Third Party 28mm Lenses.

waynecrider · Sep 2, 2013

Specifically I need a 28mm F2.8 lens for my Nikon N80 body. Nikon's F2.8 offering offering from what I read is not that great so I'm thinking something third party. I've thought about getting a different AF body that could shoot one of the earlier 28mm's but I'd rather just a lens at this point. Anyone with 28mm experiences?

miha · Sep 2, 2013

Nikon Ai-s Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 is among the very best in terms of distortion. It's sharp, too, with CRC.

Edit: I see you have a N80 so no metering with this Ai-s lens.

Richard S. (rich815) · Sep 2, 2013

miha said:
Nikon Ai-s Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 is among the very best in terms of distortion. It's sharp, too, with CRC.

+1

Ricardo Miranda · Sep 2, 2013

The newer 28mm F2.8 AF-D is a different optical design from the earlier AF and AF-N versions which were based/identical to the Series E 28mm. It isn't as good as the AIS version, but you'll need to be very critical to spot the differences.

ic-racer · Sep 2, 2013

I have been looking at the Nikkor 28mm f1.8 autofocus lens. MTF curves I found on the internet indicate it should perform better than the current f2.8 autofocus lens.

waynecrider · Sep 2, 2013

miha said:
Nikon Ai-s Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 is among the very best in terms of distortion. It's sharp, too, with CRC.

Edit: I see you have a N80 so no metering with this Ai-s lens.

No metering, but it will work on the body unlike the non-Ai's. I just need to use a handheld meter or go Sunny 16.

waynecrider · Sep 2, 2013

ic-racer said:
I have been looking at the Nikkor 28mm f1.8 autofocus lens. MTF curves I found on the internet indicate it should perform better than the current f2.8 autofocus lens.

At what price tho? I'm not shooting professionally so don't need to spend that type of money.

ArtO · Sep 2, 2013

Have you tried the 28mm f2.8E? I really like the results. No metering on the N80 but prices are very good on this lens.

Does it have to be a 28mm prime or would a nice zoom covering that focal length do? (Several nice zooms in the for-sale forum right now).

waynecrider · Sep 2, 2013

ArtO said:
Have you tried the 28mm f2.8E? I really like the results. No metering on the N80 but prices are very good on this lens.

Does it have to be a 28mm prime or would a nice zoom covering that focal length do? (Several nice zooms in the for-sale forum right now).

I've got a couple, 35-105 and a 70-210. Just nothing wide like a 28 and when you get into that territory it's too pricey for me, thus the third party route.

spongeboy · Sep 2, 2013

Had 1980s AI-S vivitars once in 28 and 24mm. Very good lenses optically, but I didn't like that they focussed in the opposite direction than the Nikkors.
I like my 35 f2 and 24 f2.8. Excellent copies (although the 35 is a bit flare-prone with specular light) that will outlast me; The 28 f2.8 is also good, but I'm more of a very-wide-angle person and thus use my 17-35 perhaps more often these days.

Dr Croubie · Sep 2, 2013

Not sure if it comes in Nikon mount (mine is an OM I use on my EOS 3), but if you see a lens called a Super Ozeck II 28/2.8 Macro, get one. There's a few samples on flickr if you serach for it. Maybe not the best corners at f/2.8, but gets very nice at f/5.6-8, and does 1:4 macro (or maybe it's 1:2, don't have it with me to check). Only $20-30 but performs like it's worth more (just don't expect the same as if you'd paid $300 though).

chip j · Sep 2, 2013

28mm series one

My Vivitar 28mm f1.9 has no distortion, just like the Nikon 28mm 2.8 ai-s.

mopar_guy · Sep 3, 2013

Usually Tokina lenses focus the same direction as Nikon.

miha · Sep 3, 2013

waynecrider said:
I've got a couple, 35-105 and a 70-210. Just nothing wide like a 28 and when you get into that territory it's too pricey for me, thus the third party route.

Then I would recommend you to skip the 28mm focal length and get yourself a Nikkor AF-D 24mm f/2.8 for under 200 USD. Ot try harder and find a Sigma AF 24mm f/2.8 super wide II - a trully nice lens I once owned.

Ian Grant · Sep 3, 2013

The Tamron Adaptall II 28mm f2.5 is a good lens and can be found at a very reasonable price.

The Vivitar Seies 1 28mm F1.9 was an outstanding lens but unfortunately they are quite rare, they were made at a time whe Vivitar had a superb range of Series 1 lenses that equalled the best lenses availble from the major camera manufacturers.

Ian

blockend · Sep 3, 2013

Sigma did a 28mm F1.8 APO in Nikon AF mount to fit your era of camera. It's quite big for a 28, especially with its custom lens hood but good value.

ic-racer · Sep 3, 2013

waynecrider said:
At what price tho? I'm not shooting professionally so don't need to spend that type of money.

The 'kit lens' 28-80 zoom is actually pretty good. I'm a Zeiss lens snob when it comes to 35mm but I use that kit lens all the time as my only 28mm AF lens. The main reason I was looking at the 28/1.8 is that I don't need all the other focal lengths of the kit zoom.

waynecrider · Sep 3, 2013

miha said:
Then I would recommend you to skip the 28mm focal length and get yourself a Nikkor AF-D 24mm f/2.8 for under 200 USD. Ot try harder and find a Sigma AF 24mm f/2.8 super wide II - a trully nice lens I once owned.

Had one and while it was nice it did push everything way to far back. I wound up not shooting it very often. Meanwhile I had a FD 28mm which was just the perfect FL for me but it went years ago.

Xmas · Sep 4, 2013

The E lens is cheap cause every one picks a bride on looks mechanically they are better than modern poly carb but if you don't have 8fps motor they are as good as a real AI-S Nikkor.

ozphoto · Sep 4, 2013

Ian Grant said:
The Tamron Adaptall II 28mm f2.5 is a good lens and can be found at a very reasonable price.
Ian

I've had two of these (sold one and then realised I shouldn't have, so bought a second!) and they're great lenses. You just need to add the cost of the mount to the final price - but Nikon mounts seemed to be in copious supply, whilst FD (and the rare EF) were (not sure if they still are?) more difficult to find.

Ian Grant · Sep 4, 2013

It's the EOS mounts that are the rarest, they did make them. I was sent an FD mount in error instead of a Pentax ESII/F mount last year. The FD is spare and available.

One local dealer near me sells Tamron mounts for £10 ($15.50) regardless of the fit. I now have a few Tamron lenses 17mm, 28mm, 135mm and a couple of zooms and it's useful that I can fit them on my Pentax screw mount cameras as well as my K mount. I have earlier T mount Tamrons as well as modern EOS fit, the SP lenses are all excellent performers.

Ian

ozphoto · Sep 4, 2013

Most certainly those EF mounts are like hens teeth!! I managed to find one, in the UK, cost me $60 - but well worth it. And yes those SP lenses were special - owned a 90 f2.5, 180 f2.5 and 300 f2.8. Pin sharp and beautiful contrast, was a very sad day when I moved from FD to EF.

Third Party 28mm Lenses.

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