What is a good Wide Angle Lens for Nikon D40 that won't break the bank?

[mike_s]

Anyone have any good suggestions for a wide angle Lens for a Nikon D40 that won't break the bank?

If it's a nikon lens, needs to be a AF-S for the D40 for the autofocus.

I found two Nikons that were 10-24mm and 12-24mm, but they are $450 and $900 each. (Kinda high in the price range.)


Any other suggestions? or other brands/models to consider?


thanks. -Mike

[JackConnick]

Tokina has a version of the 12-24 thats cheaper. Check out some of the Sigmas too, maybe the 10-20. They've revved a lot of lenses to HSM.

Jack

[Peter_C]

Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 Review by Thom Hogan
Amazon.com: Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo

As I understand it, the Sigma is the only one with the focus motor in the lens, other than the Nikkor. I use a 12-24mm Tokina on a D300 and have been very happy with it, but you would have to manually focus it.

As I am sure you all ready know be very careful about where you purchase your equipment. Ratings and Reviews for 14,002 Stores at ResellerRatings.com: Search: Showing All Stores is a great reference. Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto Beach Camera, etc are good places to purchase equipment from.

[alcina]

I love the Sigma 10-22. I buy sigma lenses from Digital cameras, canon digital cameras, sigma digital cameras, digital camera accessories, hoya filters quite often and they've had great service and prices. I often use PriceGrabber.com - Comparison Shopping Beyond Compare as a starting place for comparing prices.

$450 is what I would expect to pay for a new WA lens, as a base. Good glass is not always cheap and it's something that is definitely worth putting off for a bit to save up for. If you are housing this lens, be aware that WA ports can be a tad pricey, too

[swankenstein]

I use the Zenitar 16mm fisheye on my Canon (they make Nikon mounts too, but the lens is manual-focus only). This lens goes for about $120. The quality is decent (some reviewers said it was better than a Nikon at small aperatures), but fussing about minor differences in quality is kind of pointless since as soon as you put it behind a dome, it automatically becomes a lens that no surface photographer would want to use because of the introduced abberations (especially at the edges).

[mike_s]

As I am sure you all ready know be very careful about where you purchase your equipment. Ratings and Reviews for 14,002 Stores at ResellerRatings.com: Search: Showing All Stores is a great reference. Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto Beach Camera, etc are good places to purchase equipment from.

Actually I just learned about the Reseller Ratings URL here recently and from Scubaboard when I was asking about a camera vendor. I knew there were some bad vendors, but I didn't know that there were so many of them. I found that there some that advertised for $100 bucks or so cheaper on a camera body, only to find out that they used "bait and switch" tatics and didn't include things like the battery, charger, etc and tried to get you to buy upgrades and then people had all kinds of credit card processing problems.

I'm glad that Scubaboard members told me about Reseller Ratings and I was able to read the reviews on the seller before I got scammed. So thanks!

[fisheyeview]

I use the Tokina 10-17mm FE lens and I love it.

[JackConnick]

I use the Tokina 10-17mm FE lens and I love it.

I didn't think it had HSM. D40 needs a motor in their lenses to autofocus.

Jack

[Larry C]

I didn't think it had HSM. D40 needs a motor in their lenses to autofocus.

Jack

I don't think it will autofocus on the D40. OTOH, that thing will focus from about 6" to infinity, so manual focus should work fine or just set it and forget it.