lens for architecture photography

[katie h.]

I am interested in learning about interior design/ architecture

photography and I was wondering what would be a good lens for use on

the D70 and N80.

 

I have been told that a 20mm lens would be good choice. Is the

manual focus 20mm any sharper or better corrected (for distortion)

than the AF 20mm? The crop factor on the D70 is an issue also. How

wide can I go without getting bad distortion? Would the 18-70 kit

lens be sharp enough (if anyone has one to sell, I'm looking to buy-

B&H is out of stock)?

 

Thanks in advance for your help,

 

Katie

[umd]

18-70 is a very nice lens for the price and is good enough for a lot of things, unfortunately architecture and interiors aren't among them. This lens has high levels of distortion which make it unsutiable for architecture and I consider it slow for interiors with natural light. Go with the 20mm/2.8.

[neil_grant]

if your serious, check out Nikon PC lenses for architectural photography with their film

cameras. Two focal lengths are available 28mm and 35mm, the latter discontinued.

Neither will work properly on a DSLR.

[briany]

Ehh, maybe I'm in the minority here, but if you're just interested in learning.. give it a whirl with the 18-70 for starters. You can always buy a large format camera later... If you're using flash, the D70 will give you quick feedback, it will let you use CLS, etc. Yes, it's not f/2.8 but I do not think I'm in the minority when I say you'll probably be using a tripod anyway. Get the PT Lens plugin for Photoshop, and it will take care of the distortion -- it's a very good little program and free. And yes, it's plenty sharp, and you'll probably be shooting at f11 or maybe smaller to keep everything in focus anyway.

[ellis_vener_photography]

For architectural work my recommendation ona D70 my recommendation would be either

an 18mm f/2.8D AF Nikkor or the 20mm f/2.8D AF Nikkor . The 12-24mm f/4G ED-IF AF-

S DX Zoom-Nikkor and the 17-35mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S Zoom-Nikkorare also worthy

choices. These lenses will produce higher quality results than the 18-70mm kit lens.

 

But if you are just starting, the kit lens is fine. Make sure you get a good tripod and a two

way level that slips into either camera's hotshoe

[lex_jenkins]

Neil, could you be more specific about why you think the 28mm and 35mm PC-Nikkors won't work properly on a dSLR?

[neil_grant]

Katie, the Nikon PC lenses dont work properly on a DSLR because, typically the camera's

bulky battery pack wont allow the lens to rotate in its mount. This occurs with the Kodak

DCS 14n full-frame DSLR - and probably others as well. Also, when the lens is shifted colour

banding artifacts appear across the picture - presumably because of the oblique illumation

that the chip receives. Its a shame that neither work, because they allow photos of buildings

without the dreaded converging verticals you get by tilting the camera to frame properly.

The cropping factor also makes them irrelevant on a part-frame camera. Try a web search

for PC lenses and architectural photography - your bound to find something with photos that

illustrate everything

[ellis_vener_photography]

The Kodak DCS 14/n and Pro SLR/n bodies are a completely different design from the

Nikon (and Fuji)

DSLR cameras, so what Neil said about not being able to use those lenses with a D70 just

doesn't apply.

[ellis_vener_photography]

Nikon also makes the 85mm f/2.8 PC Micro-Nikkor which has shift (also Tilt) that has

many architectural applications . For example: it is a terrific lens for photographing

details in interiors.

[m.v.]

Katie,

 

My recommendation would be to go for the widest lens possible. It has been my experience (with standard 35mm film bodies) that 20mm is really the minimum focal length required - especially for interior work. You can always crop an image that's too wide, but it's very frustrating to not be able to fit everything in. I think you'll find that with anything longer than the 20mm, your only alternative will be to take multiple images, and then stitch them together afterwards (which gets to be time consuming if you've got a lot of shots to deal with).

 

I currently own both the (manual focus) Nikkor 28mm PC, and the 20mm. While the perspective control is handy, more & more of the corrections are now possible in post-processing (especially the new Photoshop CS2). I find the 20mm's 94 degree field-of-view perfect, and it is the lens I reach for most of the time. But, since your D70's 1.5 crop factor will limit the lens coverage, you will need to go wider still to get the coverage you need. Therefore, your choices are:

 

1.) Fixed focal length: the 10.5mm fisheye (rectilinear corrected using Nikon's software), & the 14mm.

