Could you please tell me what you think is the best wide angle lens for Nikon D90?

Thanks!

I just bought the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X for my D200 - probably also a good choise for the D90? - http://1x.com/discussions/17695/tokina-1116mm-f28-atx/

Lars :-)

Depends on how wide you want. I'm using the old 17-35AFS/2.8 on my D300 as my "normal lens". Excellent glass! But expensive..
I also have the 12-24/4.0, but I mainly use it under water. I have seen comments on cromatic abberation on it, but I've found mine is good. There might be individual differences. The 10.5 Fisheye is also with me everywhere. Excellent glass too.

http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/nikon--nikkor-aps-c-lens-tests

;-)

I have a Nikon 20mm f2.8 prime and I have the older Tokina ultra-wide zoom 12-24mm f4. The Tokina has been my mainstay for landscape photography for years now. It is an excellent lens. Good condition used ones are pretty cheap now that they have released the 11-16. I would HIGHLY recommend the 12-24 if the f4 is not a problem. BTW, I use it with my current D90 and before that a D70s.

I use a Sigma 20-40 f2.8 on my Fuji S5. Not sure how much the lens+sensor combination factor affect the result though it might does. the 20-40 range is unusual and fits very well to my purposes (most of what is on my current OE personal page). It is inexpensive and is FF. It is very sharp starting at f5.6 and the f2.8 mini aperture makes it relevant for decent portrait using wide angle. It is discontinued though and not sure it is easy to find 2nd hand.

Thank you all, you've been very helpful.

Sigma 10-20mm perhaps, I use mine regularly.

Sigma 10-20 is best to my knowledge

Hi,

There is always a solution and a decision you need to make by your self. Lenses form third parties are good and less in the cost but you need ask you self clearly why such third party lens are so cheap compared to the original Nikon lens.

As for a prime lens you should go for the 20 mm pan cake as for a zoom there is only one choice and this is the 14-24 f2,8 which is the best you can find. Do not buy the Nikon 14 mm prime as this lens has too much difraction and fringe. The 35 mm is leaking of sharpness!

All others from thirds are only compromises!!!

Robert

The nikon 18-70 is a good lens and not expensive. Lots of secondhand ones about. 3.5 and no VR but it is well thought of. Like others said, the siggy 10-20 is a good super wide.

Hi Faddoush,

I asked myself the same question as you, I also have a D90 ;-)

If you like street shots, forget lens like Nikon 18-200, nikon 17-85 etc....

If you want an ultra wide angle lens, you have 2 solutions :
- Sigma 10-20mm F/3.5 (it replaces the old sigma 10-20mm F/4-5.6)
- Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8
They are at almost the same price (about 550/600 euros)
Actually I have the sigma 10-20mm 10-20 F/4-5.6, but the problem with this one is its aperture, 5.6 at 20mm is too narrow as I like night shots in the streets (so i need fast speed)

I think I will sell it to buy the tokina for its wide aperture. But its max length is 16mm, so if you choose the tokina, it is good to have also a longer lens :
- sigma 20mm 1.8
or nikon 20mm 2.8
or nikon 24mm 2.8
(there are also 28mm and 35mm but it is not so wide)
I have the Nikon 24mm F/2.8, it is a good prime lens, just a little bit soft at 2.8 but look at my last published images, I took them with it.
Sigma 20mm 1.8 is really soft at 1.8 and a bit big and heavy (bothering for a prime lens)
The nikon 20mm 2.8 is almost as good as the Nikon 24mm 2.8 (though there is more barrel distortion with the 20mm)

Julien

Tokina 11-16 is much sharper but Sigma 10-20 is more useful in DX format cameras as far as i can observe.

Thank you all for your replies and suggestions.

Tokina 11-16:-)
If 16 is enough, I suggest the new Nikkor 16-85 VR II f. 3.5-5.6, a good all-round lens, sharp enough, fast focus, not so expensive (-+ 500 Euro) and has a rather good review. http://www.photozone.de/nikon--nikkor-aps-c-lens-tests/377-nikkor_1685_3556vr

I have Nikon D90 + Sigma 10-20mm! it is very good lens

from Nikon 12-24 AFS
and from Sigma 10-20mm DC.

14-24 f2,8 Nikon!

Absolutely something. The lens is impressive, until you want a filter on it .. I've used it on a D3.
Thing is, at full frame, to use a lens as wide as 14mm requires some experience. You really have to think composition and perspective not to f.. up.
Quality wise, it is just impressing! And the price is the same as the 17-35/2.8 (which seems to be replaced soon by 16-35 VR)

I had the chance to try the 14-24mm f/2.8 on a D700 and was very impressed! But I would NEVER buy this lens to use on a DX body like the D90. The high price is imho only justified for use on a FX body.

Don't forget the 14mm becomes 21mm on a DX body, 24 a 36...

My two cents ofcourse...

I found Lensflares when using the Tokina 116 on a Fuji S5 Pro. Not much to worry about, but annoying. Also the exposure compensation is not easy, what works on 11m is often different to that what is needed on 14, 16 mm. Maybe a special relation between the lens and the cam ,)
On the other hand: Only a few CAs, good sharpness and contrast and a moderate distortion.

i just sold my sigma 10-20
i have nikon d300.

i got a new tokina 11-16 instead. should hopefully get it in week and a half.....
i wanted to wide aperture for DOF control. it is important to me

but the sigma was amazing. ULTRA sharp and did a great job
i really really loved it

If you consider going extremely wide angle try Sigma 8mm fisheye 3.5. The lens is excellent and the quality is way more superior to any Nikon fisheye lenses. I believe it's the best 8mm fisheye available on the market.

