Which wide angle lens

[Jar*Head]

Good evening, i am looking for a good wide angle lens to take a full tank shot on my 8f long tank. I have try 18-35 but still not cover the whole tank. FYI, i don't have much space to get the distance between the camera to the tank (approx 10 feet ) which lens do you recommend to be able to take a full tank shot with 10 feet distance from the tank?

My camera is Nikon D90, i currently have Nikon 60mm and 105mm micro.

Thanks
Steve

 

[xtm]

For a Nikon mount, you have about 3 options:

- Nikkor 12-24 (great, but expensive!)

- Sigma 10-20 - I've used it.. very nice and sharp! but only shoots f/4. For what it's worth, Sigma just came out with the 10-20 f/3.5 model. It's still not fast enough to hang with the lens below..

- Tokina 11-17 f/2.8 - Awesome lens! The most expensive of the 3rd party glass.. plus it's 2.8 which I like.

- Tamron I believe has an 11-20 ultra wide angle. I don't know anything about it.


You can try "stitching" your photos using your 18-35 (like a panorama) instead of using a wide angle lens. In fact I think that is a better method because wide angle lens almost always have nasty distortion on the sides (barrel distortion).

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

I would go with the 12-24, I wish I could get one for my Canon!

 

[Jacob D]

If you're going to spend close to a grand you really ought to save up and get the Nikon 14-24 for around $1600. I'm astonished by sample photos I have seen from it. The image quality, resolution, and especially corner to corner sharpness can't be beat - not even by a couple of impressive Canon primes at 14mm and 24mm.

Canon shooters can use it too with an adapter.


I should add that the 12-24 is a sensible choice, but if you think you might ever go to a full frame, then by all means get the 14-24.

 

[BlueCorn]

I'm a big fan of the Tokina 12-24 on any crop body. It's a fantastic lens for the price.

 

[dendronepthya]

Nikon 14-24 almost got me to buy a Nikon camera.

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

Yeah Nikon 14-24 that is what I meant. The Tokina12-24 isn't too shabby, I'll give it that.

 

[Jar*Head]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14567293#post14567293 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xtm
For a Nikon mount, you have about 3 options:

- Nikkor 12-24 (great, but expensive!)

- Sigma 10-20 - I've used it.. very nice and sharp! but only shoots f/4. For what it's worth, Sigma just came out with the 10-20 f/3.5 model. It's still not fast enough to hang with the lens below..

- Tokina 11-17 f/2.8 - Awesome lens! The most expensive of the 3rd party glass.. plus it's 2.8 which I like.

- Tamron I believe has an 11-20 ultra wide angle. I don't know anything about it.


You can try "stitching" your photos using your 18-35 (like a panorama) instead of using a wide angle lens. In fact I think that is a better method because wide angle lens almost always have nasty distortion on the sides (barrel distortion).

Thank you for the advice. I think stitching is a great idea but don't know how to do it. I will look into nikkor 12-24.

 

[Jar*Head]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14569297#post14569297 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by beerguy
I'm a big fan of the Tokina 12-24 on any crop body. It's a fantastic lens for the price.

How much am i looking at Doug

 

[BlueCorn]

~ $500

The first picture that I ever had published was taken using that lens.

 

[Jar*Head]

Cool, thank you Doug.

 

[nickb]

You can find some sample photos with the Tokina at this URL: http://www.motleypixel.com/reviews/index.htm If you select other choices from the left menu, you will find several of the other lenses which were mentioned.

 

[QuarterG]

Semper Fi

 

[sscherin]

I'd try a stitching a few shots together with Autostitch just for fun.
It's amazing what it can do.
http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~mbrown/autostitch/autostitch.html#autostitch

 

[nickb]

Also, if you just need the lens occasionally, you might look into renting one. That could let you try out different options for yourself.

 

[xtm]

If you're open to doing some creative photography and don't mind doing some post-processing, you might want to consider the Nikkor 10.5 rectilinear fisheye (~$700) and then use a de-fishing software (like DxO optics).

 

[aquariumclown]

I would recommend photo stitching, really easy with photoshop

 

[nickb]

I wouldn't think that photostitching would work well if you have fish swimming around in the tank.

 

[IPT]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14597073#post14597073 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nickb
I wouldn't think that photostitching would work well if you have fish swimming around in the tank.

As long as you maintain the layers are you can just use masking to be sure you only have one of every fish that should be there. Of course you could also leave the extra fish so it appears like you have tons of them!