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Wide-angle lenses may not be the first thing you grab when building a lens kit. But eventually, you’re going to want to have one or two handy. Wide-angle lenses, as the name suggests, create images with a wider field of view compared to other lenses. Strictly speaking, anything below 35mm on a full-frame body is considered a wide-angle lens. If you shop around for older manual film lenses, you’ll find quite a few in the 20-35mm area.<\/p>\n
But modern lenses are often quite a bit wider. It’s possible to get lenses as low as 10 mm before getting into fisheye territory if you need all that extra field of view. Modern distortion and chromatic aberration corrections combined with the incredible slew of Nikon options (matched only by Canon) mean that you are spoiled for choice.<\/p>\n
Typically wide-angle lenses are used for architecture, landscapes, astrophotography, and other subjects where you want to showcase a lot of scenery. But they can even be used in portraiture, sports shoots, and other types of photography you would not expect. They effortlessly create an additional context for your main subject by providing more of the background to tell a story with.<\/p>\n
Focal length matters quite a bit here because each increment of focal length makes a far larger impact on your field of view compared to a telephoto lens. Comparing a 10mm field of view to a 12mm one will be noticeably different compared to an 85mm and 90mm field of view.<\/p>\n
But just how wide of a field of view do we want when shopping for a wide-angle lens? The wider you go, the harder (read: more expensive) it is for the manufacturer to make corrections to avoid barrel distortion. Vignetting at the corners of the frame is also unavoidable when using ultra-wide-angle lenses, especially ones with faster apertures.<\/p>\n
While super wide-angles can be fun, remember that even a 15mm or 25mm will give you plenty of space to work with compared to the field of view you may be used to. Even if you don’t shoot many landscapes, having a new focal length forces you think creatively about how to compose an image.<\/p>\n
What aperture (or aperture range) you need is also entirely dependent on your needs as a photographer. If your lens has a range showing, such as f\/3.5-5.6, the lens stops itself down as it works through the zoom range. In effect, the lens collects less light because the distance light has to collect increases as you zoom and the barrel increases in length.<\/p>\n
This is a much cheaper solution compared to constant aperture zoom lenses, which tend to be heavier and use more expensive glass. The autofocusing speed on continuous aperture lenses is usually faster as well.<\/p>\n
But whether you actually need a fast or constant aperture or not depends on whether you need low light capacity or a shallow depth of field. Some wide-angle lens owners shoot landscapes or architecture, where you usually want a deeper depth of field to get most or all of the scene in sharp focus. In cases like this, lenses with a maximum aperture of f\/3.5 or higher are perfectly fine, even if they stop down further as you zoom.<\/p>\n
If you’re looking for astrophotography or want a shallow depth of field, then you’ll want to look at f\/2.8 apertures and wider (keep in mind that the smaller the f\/number, the wider the aperture and thus collecting more light being). With each stop of aperture gained the shutter speed needed for a long exposure image halves, making the aperture value critical for any low light work.<\/p>\n
As stated earlier, Nikon has one of the most diverse and mature lens selections available on the photography market today. Combined with their third-party selections, there are dozens of wide-angle options to choose from.<\/p>\n
Nikon lenses themselves range from extremely inexpensive to high priced. Their DX (APS-C crop-sensor) and FX (full-frame sensor) line also are cross-compatible with one another. Do keep in mind that if you place a DX lens on an FX body, the camera will auto-crop the sensor to compensate at the cost of image resolution.<\/p>\n
Tamron and Sigma are two of the leading third-party manufacturers for Nikon (as well as Canon). The lenses are well made and 100% compatible with Nikon systems, including autofocus and image stabilization. They tend to be priced a bit lower compared to the Nikon versions as well but may use more plastic which may give a less \u201cpremium\u201d feel to your glass. But Tamron also offers premium lenses in the form of \u201cSP\u201d models just as Sigma has its \u201cArt\u201d line.<\/p>\n
If manual focusing doesn’t scare you then several somewhat obscure manufacturers offer ultra-wide options as well. Rokinon (aka. Samyang) is a Korean manufacturer that offers prime lenses as wide as 10mm before getting into fisheye territory at very reasonable prices. Laowa is another manufacturer that has some of the best distortion correction on the market; both offer fast apertures as well of f\/2.8 to f\/2, depending on the lens.<\/p>\n
Several budget Chinese manufacturers like Meike and 7Artisans are starting to hit the market as well with fast wide-angle primes. However, these lenses are known for having very poor quality control compared to other companies. Models tend to vary significantly in sharpness and color and are reported to sometimes even fall apart over time. But the vast majority are surprisingly well made for the price and give a great wide-angle experience for very little money.<\/p>\n
A debate as old as time \u2013 but it need not be a debate at all. Prime and zoom lenses both have a role to play in the kit of most photographers.<\/p>\n
For those who don’t know, prime lenses have a single focal length, and thus a fixed field of view, while zoom lenses can shift through a specified range to create a variable field of view without moving. Or another way of putting it: you zoom with your feet when shooting with a prime lens.<\/p>\n
One of the oldest arguments in favor of prime lenses is \u201cprime lenses offer better image quality compared to zooms.\u201d And the answer is that it depends. That is generally true of older zoom lenses, but modern zooms have come a long way and use extensive corrections, premium glass, and lens elements that render the difference minimal at best.<\/p>\n