Opinions on wide(er) prime lens for my D800

[dave_kroman]

<p>So in late April of this year I got my hands on a new D800. I've been working with the D200 since I began shooting in 2008, and I'm pretty thrilled with my new gear. I would classify myself as a part-time "professional" photographer - primarily shooting portraiture and also some fashion work.</p>

<p>On my D200 I shot with three different primes: A Nikon 85 f/1.4D, Sigma 50 f/1.4, and Sigma 30 f/1.4. I've been very pleased with all of these lenses. Despite the problems that people report having with Sigma glass, the 2 copies I've worked with seem just fine. I especially like the way the Sigma's render the out-of-focus areas. Prior to owning the Sigma 50 f/1.4 I had the Nikon 50 f/1.4D, and wasn't a fan of the "crunchy" bokeh it sometimes provided.</p>

<p>Now that I've switched to a full-frame body I've occasionally found myself wishing I had a wider focal length. I would say that 75 to 80 percent of the time I'm content with only the 50mm and 85mm. Recently I found myself at a portrait shoot where I really wished I had a wider lens. Since I have a somewhat limited budget right now, the two lenses on my radar are the Nikon 35 f/2.0D and the Sigma 28 f/1.8. Once again, in reading online reviews the Sigma gets repeatedly bashed for its poor focusing ability. There seems to be a lot of great feedback on the Nikon, but then again - reviews of the 50 f/1.4D were very good also. I was never very enthusiastic about that lens. </p>

<p>I was curious if anyone here happens to use a D800 / 35 f/2.0 combo. If so...how well does this lens perform with the camera? Part of me wants to take a chance on the Sigma 28, another part wants to settle for the Nikon 35 f/2.0. One aspect that does tend to shy me away from the Sigma is the 28mm focal length. I have a feeling 28mm might be a bit too wide for my taste, but it's hard to say. Opinions? Any feedback would be much appreciated.<br>

Thanks for your time!</p>

<p> </p>

[dan_brown4]

<p>Pick up a clean used 28-70/f3.5-4.5D-AF lens (N90s era). It's a darn nice lens, rivals the 30/2D for performance, and could easily be found under $100.</p>

[tom_mann1]

<p>If you are considering use of the 35/f2-afd wide open, read the following threads:<br>

http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00YtO1<br>

http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00XX8p<br>

http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00VfPT</p>

<p>That lens is bad enough on a d700 wide open, it would be laughable to put it on a d800 unless you were specifically going for a spin-blur sort of look at the edges, especially when you have point sources of light.</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

[alex_zepeda]

<p>As someone who uses a Sigma 30 with a D200... yeah the AF performance is comically bad (almost as bad as Sigma's so-called service), but when the damn thing can actually focus on something the images are quite nice.</p>

<p>More than dodgy focusing, service, and build quality I'd be worried that neither of the lenses on your list will give you out of focus areas that are up to your other lenses. I'd be looking at the Zeiss 35/2 (manual focus) or Nikon 35/1.4. Both are, however, big and pricey. The upcoming Voigtlander 28/2.8 could be an interesting choice too.</p>

[mihai_ciuca]

<p>Dave, my first option would be the new 28mm f/1.8 AF-S G from Nikon. This is a great lens and sticks to my D800 since I got it.<br /> If MFing is not a problem you can get 35/2 ZF.2 as was mentioned. I have it and it is a great option for the type of application you need. You also can consider here Rokinon / Samyang 35/1.4. I tested it in a shop and its damn good for a decent cost.<br /> Last but not least... I believe that Sigma 28/1.8 could serve you, if corners and borders are not so important. Photozone recently did a review of the three wide angle Sigmas on D3X and in the center they all are sharp. Before I purchased my 24/1.4 I used on D700 Sigma 24/1.8 exclusively for events. At that time people were speaking bad about these wide angle offers from Sigma... but I guess they tried them on landscape. For events my copy was great. Soft corners and borders in events are a sweat feature for me not a bad thing. The only thing I disliked to that Sigma was the outside finish... Now I have Sigma 85/1.4 and is much better in this regard.<br /> Again... why you do not consider Nikon 28/1.8 AF-S?</p>

[allan_jamieson2]

<p>I had the Nikon 35mm f2 until last year, I had bought it thinking of building up a set of prime wide angle lenses prior to going full frame from the D90 I had then. However, after trying it out on the D90 I was less than impressed with the lens and sold it on again straight away. I picked up a brand new 24-85mm AFS (old stock) last summer and found that it was a lot better than the 35mm lens and used it a lot on the D90. I thought that it performed better than my Nikon 12-24mm lens.</p>