Thank you all for your suggestions.

@Grzegorz:

I do not know about Fisheye, I would rather have a wide angle for the moment, planing on obtaining one lens at a time (money issue more than anything) but I will sure keep this in mind when the fisheye lens turn comes :)

Depends on what you're using it for.

I have a Tamron 11-18mm which I use occasionally on my D300 when I want to get a wide interior shot or a big sky landscape. It's not a quick lens but I find it very sharp.

I also have a Nikkor 17-55mm/f2.8 which is my default choice and is on the D300 95% of the time. That lens is not cheap and it is slightly bulky. However, it is incredibly sharp and offers a "ful frame" equivalent focal length of around 24-80mm. This is usually wide enough for most landscapers and quick enough for most photojournalists and portraitists - especially if you push the ISO to 400 or 800, as you can on a D90, with negligible loss of quality. The only downside with this lens is that it is DX coded - which means it is not much good on my D700. However, if you are going to stay with DX kit, I doubt you'll find a better or more versatile lens.

I use a Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC on my D300 it has a Hyper Sonic Motor and it produces some cracking good images ...

Philipo

Well, I just ( yesterday ) got a nikkor 24 2.8 AIs from ebay and I am knocked out by how sharp it is! Even RAW looks sharp straight out of the camera. It doesn't do much more than a very crude AE on my D90, it just has a green dot that flashes on and off and slows down when you are near the correct shutter speed. But once you get the hang of it it is fabulous! It's easy to check the shot on the viewfinder and take it again if it's not how you want it. It's manual focus, but I dare say that on f8 it would have sufficient leeway to be fairly inexact with the focusing. . .
Don't neglect the classic SLR lenses.
the 20 2.8 AIS and the 28 2 AIS and 28 2.8 AIS seem to be very well thought of.
I'm after a 20 if i can find one, as i like to shoot on my 18-70 at the 18 end of things.
check
http://www.nikonians.org/nikon/slr-lens.html
and
http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_surv.html
first of course.
best,
Jon

I absolutely suggest the Nikkor 12-24, which is a very neat lens. Results are sharp, colours are well recorded with warm feelings.
The lens is very light vs other semipro zooms. The combination with my D300 is well balanced.
The only drawback is the softness of the borders at 12mm F/4 (due to some field curvature, as well explained on photozone).
If you plan to use with D90 and remain in the DX field, this lens is absolutely the choice.
14-24 is the highest quality wide zoom by Nikon, but the bulk of this pro zoom is in the telephoto range (even larger and heavier than the AFD 180 mm F/2.8) ! Finally, if you need large apertures on wides for DX you have to consider the new 24 F/1.4 (which is "only" 36 mm on DX and has the price of about 2500 euros...) or the 25mm F/2.8 by Zeiss. Wider primes do not seem to receive good reviews...
...and what about the only pro DX zoom by Nikon -> the fabulous 17-55 mm AFS ? ...

I read many reviews where they say the Tokina 12-24 has as good optic quality as the nikon with better built quality and price.

To be honest I've read so many reviews that at some point it only gets confusing than being helpful.....I guess I have to find a shop where I can try these lenses and then choose one.

Thanks for the reply! :)

Buy the Tokina, you won't be disappointed. I've used my maybe more than any other zoom I own!! Since Tokina came out with the newer 11-16mm (which I wouldn't buy, not enough zoom range, might as well just buy a prime) the 12-24 is really cheap on ebay.

d90 is DX,i have D300s,i have Nikkor 10-24 dx,it is excelent and ultra wide,109.5 angle.in compare with similar lenses it is wider

The same as Meteor.
I have also the Nikon 10-24 mm: great lens and any distortion is mostly solved by the DXO program

Meteor or Jef, Could you expand on the performance of the Nikon 10-24 lens a bit more. How is distortion at 10mm?, Is it sharp throughout it's aperure range, how is contrasts with it and what is the thread size?

If I was to replace my Sig10-20, I would definately consider this lens.

Cheers,
JP

I was very unfortunate a week ago and my Sigma 10-20 was destroyed. I'm on a search for a new lens and have read about the Nikon 10-24. That was a very positive review but the distortion in the 10mm range was said to be very visible and the sharpness wasn't that great when used at 10mm. is this any true? I will either buy that one or I'll go for the Sigma once again, 'cause that lens is awesome. I tried a Tokina 11-16 but did not get as good results as my Sigma 10-20. I have a D300..

Maybe Sigma 8-16 mm F4.5-5.6 DC?

I have a Nikon 10-24 mm lens for about six months now, using it on a D 300 body.
And I have to say that I am really satisfied with it.
It's true that you have some distortion mainly at the 10 mm end (as all of those super wide angles will have).
But as mentioned I am using the DXO program for correcting lens distortion. This program gives you correction figures for the specific combination camera body and lens (so in my case D300 /10-24 mm lens). And it works very well.
Except for the extreme borders of the image, sharpness is very good. But when you stop to f/8, sharpness becomes good all over the image. And for a super wide angle this is not an issue at all.
I have also been looking at the Tokina 11-16 mm. But since I do a lot of architecture photography, the 10 - 24 mm range was much more attracctive for me.
One drawback: price wise the Nikon lens is somewhat more expensive (ca 120 ? compared to the Tokina 11-16 2.8 and the Sigma 10-20 mm 3.5)

Cheers Jef.
JP

A very tempting thought until I discovered the problem about fitting filters on it. I often use ND filters for my shots. :)