Good morning, Board;

I need your thoughts and advise. My daughter (amateur photog) is going to take a class on night photography. She uses a Nikon 3400 and the recommended lens for the class is a Nikkor wide angle that costs about $1900. That's way too expensive.

The lens should be a wide angle zoom somewhere around 10mm to 20mm and as fast as possible. Nikkor preferred, but not necessary. Cost is a consideration, but so is quality and value. Where/what is the sweet spot?

What are your thoughts?

Thanks.

Y'all be good.

horsefly

Since cost is a consideration, there is this:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c..._nikkor_10_20mm.html

It has VR so in theory you can use lower shutter speeds and still get sharp photos, but it is not considered an optically superior lens. I have the Nikkor 10-24mm lens, which does not have VR by the way, but it is a relatively expensive lens and probably not worth the additional cost versus the 10-20mm. For a Nikkor zoom lens that's really all you've got for choices down at the ultra-wide (10mm) end. Any zoom lens that is faster than f/3.5 is going to be expensive, no matter who makes it. And all zoom lenses in the ultra-wide-angle group are going to have distortion issues, chromatic aberration issues, vignetting issues, etc. Most can be fixed in post-processing with the right software.

Here is a good range of options:

https://www.practicalphotograp...de-angle-zoom-lenses

This Tokina might be the best compromise if speed is essential and you want to stay low price (and would probably be my choice if it has full functionality on your camera body):

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c...X_116_PRO_DX_II.html

If you can spend a little more, then the lens on the top of this list should be considered (also a Tokina), since it is very good optically:

https://www.dxomark.com/nikon-...t-zoom-lenses-review



If this lens is going to be used for long exposure, on-a-tripod, type of shooting, then considering a fixed focal prime lens with manual focus only might be a viable option. It will cost less and probably be optically superior to most zooms. A Sanyang 14mm f/2.8 in a Nikon mount probably costs less than $400. Just be sure to get a lens with the electronic contacts allowing it to work with a Nikon D3400.

Good morning, Wink;

I had hoped that you would reply. I will forward your post to her this afternoon.

Thank you.

Y'all be good.

horsefly

I didn't do much other than look at some web sites, but here is a link to the B&H site for the Tokina 14-20mm f/2 lens.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c...14_20mm_f_2_pro.html

There don't seem to be any that get better marks.

I have/had the Tokina-dx 12-24 f4. I bought it used here on AR it's a very nice lens but is getting hard to turn the zoom in the middle range.

It looks exactly like the F2.

Good morning;

Thanks again for the input. She had already done a lot of research and your input helped confirm her decision. I think the decision is a good one.

She ordered the Tokina f2.8 lens.

Y'all be good.

horsefly

Rokinon 14 mm f 2.8 . It’s manual focus and takes exceptionally sharp photos.