<p>Like you I now have a D800 and after a lot of thought bought the new 28mm f1.8 lens, which seems to perform very well with the D800. 28mm might be a bit wider than you were thinking of but with the resolution of the D800 you could easily crop an image into the equivalent of a 35mm lens image if you wanted to. I still have that 24-85mm AFS lens too, it might not be the latest and greatest but it does pretty well as a walk around lens with the D800 and opinions seem to be a bit divided on the new VR version of the 24-85mm to say the least.</p>

<p>With lenses it is usually a false economy to make do with something that is "almost" as good as what you really wanted because all that usually happens is that you end up selling that on and spending more money to get what you wanted in the first place!</p>

<p>I think that you can probably expect upgraded 20mm, 24mm and 35mm lenses (similar to the new 28mm lens) from Nikon over the next year or so to meet the demand from buyers of the D800/e cameras. Not everybody needs f1.4, which is what most of the better Nikon wide angle lenses are at present.</p>

[elliot1]

<p><em>"</em><em>That lens is bad enough on a d700 wide open"</em> Tom, what is your personal experience with this lens?<br>

<br>

I resisted investing in this lens because of numerous negative comments about it. I also ready numerous positive comments about it. So I decided to try it figuring I would sell it if it didn't perform well. I use it on my D3 and am very, very happy with it. And that is no joke! After post processing with DXO [which offers lens softness correction], the results not just good, they are excellent. It is a small, lightweight lens that is also very affordable as well. I look forward to using it on my D800e. Fortunately it is supported with DXO software (which I rely on to correct softness with every lens I own regardless of cost) so I am looking forward to getting excellent results with it on the D800e as well.</p>

<p>Don't knock it until you have tried it!<br>

<br>

I am hoping to receive my camera next week and will be happy to test it for you and post some sample shots.<br>

<br>

</p>

[tom_mann1]

<p>Elliot - Take a look at the tests I just ran and the comments I just made in this thread, http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00VfPT , in response to Frank's comments to me.</p>

<p>My bottom line is that I like the lens and I actually re-purchased a 35 f/2 AFD a couple of years after selling a copy of it that had oily iris blades. Stopped down a bit, cropped in a bit, or if, like me, you are looking for an intentional slight softening effect in the edges of normal contrast subjects (eg, environmental portraits), it's absolutely fine. However, if you are putting it on a d800, my guess is that you probably won't be happy unless you have much better sharpness wide open than it can provide. You can do vastly better than this old design. Even my 16-35 f/4 VR zoom is much sharper in the corners than the 35/2 AFD. The new 28/1.8 should be stunning. </p>

<p>HTH,</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>To Dave the OP, I have tested the new Nikon 28mm/f1.8 AF-S on the D800, and that combo works quite well. At $700, the 28/1.8 is not exactly cheap, but since you have a D800, it pays to use a good modern lens on it.</p>

<p>However, the Nikon 28/1.8 has a very loose manual focus ring. To me, it is not a problem since I mainly use AF, but it can be an issue for some.</p>

[elliot1]

<p>Tom, I have not noticed the issues you have, but I have not taken that type of shot (of the lights) and of course just because I haven't noticed it does not mean the issue is not there. But I am happy to test my lens out on it once my D800 arrives. And I will try to find similar shooting conditions.</p>

<p>I will guess that it won't work as well as the new 28mm f1.8 per Shun's comments. I wouldn't expect it to. How well it works remains to be seen.</p>

[allan_jamieson2]

<p>Seems like there could be a bit of a quality difference in different samples of the 35mm f2. The copy that I had was very average on the D90. Yet, my 24mm f2.8 AIS also didn't do well on the D90, yet did very well on the D800, which reminds me that I owe the local Nikon guys a phone call to see if they've managed to fix that lens yet. They've only had it about 4 weeks...</p>

[tom_mann1]

<p>Hi Allan - I'm sure there is unit-to-unit variation, and I only have experience with the two examples I owned, but, FWIW, my two examples behaved identically.</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

[vincedistefano]

<p>I've just discovered borrowlenses.com, pretty neat. I rented a 20mm f/2.8D ED AF, and am really enjoying it. Maybe try renting one for a week, take lots of pix, and see how it does for you? It's $565 on B&H. With the resolution of the D800, being a little wider than you might need all the time is not an issue. Plenty of crop room if you need it. If all goes well with my testing, I'll order one the same day I ship this one back.</p>

[allan_jamieson2]

<p>Tom, main issue that I had with the 35mm f2 was it was never really perfectly sharp anywhere with the D90, which can't fine tune focus for front or back focusing lenses in the way that the D300, 700, 800 etc can. That lens may well have performed very well on other cameras, just not on that particular D90.</p>