in front of the existing lens to save cost of focus/zoom ect?

If so what ones fit?

Thanks,

Ben
 
You can buy adaptor lenses, but you will be dissapointed with the results, best buy would be a Sigma 10-20mm HSM, excellent lens and can be had reasonably cheaply,
 
The Sigma is a good lens for theprice, but for £100 more the Tokina 11-16 would do a much better job with the aurorae. At f2.8 it's one full stop faster than the sigma (f4) - thta means you'll be able to capture the same amount of light in half the time.
 
Some lovely looking lenses, but I think a bit out of my price range!

Related items I came across this,

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G Lens

^ Sorry, I cant make that text the same as the rest!

Would this be an OK lens?

At £115, seems a bit better for my pocket!

I dont mind buying second hand lenses but I cant find any of the above for £150 as thats around my budget.
 
BenD5300 said:
Some lovely looking lenses, but I think a bit out of my price range!

Related items I came across this,

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G Lens

^ Sorry, I cant make that text the same as the rest!

Would this be an OK lens?

At £115, seems a bit better for my pocket!

I dont mind buying second hand lenses but I cant find any of the above for £150 as thats around my budget.
Click to expand...
No, on a crop 35mm isn't wide.

For a budget of £150 ultra wide angle lenses are out of the equation - as above, a used Sigma 10-20 will be your best option.
 
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BenD5300 said:
Some lovely looking lenses, but I think a bit out of my price range!

Related items I came across this,

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G Lens

^ Sorry, I cant make that text the same as the rest!

Would this be an OK lens?

At £115, seems a bit better for my pocket!

I dont mind buying second hand lenses but I cant find any of the above for £150 as thats around my budget.
Click to expand...

You probably have an 18-55mm lens with your camera, zoom that to the 35mm mark and you will see it's far from being a wide angle on your camera. Wide angle would be less than 18mm, you've had a few suggestions of wide angle lenses already made.

I'm not sure you will find a wide angle lens for under £200 second hand for Nikon (it's a shame you didn't buy Canon they do a 10-18mm lens that can be bought for around £150 second hand, Nikon don't have a comparable lens). You might have to use the wide end of your current lens (if you have the 18-55mm kit lens).
 
I'd agree, get a sigma 10-20mm. Depending if this is a one off trip or not you might regret not having a wider lens
 
That depends, Frank. When we saw them in Iceland back in March, a fisheye was the only way to get the whole thing in frame. I tried a 14mm but it simply wasn't wide enough on FF.

I would agree that a 10-20 Sigma is probably the best budget option and would say to the OP that it would be a shame to "spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar". I would find a second hand 10-20 for the trip then sell it on afterwards and take the slight hit (almost inevitable) on the resale.
 
There isn't much time until November and I'd recommend getting a lens quickly and spending as much time as possible learning how to use it and how to get the results you want.

IMVHO wide angle photography is (arguably) a difficult thing to do well. You can use them for getting a lot of the scene in and shooting the lights is going to involve that but I think to get the best out of them a lot of thought and care is needed and then there's the technical challenges of shooting the lights. It's something I'd love to do one day but maybe reading articles on doing so would be a good place to start and might influence the choice of gear and settings to use.
 
Alternatively - you could rent a lens for the trip so you can get a top quality lens without breaking the bank. no worries about resale etc. You could even rent one or two.
 
One of my friends has the Sigma 10-20, so I'll be borrowing that :)

Thanks for your advice, I look forward to practising :)
 
Nod said:
That depends, Frank. When we saw them in Iceland back in March, a fisheye was the only way to get the whole thing in frame. I tried a 14mm but it simply wasn't wide enough on FF.
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You may be able to get the whole sky in the image, but IMNSHO it looks rubbish.

I'd be quite happy with a 102º field of view.
 
I'm wondering if Image Stitching would work. :thinking:

... don't know if you've tried it Ben ... you take, say, half a dozen quick overlapping shots in portrait orientation and stitch together to make one wide image. Having never seen the northern lights, I really don't know how much movement there is in the sky. :thinking:

The stitching bit is a piece of cake .... you download Microsoft ICE and drop your pictures in. :)

I too have a D5300 plus a Tokina 12-28 which is kinda heavy .... not sure I'd want to lug it to Svalbard, I always travel light.
 
Not sure if stitching would work, they can move quite quickly. No harm in trying though - but get a few shots in the bag first and don't forget to use the Mk I eyeballs as well.
 
Yep ... worth a try, I think.

I've just done a Google Image Search for ... image stitching northern lights ... and found these:-

Link 1 ... a 180 degree panorama, don't know how many photos.

Link 2 ... (2nd pic down) ... a four photo stitch.
 
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While it's clearly possible, I should imaging stitching the Northern Lights could be very difficult and problematic at best?

As said already, they move quite a bit.
 
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odd jim said:
While it's clearly possible, I should imaging stitching the Northern Lights could be very difficult and problematic at best?

As said already, they move quite a bit.
Click to expand...

Yeah but it might work.

BenD5300 is on a tight budget, wanting to buy a wide angle lens but for the wrong reasons. I believe wide angle lenses are not about land/sea/sky scape .
 
hollis_f said:
I'd be quite happy with a 102º field of view.
Click to expand...
Well, it would be a dull world if we all agreed and had the same tastes.

When I went to Tromso last year I was very glad that I'd taken a 15mm fisheye. The aurora was like a bridge across the sky from horizon to horizon, and a more restricted field of view just wasn't as good compositionally. (IMVHO.)
 
d00d said:
Yeah but it might work.

BenD5300 is on a tight budget, wanting to buy a wide angle lens but for the wrong reasons. I believe wide angle lenses are not about land/sea/sky scape .
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But they are ideal for astro, which is kind of what he's doing!

In fact, uwa's are very good for sky scapes.
 
I'm sure you're right Jim. I guess land/sea/sky scapes are not my sort of photography. My Tokina 12-28 on Nikon DX is reserved for shots like THIS and THIS ... two I took recently for the TP Weekly Challenge on Geometric.
 
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d00d said:
I'm sure you're right Jim. I guess land/sea/sky scapes are not my sort of photography. My Tokina 12-28 on Nikon DX is reserved for shots like THIS and THIS ... two I took recently for the TP Weekly Challenge on Geometric.
Click to expand...
That's what they're best at, I use mine for that sort of shot too, and the Milky Way whenever I get the chance to see it :)
 
Yup. One use for wide angles is to get a very creative look but if you want to do the other obvious thing and get it all in then you have two option, stich or go wide.
 
d00d said:
WOW ... I love what is, I think, 2nd & 3rd down with the pebbles in the FG ... great perspective. (y)
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He did have some kind of customisation on his tripod head but I can't remember the details of it. Sadly no northern lights when I was there, pesky things :-)
 
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