Philip Freedman Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Is there a good quality medium-wide to medium-long zoom (equivalent to say 28 to 90 mm in 24x36 format) suitable for my D70 and having virtually noticeable distortion? I do a mixture of street and architectural photography and hate carrying anything more than one camera and one lens. I sometimes use a fixed 35mm f2 Nikkor to give the equivalent of around 50mm standard lens (which is quite a good compromise between w/a and tele !) but it does not give much flexibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_brown4 Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 The 17-55/2.8G-AF DX Nikkor is pretty close, but exhibits a bit a barrel distortion at the wide end. A combination of the 17-35/2.8 and 28-70/2.8 would be better in terms of distortion. The kit lens for the D70 isn't bad either, it's pretty linear from 24mm and longer, but has noticeable distortion down at 18mm (not good for architecture). There are some new Sigmas coming out that cover your range, but I haven't heard or seen any distoriotn info on them. HTH... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael s. Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Philip -- "Distortion free" is a tall order. Not sure if you've already ruled out the Nikkor DX 18 - 70mm 'kit' lens (equiv 27 - 105), but it's actually a good lens. It's not fast at f/3.5 - 4.5, but it's compact and pretty solidly built. Many people like the Tamron 28 - 75mm f/2.8 zoom, which is good and is faster, and is reasonably priced and compact, too, but starts at an effective 42mm -- perhaps not wide enough? To get more range with speed and less distortion, I'm afraid your next stop is a pro-level lens -- excellent but heavier and much more $$$. I don't have the experience or expertise to offer recommendations there. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael s. Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Philip - Some D70 shooters are carrying the kit lens and either a 20mm or a 24mm in the bag. Still a small pkge and pretty versatile, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryan_lardizabal Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 "Distortion free zoom for D70?, "having virtually noticeable distortion?" What lenses do you have now for use on your D70? Seems like you should post some examples of what you are attaining now, for comparison with what others shooting on their D70's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric friedemann Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 The 18-70mm DX kit lens has pretty awful barrel distortion at the short end and significant pincushion distortion at the long end. The 17-55mm f/2.8 DX (24.5-82.5mm/35mm equiv.) exhibits low distortion at both ends of its range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourfa Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Anyone want to comment on the 24-85 AFS on a DX sensor? I've been scanning film shot with this lens lately and correcting a lot of pincushion at the long end. I know I can go outside and shoot garage doors to test it, but in my experience that's not the same as actual use in a variety of conditions. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolan Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 I'll add to the chorus of praise for the 17-55/2.8. I find it much less geometrically distorted than the 18-70 (another fine lens for the money). The 17-55 does show a bit of barrel distortion at the wide end but it's subtle, easily correctable in Photoshop, and not like the complex wavy distortion of the 18-70. I have not yet shot any commercial architecture stuff with the 17-55, but my personal tests show it to be a superb lens at all focal lengths, even wide open. And it better be, for its asking price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 We had a pretty lengthy discussion about this last year: http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=009jVw Even the 17-55mm/f2.8 DX is far from distortion free, but it is not bad. At 17mm, the 17-35mm/f2.8 AF-S is better, though. If the $1350 price tag is acceptable, the 17-55 DX is probably the closest to your requirement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank uhlig Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 If I want to take a shot: the poster is likely to call the optic phenomenon of converging lines a "distortion", as he might be for the widening at the edge of the frame with a superwide lens. Just musing ... What distortions do you notice, Phillip? What irks you with your lens performance now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briany Posted February 25, 2005 Share Posted February 25, 2005 Sure.. the lens in your bag + PTLens. The software is free. Granted this is not the same as a distortion free lens. But its an easy step to add to a workflow, and if you don't need the speed of the a constant 2.8 zoom, it's a much much cheaper option. They have profiles for a good number of Nikon lenses... give it a try. I've not seen comparisons of detail in corrected vs uncorrected shots, but the interpolation algorithms can get about as advanced as you want (and consequently run anywhere from nearly instantaneously to extrememly slowly). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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