Author Topic: 20mm for landscape  (Read 30996 times)

David Paterson

  • NG Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1500
  • Retired, but not tired, photographer
Re: 20mm for landscape
« Reply #30 on: August 29, 2015, 18:53:24 »
" Another option would be using a zoom but they don't seem to be any better regarding quality or cheaper in the end."

Nikon's 18-35mm f3.5-4.5 AFS G. Since acquiring this lens I have used virtually nothing else for wide-angle, in spite of owning the 21 Zeiss Distagon, the 28 /f2 AIS, and the 35 Sigma f1.4 - all fantastic lenses. The zoom's maximum aperture of f3.5 at 18mm is the only downside I have experienced.

Ian R

  • NG Member
  • *
  • Posts: 92
  • You ARE NikonGear
Re: 20mm for landscape
« Reply #31 on: September 12, 2015, 23:15:13 »
Did you make a decision in the end? 20mm lenses are always a good topic. For landscape I turn to my 20mm f/4 Nikkor (used at f/11) and it is well mannered. Good sharpness at infinity too - but not sure how different to the f/3.5...

Here is one from the 20mm f/4 today? I like this lens very much.

zuglufttier

  • Guest
Re: 20mm for landscape
« Reply #32 on: September 13, 2015, 17:44:09 »
Weill, the new AF-S is the thing to get ;) I don't have it already but my brother might take my 20/3.5 and I'll just buy the 20/1.8 after that.

I'll be in Finland in November and that's where the lens is going to get some use! The 20/3.5 is nice overall, sharpness is OK and it's very compact. We'll see if the bigger size ever bugs me...

Frank Fremerey

  • engineering art
  • NG Supporter
  • **
  • Posts: 12333
  • Bonn, Germany
Re: 20mm for landscape
« Reply #33 on: September 13, 2015, 18:20:48 »
good choice, and while you are in Finnland you might even meet people from this site in person if this is what your heart is set to...
You are out there. You and your camera. You can shoot or not shoot as you please. Discover the world, Your world. Show it to us. Or we might never see it.

Me: https://youpic.com/photographer/frankfremerey/

zuglufttier

  • Guest
Re: 20mm for landscape
« Reply #34 on: October 14, 2015, 19:24:39 »
Finally, I ended up buying a used 20/1.8 AF-S. It's nice: Not heavy, size is still OK and the image quality is very good overall. I'd say that the new 20mm is as sharp at f/1.8 as the old 20/3.5 at f/5.6.

Frank Fremerey

  • engineering art
  • NG Supporter
  • **
  • Posts: 12333
  • Bonn, Germany
Re: 20mm for landscape
« Reply #35 on: October 14, 2015, 19:55:44 »
yes, the 1.8/20mm is a real winner and it is light & small enough for a normal panohead. It must not be a pro grade expensive one to extend your reach even further.
You are out there. You and your camera. You can shoot or not shoot as you please. Discover the world, Your world. Show it to us. Or we might never see it.

Me: https://youpic.com/photographer/frankfremerey/

zuglufttier

  • Guest
Re: 20mm for landscape
« Reply #36 on: October 14, 2015, 20:48:01 »
Plus, there are some nice sun stars!

Erik Lund

  • Global Moderator
  • **
  • Posts: 6480
  • Copenhagen
    • ErikLund.com
Re: 20mm for landscape
« Reply #37 on: October 14, 2015, 21:12:43 »
The 24mm 1.4 AFS doesn't show sunstars from street lights like these even when stopped well down,,, must be the coatings that are different...
Erik Lund

zuglufttier

  • Guest
Re: 20mm for landscape
« Reply #38 on: October 14, 2015, 22:50:55 »
The 24mm has 9 aperture blades which will produce 18 instead of 14 sun stars like the 20mm which has 7. The more blades, the less distinctive the sun stars. But the coating might to some magic, too ;)

Erik Lund

  • Global Moderator
  • **
  • Posts: 6480
  • Copenhagen
    • ErikLund.com
Re: 20mm for landscape
« Reply #39 on: October 15, 2015, 08:58:20 »
There is more to sunstars than the amount of blades ;) how well rounded they are, the opticas itself and the coating and ?
Erik Lund

Roland Vink

  • NG Supporter
  • **
  • Posts: 1523
  • Nikon Nerd from New Zealand
    • Nikon Database
Re: 20mm for landscape
« Reply #40 on: October 15, 2015, 09:41:41 »
I don't see how coatings greatly affect sunstars. Sunstars are caused by diffraction around the edge of the aperture blades. If the blades are straight, diffraction along the straight edge reinforces and you get an nice point in your sun star. Curved aperture blades causes the light to be diffracted in different directions so you end up with diffuse halos around point sources of light, or weakly defined stars, not nice crisp stars.

