Tokina 17mm/3.5 or Vivitar 19mm/3.8 ?

[marry]

Hello guys,

I'm new here so i'll hope this is the right place to post this...
On my D200 I'm currently using a lot of manual focus lenses. At the moment, I'm considering to buy a moderate wide-angle lens (as there are no super-wide mf lenses available for my digital camera).
I found both the Vivitar 19mm/3.8 and the Tokina 17mm/3.5 on the used market for a reasonable price. Which one would perform better on my camera, apart from the Vivitar being wider?
Also, the Nikon 18mm/3.5 and 20mm/2.8 look like really nice lenses, but are they really worth the premium over the Tokina/Vivitar?
Or does somebody have experience with other (Nikon fit) lenses in this range?

Thanks!

[F16SUNSHINE]

Hello Mary welcome to the forum. I have used both and prefer the 17. It is quite usable at f8 and a good value. One of our members Richard has posted some convincing examples. As has Attila in the MF gallery. Take a look

Andy

[poilu]

Welcome Marry
Have a nice stay with us

[ChrisLilley]

I have heard that the Nikkor 18mm is not really very good optically (worse than the 18-55 kit lens, for example) but have not used it. It seems to be expensive due to rarity rather than desirability for actual use..

The Nikkor 20mm f/2.8 is good although, on the advice of others here, I bought the 20mm f/4 which is superior at the f/8 to f/11 apertures at which one typically uses wide lenses for landscape. However, this pre-AI lens may not be compatible with your D200 (I have D40 which mounts all non-AI lenses except for those which need mirror lockup).

Lastly, while certainly not cheap (but offering manual focus despite the fact that it also does AF) the Tokina AT-X 11-16 Pro DX may be of interest; its a constant f/2.8 11-16mm wideangle zoom available in Nikon mount.

[Richard_D]

I've got both the 17mm Tokina and the Nikkor 2.8 AIS. The Nikkor is a lovely lens but expensive, the Tokina pretty good stopped down (if lacking in contrast) and cheap. I've sample shots from both in the MFL members gallery (from front page).

[Orio]

Hello Marry and welcome.
Is Marry a female first name (excuse curiosity, I am not English mother language) or just a nickname?

[marry]

Hey, thanks for the quick replies. It looks like I'll be looking for the 17mm tokina or the 20mm nikkor then... The nikkor is not as wide, so maybe i'd rather check out the 17.
Also, I've ran across the 17 Tokina in at a German site for 90 Eur, is this a fair price for this lens?

Orio, by the way, Marry is a Dutch female first name. I'm not the first woman interested in old lenses on this forum, am I ?

[Orio]

[Attila]

Hey we have one more lady on board! Many thanks to joining us! In mflenses.com/gallery you can find samples with all lenses what you asked.
My suggestion is Nikkon 20mm any variant, 18mm has less quality.

[LucisPictor]

Welcome and enjoy your stay! Nice to have another lady aboard.

I do not have these lenses but I do have similar copies (with other brand names).
My Vivitar 3.5/17 is a copy of the Tokina 3.5/17 and the Vivitar 3.8/19 is a copy of my Cosina 3.8/20 (despite the "different" focal length, it is actually just the nomenclature that is different, the lens is the same .

I definitely prefer the 3.5/17, not only because it is even wider, it is also better.

See here: http://forum.mflenses.com/wide-angle-comparisons-t6328.html

Carsten

[Farside]

Welcome, marry. I have the Vivitar 19mm, but haven't used it yet due to not having an adapter, so that's not much use to you.
From what I've seen of others' pics, the Tokina has the better quality, but I wouldn't say the Viv is bad, for all that.

[kds315*]

Hi Marry,

I have that Vivitar/Tokina RMC 17mm in Nikon mount [actually I have two....hint, hint] and I am quite satisfied with it. Quite an excellent
price / quality ratio.

Some shots of yesterday in our park here:










Details are 100% crop from original (jpg from Nikon D70 RAW), no mods or enhancements done, straight from the cam.

P.S.: Welcome to the board!

[marry]

Hey, thanks again. I'm really considering the Tokina 17 right now.
What would be a decent price on the used market?
And kds315*, do you really want to sell one? I may be interested...

[LucisPictor]

A good price would be between 60,- and 70,- € (for a very good copy).
Anything below can be considered a bargain at the moment (superwide lenses are rather expensive.)
You see this Tokina go for more than € 80,- often.

[kds315*]

I payed about double that for lenses in EX++ resp. MINT-condition. Let me pls know where you find those for 60...80!!!

[marry]

There's one up one ebay
http://cgi.ebay.nl/Nikon-17mm-f3-5-Lens-Ai-s-wide-angle-rectilinear-Tokina_W0QQitemZ180212258201QQihZ008QQcategoryZ48556QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247
But that way too expensive for me.
Unfortunately, that German auction has ended already

[Richard_D]

I paid around Ł45 GBP for mine a few months back, but that was exceptionally good, I'd been bidding on a couple that had previously gone for over Ł70. 249 euro's is way too much.

[LucisPictor]

[F16SUNSHINE]

Carsten has a point I think. Look for the vivitar labeled lens as well as the tokina. The vivitar lenses with serial # starting 37xxxxxx are built by tokina. So a viv 17mm with this serial is the same lens. I have compared, I have the Tokina label in C/Y mount and the Viv in OM. Which BTW is for sale but will not help your Nikon sorry