• New Nikon DX lens???

• 28 September 2011 by CaryTheLabelGuy 0 Comments

Nikon is really committed to having the best APS-C lens line-up in the industry. When they announced the AF-S Micro-Nikkor 40mm f/2.8G DX Macro lens basically totally out-of-the-blue, there wasn’t a single rumor of the lens.  It turned out to be an amazing and very useful little lens, that I use a lot. I even did a full review of the lens on NikonRumors.com recently, in which I gave it great scores.

 

But, do we really need a new DX lens? Well yes, we do. There is a gap in the DX line-up and it’s on the short end of the stick. Currently, there are no fast DX prime wide-angle lenses. Sure, there is the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 UWA lens and although it’s not a Nikon, it is a amazing lens (I LOVE mine), as well as a few others from other third-party companies. It seems as though Nikon has let the third-party manufacturers  cover the fast Ultra-Wide to Wide Angle lenses, which seems a bit weird. I’m sure there are a lot of people that would rather purchase a fast Nikon UWA lens, instead of a third-party lens, even though it would cost them more. Unfortunately for the DX shooters, there are only a few choices in this category (the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro is my personal fave, since I treat mine as a prime lens).

 

Here are your “prime” wide-angle Nikon options, if you shoot DX:

• The Amazing Nikon AF-S 35mm f/1.8G DX prime (52mm FX equivalence)
• Nikon AF 28mm f/2.8D FX prime (42mm FX equivalence)…..this lens doesn’t make much sense to me, in this day and age
• Nikon AF 24mm f/2.8D FX  (36mm FX equivalence)
• The BOSS Nikon AF-S 24mm f/1.4G FX prime (36mm FX equivalence)….. This lens is a little pricey for most DX shooters @ $1999.00 USD
• Nikon AF 20mm f/2.8D FX prime (30mm FX equivalence).
• Nikon AF Nikkor 14mm f/2.8D ED FX prime (21mm FX equivalence). This lens is way too expensive for DX shooters as well and isn’t that wide in FX terms
• Nikon AF Fisheye-Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8G ED DX lens

Your “zoom” wide-angle Nikon options for DX shooters:

• Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G FX lens (too expensive for most DX shooters and not very wide on the short end, more of a “normal” range for DX)
• AF Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G ED-IF DX lens (Again, not very wide @ 25.5 FX terms. But, otherwise a great DX lens)
• AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 ED VR DX lens (not very wide and has a short zoom range as well as being somewhat slow @ f/4)
• AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G FX lens (The world’s best Ultra-Wide Angle zoom lens for FX, but not very wide on DX @ 21mm FX terms)

As you can see, there is a gap between 10.5mm(which has a TON of barrel distortion, as it should because it’s a fisheye) and 14mm. This gap is a large one in DX terms, because the actual range is 16mm-21mm in FX equivalence.

I intentionally left out the Nikon 10-24 and 12-24 as they are both slow and over-priced for most DX users, considering what you’re getting.

This leaves the FAST Ultra-Wide Angle gap wide open for DX in the Nikon brand, which is being filled nicely by some great third-party lenses and some not-so-great third-party lenses. It almost seems that Nikon wants you to upgrade to FX, if you want to go wide. In this case, there is only one real choice and that’s the crazy sharp AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G zoom coupled with an FX body and this kit will cost you. If you’re serious and make money with your camera, this is a no-brainer. But, not all of you can afford such lavish gear and that’s okay, too.

Maybe Nikon has re-thought their UWA DX lenses and will answer the great Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro? I know one thing – for DX, you can’t beat the Tokina 11-16 in the UWA category and I’m not planning on getting rid of mine.

Will this new Nikon DX lens fill the fast UWA gap, finally? In the coming weeks, we shall see. Your guess is as good as mine.

629 days ago by CaryTheLabelGuy in Photography | You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site