This set of pages shows test photos I took at Wolf Camera in the Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh NC. I thank Richie for his assistance and patience.
After a trip with my 24-135mm zoom and a 50mm I was on the hunt for a wider landscape lens for my Nikon D70 and a better solution to indoor flashless photography. Something fast enough to capture indoor holiday gatherings of family and friends and Wide enough to capture scenic vistas and city scapes but without a lot distortion. I'm not looking for a fisheye (just yet ...).
I had been frustrated tyring to shoot indoors with my 50mm f/1.8 because the sensor size of the D70 narrows the 50mm to an effective 75mm, too narrow for the snapshots I was trying to take. My indoor photography needs may be served with my recent acquisition of an older Sigma 28mm f/1.8II Aspherical blah blah blah. This will provide a "normal" lens being narrowed to a 42mm on the D70. But, wider would be better so speed is still on my mind as I check out the wide angle lenses.
Prime or Zoom?
I considered primes such as 14mm, 16mm, 17mm, 18mm and 20mm and zooms such as 12-24, 19-35, 18-35. 17-34, 20-40, etc. from some of the usual suspects; Nikkor, Tamron, Sigma, Tokina. I already had a 24-135 zoom by Tamron that had served well on the trip (despite some operator errors), so I was not looking for more coverage in that range. I also was placing a premium on speed for indoor shooting, so I was leaning toward the faster primes. The primes are also generally smaller, lighter, and less expensive for a given level of optic quality since fewer compromises have to made in the design of a "single" focal length lense.
Already owning the Tamron SP AF24-135mm F/3.5-5.6 AD Aspherical (IF) provided a lot of direction. The new lense would be wider than 24mm, and faster than F3.5. Those two criteria quickly narrowed the field to 14mm-20mm offerings from Nikon and Sigma (The Tokina 17mm is an F3.5, and Tamron seems to concentrate on zooms in this arena).
My desire to use this lense to capture city shots, people, and interior spaces filled with walls and doors as well as landscapes pushed me toward a moderate wide angle to minimize distortion. The fisheyes were out, and most dramatic wide angles as well. After view photos all over the web I settled on 18mm-20mm. Price and availability ruled out the Nikkor 18mm for now at the speed I want so 20mm it was! Note that the 20mm's perspective is narrowed to 30mm on the D70 so it will function as a very moderate wide angle.
The Test (See it here)
Conventional wisdom says "buy the Nikkor, you idiot." But I really wanted the option to have the large aperture, save the $100, and figured the F2.8 might look better on the Sigma since it would not be "wide open". So I hopped down to Wolf to see the lenses. The test was not rigorously performed, and concentrated on fairly wide apertures. My reading on the web and in magazines indicates that both lenses are good at narrow apertures and I thought that either would satisfy my outdoor needs for sharpness across the entire frame. I wanted to test the indoor low light characteristics.
My Decision
After looking at the pictures I decided not to buy either just yet, but I am favoring the Sigma which I think has an edge at the f/2.8 aperture (not being wide open?). The $100 smaller price tag helps too but I really covet the small size and weight of the Nikkor. IF the 28mm works out well for indoor use my speed issue will probably go away and I may readjust my target to 12-17mm and put more emphasis on zoom flexibility or a smaller and lighter prime. I'll post sample shots of the Sigma 28mm compared to my Tamron 24-135mm soon.
Update: My 28mm from eBay did not pan out. I bought the Sigma 20mm f/1.8 from the good folks at Wolf so I got the width and the speed in one lens. I'll post some pics when I have some.
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