Extra wide for Nex crop sensor?

[jamaeolus]

I recently bought a Nex 5n as a backup for the a7ii. My wife likes it better than the Pentax zoomshoot x90 she was using but was wanting a lens a bit wider than I currently have for it. (I use my lovely Loxia 21mm 2.8 on the a7ii). I had a Tokina DX 11-16 previously on mys (now sold Canon 60D) which was actually quite good. But expensive and AF. I'm hoping for something decently wide (24 ish equivalent) for not TOO much money. (say 100-150 USD). I know several of you use crop sensor NEX system cameras like a5, a6000, etc. What are the good lenses in this range and how much should I expect to pay

[cooltouch]

I have a NEX 7 and I've been wanting a good ultra-wide for it for a while now. The problem I've found with the crop-body E-mount Sonys is that there are very few ultra-wide zoom lenses made for them. Sony makes a couple and Sigma makes one. Prices range from expensive to very expensive. There are also quite a few extra- and ultra-wide primes made for the crop-sensor mirrorless Sonys. You can see a more or less complete listing of what is available here at B&H's website:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?InitialSearch=yes&N=0&Ntt=Wide+Angle+Lens+For+Sony+Nex&c3api=4680%2C171077275430%2Cwide+angle+lens+for+sony+nex%2Ce&gclid=CjwKCAjw0qLOBRBUEiwAMG5xMFxtmedAZu2rsI24m4AydBA93J1pjMlfJdGCpvQlRSVnCre4waZ7RRoC1m0QAvD_BwE

I prefer a zoom for its flexibility. But if you're gonna go with a zoom, then you'll also have AF. Just the way it is these days.

Only problem is for extra or ultra wides, focal lengths for 35mm are uncommon. I have a couple of 17mm lenses, which are ultra-wide on 35mm but only a bit wider than standard wide for the Sony E-mount, if you consider the Sony kit 18-55mm lens to be the equivalent of a 35mm 28-85. So 17mm is probably the equivalent to 35mm's 25mm focal length.

Some people have had good results using the Tamron or Tokina 17mm with their mirrorless Sonys. I have not. With my NEX 7, the images are overall a bit on the blurry side, especially at wider apertures.

If corner sharpness is not absolutely critical to you, then you might want to consider a Lens Turbo II focal reducer for about $150. Or the Metabones for a few hundred more. This will allow you to use 35mm format lenses on your NEX. Perhaps the 17mm will work better with a focal reducer? I don't know.

One thing's for certain. Your NEX will perform better with wides designed for it. Has to do with the way light gets bent by these very wide angle lenses. Lenses designed for 35mm cameras bend the light at too high of an angle and cause problems with some sensors. Lenses designed for the Sony mirrorless E-mount manage to incorporate the same focal length yet they bend the light in such a way that the sensor doesn't mind. I don't know the particulars -- maybe somebody here does and can explain it exactly.

So anyway, if I were looking for a prime, I'd go with one of those that B&H has listed. If a zoom, ditto. I like the Sony 10-18mm best, although I don't care much for its price.

[calvin83]

Get a used E16 if you don't mine it is not good in the corners: cheap and lightweight

[miran]

I use a Sigma 19mm/2.8. It's quite good and very cheap (I got mine for <100€ new).

The Sony 20mm/2.8 pancake is supposed to be about the same level of quality and size (a little smaller) but much more expensive. I never tried it.

For something a little wider there's the 16mm/2.8 pancake. It's not as good as the Sigma but it's tiny. I sold mine but to be honest it's perfectly good enough for most situations.

The original kit zoom (18-55) I don't recommend. It's way too big for the camera and performance is average. It's decent but obviously a kit zoom and it doesn't even go down to 16mm. I sold mine.

The new kit zoom (16-50) I have no experience with but on paper it sounds like a good combination of the original 18-55 and 16/2.8 in a single package. For a casual user I'd recommend this lens but again, no personal experience, just what I've seen and read.

For super wide probably the best budget option is the Samyang 12mm/2.0. It's one of those lenses that I'll probably keep for as long as I shoot crop format.

[luisalegria]

Currently working with a cheapo $70 Pixco focal reducer and my old Vivitar 19/3.8 and Pentax 24/2.8 on Nex 7

With focal reducer these are about equivalent to dedicated APS-C 13mm and 16mm. Corners are not quite as bad as I expected.

Not too bad actually. If you have a bunch of 35mm MF wides its something to try.

[thebbm]

cheap old wide angles don't work well on crop sensor ( or far from the results delivered by new lenses)
I have the sigma 19mm 2.8, it is small, light,cheap and very sharp (cost me 100euros used)
I also have the samyang 12mm f2 (manual) . i little bigger but still small. i found it very sharp too and not so much distortion, it is not a fisheye, cost me 200euros used.
I have the samyang 21mm f1.4, same size, sharp and nice for night shoots. (cost me 225euros used)

[Lloydy]

I like my Tokina 17 / 3.5 a lot on both my NEX 5 and the A6000, it might not be as sharp as the kit zoom, but it's still very good. However, my Noritar 17 / 4 is nowhere near as good, although that is probably down to the cheap adaptor.

[Badr12]

I use a canon 10-18mm, with a cheap af adapter I use it mainly to control the aperture and focus manually as af is slow when it works. It is a nice ultra wide angle zoom range., light weight sharp but needs good light

[Lightshow]

Voigtlander 10, 12, & 15mm, the LAOWA 12mm f/2.8 Zero D, Sony's own 10-18mm.
The 10 will give you the same FOV as my CV15III on my A7r, a combo I absolutely love.

The 5N is a forgiving sensor, WRT colour shift, in comparison, my NEX-7 was a picky sensor, but when the lens was a good match, amazing IQ.
Pictures posted from the 5N are what piqued my interest in Sony, NEX-7 sealed the deal.

[miran]

[TrueLoveOne]

I've always been very happy with the Tamron SP 17mm and the RMC Tokina 17mm when i used them on crop. The corners aren't a problem there. Actually, the corners aren't that bad on full-frame as well...... Never forget they are not modern lens designs.

Another nice manual lens which i recently bought on the bay for 90 euros: Sigma 14mm f/3.5. It flares like hell when the sun comes in it's field of view, but if you use it with thought it can do nice things!

Samples are from Sony A7, so full-frame:

Westenschouwse inlaag by René Maly, on Flickr

The creation of power by René Maly, on Flickr

Lens:

Sigma 14mm f/3.5 by René Maly, on Flickr

[thebbm]

[Rigel]

I have the Samyang(Rokinon) 12mm f2 on my A6000 and I'm pretty happy with it ... FWIW

[Lloydy]

[jamaeolus]

Anybody had experince with the angeniuex c mount 10mm 1.8?

[miran]

[calvin83]

[iangreenhalgh1]

I really want one of those Laowa 12mm with close to zero distortion, but sadly way outside my budget. So instead, I adapted an 8mm projector lens which gives the same FOV on an APS-C NEX. It's close to zero distortion too, but I won't claim it matches the Laowa in IQ, although it is 'sharp enough' and has no falloff of illumination to speak of.

I was shocked when I shot this to test the distortion:



I like the images it makes: