Wide angle lens for a beginner

abhishekdg · May 5, 2012

Hi friends,
Already ordered my first DSLR - Nikon D90 with 35 mm f1.8G lens to be used as an everyday lens. But am mostly inclined towards landscape photography and hence looking for a wide angle lens... Any suggestions what might ift a beginner like me..Do not want to end up with an ultra wide lens that I cannot handle.
Ofcourse I do have photography sense as I have been using my Olypus film for the past 5-6 years. But new to DSLR world and budget is around 600$. Ofcourse will get a second hand lens but wanna know your suggestion..

Nikon_Josh · May 5, 2012

Honestly, you will be better off getting a 18-55 VR to start you off, an ultra wide lens (i.e. Sigma 10-20, Nikon 10-24 etc) is a very difficult beast to use and learn. I got a 10-20 and used it for a while and wondered why most of my photos were complete junk. This is because an UWA is a special purpose lens and is certainly not suitable for all situations. A UWA is a lens that exagerates the foreground whilst making everything you see with your own eyes look tiny, this is why you will sometimes hear people describe an UWA lens as a 'foreground' lens.

18MM will be more than wide enough for you and will give you a great introduction into wide angle photography. The 18mm on your D90 will be equivalent to 27mm on a full frame camera. Also ignore some of the poor advice you get that all landscape photography needs to be taken with the an UWA lens, this is simply not true. An UWA can spoil a landscape photograph if it is not used correctly and an UWA lens is certainly not a neccesity to take great landscape photos, there are some pros who do not even use UWA lens for landscape photos, they go as wide as 24mm and are happy with that. I love my 10-20 Sigma, but I have only begun to love it since actually learning how a UWA lens should be used. Hope this helps.

jriepe · May 5, 2012

Might want to take a look at this lens. It gets many good reviews and I like mine.
Nikon Digital 17-50 F2.8 TAMRON ASPHERICAL DI II SP INTERNAL FOCUS LD XR (A16) (67)(APS-C) 5 PIN DIGITAL SLR ZOOM SUPER WIDE ANGLE LENS - KEH.comerry

Edit: This link did not work but there's enough info. that you can easily get there.

greybeard · May 5, 2012

Nikon_Josh said:
Honestly, you will be better off getting a 18-55 VR to start you off, an ultra wide lens (i.e. Sigma 10-20, Nikon 10-24 etc) is a very difficult beast to use and learn. I got a 10-20 and used it for a while and wondered why most of my photos were complete junk. This is because an UWA is a special purpose lens and is certainly not suitable for all situations. A UWA is a lens that exagerates the foreground whilst making everything you see with your own eyes look tiny, this is why you will sometimes hear people describe an UWA lens as a 'foreground' lens.

18MM will be more than wide enough for you and will give you a great introduction into wide angle photography. The 18mm on your D90 will be equivalent to 27mm on a full frame camera. Also ignore some of the poor advice you get that all landscape photography needs to be taken with the an UWA lens, this is simply not true. An UWA can spoil a landscape photograph if it is not used correctly and an UWA lens is certainly not a neccesity to take great landscape photos, there are some pros who do not even use UWA lens for landscape photos, they go as wide as 24mm and are happy with that. I love my 10-20 Sigma, but I have only begun to love it since actually learning how a UWA lens should be used. Hope this helps.

I have the 18-55 Kit lens and it can be had for around $100. It is more than capable of filling your needs.

412 Burgh · May 5, 2012

greybeard said:
Nikon_Josh said:

Honestly, you will be better off getting a 18-55 VR to start you off, an ultra wide lens (i.e. Sigma 10-20, Nikon 10-24 etc) is a very difficult beast to use and learn. I got a 10-20 and used it for a while and wondered why most of my photos were complete junk. This is because an UWA is a special purpose lens and is certainly not suitable for all situations. A UWA is a lens that exagerates the foreground whilst making everything you see with your own eyes look tiny, this is why you will sometimes hear people describe an UWA lens as a 'foreground' lens.

18MM will be more than wide enough for you and will give you a great introduction into wide angle photography. The 18mm on your D90 will be equivalent to 27mm on a full frame camera. Also ignore some of the poor advice you get that all landscape photography needs to be taken with the an UWA lens, this is simply not true. An UWA can spoil a landscape photograph if it is not used correctly and an UWA lens is certainly not a neccesity to take great landscape photos, there are some pros who do not even use UWA lens for landscape photos, they go as wide as 24mm and are happy with that. I love my 10-20 Sigma, but I have only begun to love it since actually learning how a UWA lens should be used. Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

I have the 18-55 Kit lens and it can be had for around $100. It is more than capable of filling your needs.

Yeah I have 18-55 rarely used as well. If you are looking to getting one PM me.

BFiggy · May 5, 2012

I have a Sigma 10-20mm and I love it. It was pretty straight forward learning how to use it and the images come out awesome.

Nikon_Josh · May 6, 2012

BFiggy said:
I have a Sigma 10-20mm and I love it. It was pretty straight forward learning how to use it and the images come out awesome.

Care to post some samples?

abhishekdg · May 6, 2012

Thank you guys so much for all the inputs.. Well may be I should go and get the 18-55 VR as you have suggested.. however the Tamron 17-50mm lens really makes me think twice..
Anyways BFiggy , would like to see some shots from the sigma as well

skinnyboy_74 · May 7, 2012

I had the tamron 17-50mm VC copy with my nikon d90. I used it for about 18 months and it pretty much never left the camera! great lens, and rather affordable. I found I never really needed wider than 17mm so it worked well for me so it's definitely worth taking a look at!

BFiggy · May 8, 2012

Here are a few images shot with my Sigma. I find myself in a lot of situations where I don't have much space so the 10-20mm really helps get the whole subject in the frame.

Oakley Tank by Axion23, on Flickr

Crystal Cove Beach Sunset by Axion23, on Flickr

McLaren MP4-12C by Axion23, on Flickr

bullitt411 · May 8, 2012

+1 For the Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 if you want a standalone wide angle lens. Unless you're getting paid to shoot this is really all you need. You could pick up a mint used copy for ~350.00 to boot. I also have the Sigma 17-50mm, which actually kills 2 birds with one stone. I sold my 10-20mm when I picked this lens up, 17mm is actually wide enough for my use, but it is much pricier.