UWA lens recommedations for Nikon

Lena · Joined: 24 Apr 2012 Posts: 495 Location: Pl

I'm thinking of an UWA lens in Nikon Ai/Ais/AF mount.

I usually travel with my 17-50/2.8 AF Tamron, which is a decent lens, but I use it a lot at close to 17mm. Therefore I guess it's a good idea to get a fixed lens/small zoom at around 17mm ( I have 8mm and 24mm ) and travel lighter.

The obvious recommendations ( on a budget, of course ) would be:
Tokina 17/3.5 SL
Vivitar 17/3.5
Tamron?
Zenitar 16/2.8?

There also some 19-35 zooms, both MF and AF, like Tokina, Tamron, Voigtlander, Cosina that come in Nikon mount.

I would appreciate any comments that could help with my search.

hifisapi · Joined: 25 Sep 2012 Posts: 941 Location: USA

I had the rmc tokina 17mm/3.5 for a while. Its sharp and contrasty, but has a slight
amount of barrel distortion. I liked it better than the tamron 17/3.5. I sold it when I
found my SMC Pentax 18mm/3.5 which was superior to both. That wont fit Nikon however.

ForenSeil · Joined: 15 Apr 2011 Posts: 2726 Location: Kiel, Germany.

The Zenitar is a fisheye - I hope you know Wink

Is the Samyang(/Vivitar/Rokinon/...) 14/2.8 in your budget? Except a some correctable distortion it's a very good lens.
There should be some sample here in the forum.

If the Samyang is out-of-budget I would recommend the Tokina 17/3.5 - it's a good start.