Lens Advice from Nikon DSLR Users

RavingMac

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I am going to add to my kit in the near future and am interested in one of the following:

Sigma 10-20 F/4 HSM
Tamron 10-24 F/3.5

I shoot a Nikon D5000 so I am only considering lenses with built in focus motor. Would appreciate any comments or recommendations on the two lenses above (or any others I should look at).

My budget is $500 USD

Thanks,
Mike
 

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Doug B and Village Idiot is kind of the resident Photography gurus, maybe they can help you.

I usually visit this site a lot when I'm thinking about purchasing a new lense.

Pretty easy to navigate and find the lens. You get user reviews and ratings as well as a review from the site as well.

Might also be a good idea to see if you can rent the lens and see how it performs before you buy.
 
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RavingMac

RavingMac

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Doug B and Village Idiot is kind of the resident Photography gurus, maybe they can help you.

I usually visit this site a lot when I'm thinking about purchasing a new lense.

Pretty easy to navigate and find the lens. You get user reviews and ratings as well as a review from the site as well.

Might also be a good idea to see if you can rent the lens and see how it performs before you buy.

Thanks,
Looks like an interesting site.
 
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And don't forget the used market too. Nikon lenses are generally excellent and last years, so you may be able to pick up a truly great lens at a much better price. Plenty of used dealers too, so I'm not talking eBay.
 
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post

I am going to add to my kit in the near future and am interested in one of the following:

Sigma 10-20 F/4 HSM
Tamron 10-24 F/3.5

I shoot a Nikon D5000 so I am only considering lenses with built in focus motor. Would appreciate any comments or recommendations on the two lenses above (or any others I should look at).

My budget is $500 USD

Thanks,
Mike

Seeing as you are resident in the USA you will find this site a wealth of info. I am a UK member.

Discussion Forums @ Nikonians - User menu

Check it out. ;D
 
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Have to go to work in a bit so real quick:

Tamron = Yuuck.

Sigma is hit and miss, though I do own a couple which are very good.

For wide angle, Sigma and Tokina are best if going third party. Tokina make a nice 11-16mm, and it pairs well tonally with Nikon bodies. I'll post more info later from work.

Don't discount buying used. If a lens is in good shape (no fungus or oily aperture blades) then there's no reason not to buy that way. KEH.com is a very good source for used, as is BHphoto.com and adorama.com as well. KEH has a bigger selection of older manual focus lenses, which I'm really into.

Doug
 
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RavingMac

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Have to go to work in a bit so real quick:

Tamron = Yuuck.

Sigma is hit and miss, though I do own a couple which are very good.

For wide angle, Sigma and Tokina are best if going third party. Tokina make a nice 11-16mm, and it pairs well tonally with Nikon bodies. I'll post more info later from work.

Don't discount buying used. If a lens is in good shape (no fungus or oily aperture blades) then there's no reason not to buy that way. KEH.com is a very good source for used, as is BHphoto.com and adorama.com as well. KEH has a bigger selection of older manual focus lenses, which I'm really into.

Doug

Thanks, Doug.
I would like to go with the Tokina based on reviews I've seen but the lack of AF on my D5000 is an issue. Have they updated it to add the AF motor? If so I would probably jump on it. I had more or less defaulted to the Sigma because I was unable/unwilling to pony up for the Nikon lens. ;P

Thanks again,
Mike
 
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When are you planning on purchasing the new lens? I meant to reply last night but was unusually busy. And now we're stepping out to enjoy the day, but will hopefully be able to go into detail a bit later.

What I can tell you right now though is, NEVER SKIMP ON GLASS! Second guessing a purchase because of budgetary constraints will only lead to a less involved, less fun and certainly a less professional (if you're planning on honing those skills) overall experience. If it means having to save for another few months, I'd say it will be worth your while. Much more detail on that part later.

One more point: Think of good glass like a Mac and think of typical third party glass like a Gateway laptop. No one is going to buy your third party junk if you want to opt in to better glass later. You're going to have to save all over again. But if you have good glass, people WILL buy, guaranteed. Why would you want to sell you're asking? Perhaps you've learned that you would rather shoot at a different focal length and such. Believe me, it happens.

It's great to have a wide angle lens in ones repertoire, but the focal length you're looking at is aimed more towards indefinite usage for landscape or interior/architectural work. Both of which require critically good optics IMHO. So from that perspective, you really don't want to get just any ol' lens.

More on that later though.. I must scoot.

Doug
 
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RavingMac

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I was planning on buying later this summer, but can wait if I need to. Landscape would be my primary use for the lens. I'm willing to pay more for better glass, but pushing $1000 is getting out of my comfort zone right now.
 
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A small tip: buy a prime lens. It's focal length is fixed. They are cheaper and you don't need to zoom if you are shooting landscapes. Walk back and forth - thats your zoom. In cities this is difficult to do because you don't have much space to move (streets,cars,poles,trees,people,...) but landscapes, you got all the space you need.
 
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Way... way too many specs to list.
Everyone should have a 'normal' prime.
 
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50mm you mean then or if you have a 1.6 sensor it would be something around 35mm I guess?