 

2.) Zoom lens: 12-24mm.

 

Of these, and considering the price, I'd go for the 12-24mm zoom lens (18mm - 36mm equivalent for the D-70). It will provide the field-of-view required, with minimal distortion / aberrations. And, if you're a real stickler for perfection, then it's even possible with this lens to use the DxO post-correction software ( http://www.dxo.com/en/photo/optics_pro/cameras_lenses.php#D70 )to completely eliminate and correct any optical imperfections.

 

Good luck!

[peter_nelson1]

<I>Neil, could you be more specific about why you think the 28mm and 35mm PC-Nikkors won't work properly on a dSLR?</I><P>

There are two main prolems with using PC lenses with typical DSLR's<P>

 

<B>1. </B> The amount of perspective correction you can get is a function of the area over which the image is projected so the small crop factors of these cameras limits the benefit you can enjoy from a tilt lens. That's one reason why tilt/PC lenses are most often used on large and medium format cameras.<P>

 

<B>2. </B> The other issue is diffraction. To keep everything in reasonable focus with a tilt/PC lens you have to stop way down. But most DSLR's really become difraction-limited beyond f/11 or so. Larger fomat cameras can often stop down to f/22 or f/32 or more.<P>

 

A more practical solution than a PC lens for a DSLR is to perspective-correct in Photoshop. But there the issue is pixel-smearing. To get good results in PS with perspective correction you need a very sharp, high pixel count, <B>VERY</B> low noise image to start with because the PS perspective correction will amplify noise, pixels, and softness.<P>

 

I would use a wide prime - not a zoom - and a DSLR that gives low noise even at at ISO's like 400 because interior shots often don't have much light - A D2X or a 1DSmkii would be better choices than the D70.

[larry n.]

Katie,

 

In case you are interested in a perspective control ("PC") lens, you can safely ignore most of what was said above about them. I own one, and it works perfectly with the D2H. If you are serious about photographing architecture, the 28/3.5 PC and 85/3.5 PC are worthy contenders.

 

However, since you are just starting out, I think Ellis's suggestions are among the best ones: AF 18/2.8, AF 20/2.8, 12-24, and 17-35. Of these, I own the 17-35 and it is a magnificent lens.

[lex_jenkins]

There are a few misleading or irrelevant comments here, one of which Ellis already pointed out - compatible fit between Nikon dSLR bodies and PC-Nikkor lenses is unlikely to be a problem.

 

An ordinary PC lens or comparably restricted set of movements (lateral shift, rise and fall, no tilts, swings, etc.) has always been a compromise on any camera of any format, whether an APS sized digital sensor, 35mm film or any other film format. A PC-Nikkor is hardly any less versatile on a Nikon dSLR than it is on a Nikon 35mm film SLR.

 

Diffraction is completely irrelevant to PC-Nikkors. They don't tilt or swing so there's no need to stop them down to or beyond the point of diffraction. The typically recommended aperture of f/8-f/11 for optimal sharpness and contrast also happens to provide enough DOF for most purposes with the 28mm PC-Nikkor, whether on a dSRL or 35mm film SLR. There's little to be gained by stopping down more so diffraction isn't a real issue.

 

Finally, one of the better tricks I've found for architectural photography that is seldom mentioned is simply gaining height. Instead of aiming the camera upward, try to get yourself and the camera higher. Indoors, even with high ceilings, a sturdy stepladder is all that is needed to eliminate the need for either a PC lens or perspective correction software. At a reasonable elevation, a good ultrawide lens can take in the floor and ceiling while keeping the camera level. The same trick applies to outdoor structural photography as well.

[katie h.]

Thank you for all the insightful answers. I'm trying out some shots for a local interior designer who has never had a photographer before so right now the expectations aren't really high yet. But if I'm going to make an investment I'd like it be useful for years to come so it's good to know my options. Thanks!

 

Katie

[david_rosenbloom]

I have used my 28PC extensively on my Kodak slr/n. Simply removing the outer shift know enables full 360deg rotation and shift. There is about 2mm clearance at the lower belly of the camera body with this modification. Two screws hold the knob in place so the mod is totally reversable.

Color shift is a problem with some scenes but can be dealt with in SW. I don't mind a bit of tinkering with HW and SW, others may not be so inclined.