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Get the Tokina 12-24mm F/4
for half the price, August 24, 2005
Reviewer: Mr Photo
Get the Tokina 12-24mm f/4 for half the price. It's rated sharper than the
Tokina and built like a tank!
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A little slow and a bit expensive, but absolutely essential, June
9, 2005
Reviewer: John M Flora
Until I finally ponied up the $1k for this lens, the widest glass I had
was my Nikkor 20mm f/2.8. With the 1.5 focal length multiplier that is a
fact of life with Nikon SLRs, that's the equivalent of a 35mm lens.
I'm old enough to remember when 35mm was considered adequate for a wide
angle lens, but no more.
The multiplier takes this lens up to 18mm, which is pretty good. Stick it
on my F5 and I can practically see behind myself.
I shoot a lot of editorial stuff for newspapers and this is an excellent
up-close storytelling lens. It's sharp and delivers spectacular scenic
results when matched with a polarizing filter.
In actual use, my only complaint is that f/4 isn't as fast as I'd like. A
minor annoyance and certainly not a deal-breaker.
I'm glad I bought it. It's paid for itself many times over.
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In the Distance, April 22, 2005
Reviewer: Okay "mchristman7"
I do not know about anyone else but I love this lens. I
love landscape photography and this lens is one of the best tools to
assist you with taking breath-taking shots that are sharp and beautiful
with magnificent distance and depth. This is one of the best tools
available to get real wide angle and depth if you are using an DSLR
camera.
I performed several days of research before purchasing
this lens by surfing the net for reviews and reading articles written by
professional photographers. 99% of them gave this lens a very high
rating... and after using it myself I can see why. The results of my
pictures are worth every hard-earned dollar I spent to buy this lens. I
purchased the Nikon D-70 camera and set the intent after spending that
much for a camera I deserved great lenses to produce pictures that are
inspirational and joyful to view. I am not a professional photographer; I
am a serious student of photography who appreciates the art form.
Not everyone will have a need for this lens; however,
for those of you who want to expand your tools and you want the best and
can afford it, "go for it!'
Thanks Amazon.com for another great purchase!
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Pricey But Worth It, March 10, 2005
Reviewer: Stephen Green
If you want to shoot extreme wide angles on your Nikon digital SLR, you
can choose this Nikkor lens, or a similar Sigma lens for 2/3rds the price.
Spend the extra money.
The Sigma lens costs you a half an f-stop in speed, about double the
weight, and a complete inability to use standard filters. Plus, Sigma's
optics just aren't up to Nikon standards. All said and done, the Sigma
lens isn't worth the money.
Which brings us to the Nikon lens: Is it worth a grand?
Oh my yes.
First, the cons. If you haven't already standardized on 77mm filters, then
you'll have to buy all-new ones to fit this lens. That's an extra expense
to keep in mind before you buy. The hood that comes with this lens doesn't
snap into place as snug as it should. Getting the lens in and out of your
bag, you may find the hood jiggling loose. The dinky built-in flash on
Nikon's popular D70 body isn't a good fit with this lens. From about
12-18mm, the flash/lens combination will leave a dark shadow at the bottom
of the frame. If you plan on shooting indoors with a flash, plan on using
the Nikon SB-600 or -800.
Optically, however, this lens is a dream. Typical wide-angle distortion at
the extreme 12mm, but less than you might expect. You might find softness
around the edges at 12mm wide-open, but otherwise this is one sharp lens.
I recently took it to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs (shooting on
a 6.1mpix D70 body), and was shocked at the detail even on not-so-close
objects. This lens delivers.
And that's the whole point: It delivers what you can't get anywhere else
for DSLR work. For that, most any price is cheap.
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Good but not great, and too expensive!, January 6, 2005
Reviewer: Gadgester (New York) - See all my reviews
I think the pricing on this lens is just obscene. Nikon has a good reason
to charge us this much: given the 1.5x crop factor on digital SLRs which
effectively has a 1.5x zoom effect on lens focal length, if you need a
true wideangle lens, you just have to buy something like this. This lens'
12-24mm is equivalent to a 35mm film camera's 18-36mm focal length, which
covers the usual wideangle range.
The lens has all the bells & whistles of a modern Nikon official lens,
save for VR (vibration reduction), which isn't necessary on a wideangle
anyway. You get internal focusing via a silent ultrasonic motor, extra-low
dispersion (ED), and solid construction and excellent optics.
But, for the high price you pay for this, you don't get a macro mode. Nor
do you get a fast lens: the maximum aperture is only f4. I thought they
should do at least f2.8.
Also, because this lens is designed for the smaller-than-35mm frame size
of a d-SLR, whatever goes through the lens ends up in the image frame
(i.e., the sensor). Whereas with regular non-DX lenses you get the extra
benefit of keeping *only* the center 67% of the scene as seen by the lens
and hence getting a sharp picture from corner to corner, the DX lens does
not have maximum sharpness at the edges and you may see chromatic
abberations as well.
In short, if you want wideangle on a d-SLR that's subject to the 1.5x crop
factor, you don't have a choice. Cough up and get this lens. For those of
us who didn't get rich by trading Google shares, we can only dream ... and
play with this in a camera store. Life's just unfair. (I'm waiting for
Tamron or Sigma to come out with a cheaper version of this super-wideangle.)
Back to Nikon
12-24mm f/4G ED IF Autofocus DX Nikkor Zoom Lens
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