In your case you sensor is 1.5.

link
I've always considered either 35mm or 50mm to be in the 'normal' range. With DX sensors, you can probably toss a 28mm in there as well. To be honest, at 50mm you're starting to get long enough to use for portraiture (I use either an 80 or 135mm lens with a FX or 35mm film)
 
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As long he keeps in mind he has a DX sensor - 50mm isn't 50mm but 50 x 1.5 so it becomes 75mm, but long for landscapes isn't it?

I agree with you about the 28mm!
 
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RavingMac

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When I read the first post in this string of replies my thought was, "Is he crazy? A UW prime will easily run $1000 or more."

Then I saw the rest. Good advice. I have the 35mm f1.8 along with the kit zooms and the Nikon 70-300 AF-s

What I am looking for is something to cover the general range from 10 to 18mm without breaking the bank.
 
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Also don't forget that if you're doing landscapes, it's more than likely you'll be setting your camera up on a tripod in portrait orientation and will be doing some stitching. You can get away with this using your 35mm depending upon your distance from the subject.

Check this out bro $364 Excellent condition. I buy from them and know MANY others whom also buy from them. I in fact just bought an 75-150 E series manual focus Nikon from them the other day. : Tokina 17mm f3.5 Nikon Autofocus 17 F3.5 TOKINA ASPHERICAL ATX PRO (77) WITH HOOD, CAPS, 35MM SLR AUTO FOCUS SUPER WIDE ANGLE LENS - KEH.com

Granted, this is an FX lens so you might get a bit of corner vignetting, but I've seen images taken with an DX crop sensor and they're really nice.

As far as your initial choices go... you should also remember that the Sigma is not an f4 lens. it's 4-5.6 the other 10-20 they make is an f3.5 lens, but is also $650 vs.$479... I own an Sigma 17-70 and love its image quality, but it's a slow lens and the 2.8 it starts at disappears the second I move the zoom barrel. I want to sell it actually, in order to fund another manual focus lens.

So while it's cheap-ish, you're also losing a lot of light the moment you zoom in. And unless you're using a tripod properly, that will mean a LOT. Unless of course you're only shooting during the day and have decent light. This is part of the reason I say it's wise to save for good glass. If you do, you'll not ever regret it. Sure, it's more money initially, but less sour grapes later. That's worth the cash IMO.

On another note, if your primary concern is shooting landscapes then auto focus is a bit of a moot point. Most of the time you'll be shooting at infinity! Plus, you still have the camera's focus point indicator and your eyes... Unless you're blind and the indicator is somehow totally off, those two tools are sometimes more accurate than some AF systems.

That said: Tokina 12-24mm f/4 AT-X 124 AF Pro DX Lens ATXAF124DXN B&H Photo
or of course the 11-16 Just sayin'.
 
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. This is part of the reason I say it's wise to save for good glass.

I still have (and shoot) AI'd glass. I've gone through 10 bodies since I got one of them. The glass is indeed where the investment really is.
 
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RavingMac

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Thanks Doug and everyone.

I'm really beginning to think about a second alternative. KEH has D200 bodies for ~$600 and a refurb D90 for ~$700.
I really like my D5000, but it's my first DSLR and when I bought it I didn't understand how limiting the lack of focus motor is. Going to think about it some more but I may put off any more lens purchases and save for a second body with focus motor.

You also mentioned going manual focus (My eyes aren't the best but I can probably live with that for landscapes). How about some of the really old glass. Anything out there cheap and usable strictly manual in UWs?

EDIT: I am still thinking about the Tokina 11-16 the f2.8 is very tempting . . .
 
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Thanks Doug and everyone.

I'm really beginning to think about a second alternative. KEH has D200 bodies for ~$600 and a refurb D90 for ~$700.
I really like my D5000, but it's my first DSLR and when I bought it I didn't understand how limiting the lack of focus motor is. Going to think about it some more but I may put off any more lens purchases and save for a second body with focus motor.

You'd be much better off getting a used body from BH Photo or Adorama. I know that sounds strange since I'm pushing KEH for lenses, but I believe that KEH has more of a vested interest in nice old lenses as well as older film or manual focus digital bodies vs newer DSLR's.

You also mentioned going manual focus (My eyes aren't the best but I can probably live with that for landscapes). How about some of the really old glass. Anything out there cheap and usable strictly manual in UWs?

EDIT: I am still thinking about the Tokina 11-16 the f2.8 is very tempting . . .[/QUOTE]

My WORD yes man! Older Ai or AIS lenses and even some of the E series lenses are freeking fabulous! I personally love the way they render contrast and some color tones far better than new lenses. Today's lenses are made to be light, sharp as a tack and fairly fast for AF, but IMHO they lack the personality seen in older lenses. They all look fairly generic for the most part I think.

And older doesn't mean worse in any way. In fact, some of the older lenses I've been using produce far nicer results in terms of both sharpness AND in how they handle skin tones and texture. Balance is key. Plus, they're built to last, unlike today's pricey plastic!

I'll keep an eye out for an UW manual focus lens for you. Shouldn't be too hard to find. How about 20mm ? Not wide enough?

Doug
 
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Though if you want really UW, you might consider saving for an full frame DSLR:

14mm 2.8 Sigma with D700: (not mine btw)

3903331210_110ba556d8_b.jpg


The Sigma 14mm gets awesome reviews everywhere you look. Heck, I may wind up looking at one myself.
 

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