On the other hand, if you have out of focus blurs in your picture, the blurs generally look nicer if they are a rounded shape (curved aperture blades), and not the shape of straight-edge polygons.  What you gain on one side, you lose on the other. The best aperture blades (IMO) are rounded at wider apertures (where OOF blurs are more noticeable) which become straighter at smaller apertures (where diffraction, and therefore sunstars, are strongest)

simsurace

  • NG Member
  • *
  • Posts: 835
Re: 20mm for landscape
« Reply #41 on: October 15, 2015, 14:26:19 »
I don't see how coatings greatly affect sunstars. Sunstars are caused by diffraction around the edge of the aperture blades. If the blades are straight, diffraction along the straight edge reinforces and you get an nice point in your sun star. Curved aperture blades causes the light to be diffracted in different directions so you end up with diffuse halos around point sources of light, or weakly defined stars, not nice crisp stars.

On the other hand, if you have out of focus blurs in your picture, the blurs generally look nicer if they are a rounded shape (curved aperture blades), and not the shape of straight-edge polygons.  What you gain on one side, you lose on the other. The best aperture blades (IMO) are rounded at wider apertures (where OOF blurs are more noticeable) which become straighter at smaller apertures (where diffraction, and therefore sunstars, are strongest)

I would have guessed that coatings can affect the appearance of the sunstar through flare around the light source, but this is only a guess. This could be tested with two otherwise identical lenses, one of which had some of the coatings removed. I believe that dirt or dust on the front element can affect the appearance of the sunstar and get you additional flares.
Simone Carlo Surace
suracephoto.com

zuglufttier

  • Guest
Re: 20mm for landscape
« Reply #42 on: October 15, 2015, 14:41:06 »
The best aperture blades (IMO) are rounded at wider apertures (where OOF blurs are more noticeable) which become straighter at smaller apertures (where diffraction, and therefore sunstars, are strongest)
This is exactly how the 20/1.8 behaves, although these are not perfect circles ;)

Mike Wallace

  • NG Member
  • *
  • Posts: 66
  • Apple Valley, California
Re: 20mm for landscape
« Reply #43 on: October 15, 2015, 20:34:25 »
Is anybody here who can commit to the quality of Samyang/Rokinon/Wallimex Optics?

I own or have owned 3 of the Samyang/Rokinon/Bower/Pro Optics/Walimex lenses.  The 14mm, 35mm and 85mm.  I used them both on the Nikon D600 and Nikon D800E camera bodies. 

They all are extremely sharp.  The 14mm's distance scale was off by quite a bit on my copy.  I simply marked infinity on mine.  Typically it has not presented a problem.  I have heard that this has been addressed by Samyang and is not as much of an issue with the newer examples. Also, there are a few articles, posted on-line, on how to make the correction yourself.  Distortion is complex.  I found a few lens correction profiles for LR that do a great job correcting it.  Build quality?  Seems rather well built.  The focus ring is large, well dampened but may be a but long for some.  I read the same article by Roger at Lensrentals.com. that is mentioned earlier in this thread.  Here is exactly what he had to say about the Rokinon 14MM while recommending it as one of his bargain lens choices..  " It's manual focus, but at 14mm focus is basically 'everything I can't touch is usually in focus' so that's not critical. (Manual focus is the reason I didn't include longer Rokinon lenses as bargains.) It has a lot of barrel distortion, but everything else at this focal length has some. Not as much, but some. But it's amazingly sharp. Better than the Nikon 14mm f/2.8 prime (which is way dated) and 1/3rd of the price. I will note, this is held together inside with plastic, glue, and small screws. You won't be using it for years. But the price of a new one is less than the price of a repair on a 14-24 f/2.8."  After 3 years of use, If mine was lost, stolen or broke..I'd buy another.  For most uses, this is an EXTROIDINARY lens.  INMYHOP.

The 35mm, being one of my most used focal lengths, is my favorite Samyang lens.  This lens is crazy sharp, even at 1.4.  It is sharper than anything made by Nikon or Zeiss. (Per DXO))  It is only beaten marginally (an unnoticeable amount) wide open by the Sigma 35MM 1.4 Art.  Stopped down to F/2 and beyond it matches or beats even the Sigma in sharpness.  I find it to be a large, heavy(compared to most 35mm) well built lens with a great feel.  It's only down fault, for some, is being a manual focus lens (Nobody complains about Zeiss being MF!)

The Samyang 85mm F/1.4 is another great lens.  SHARP>>>SHARP>>SHARP!  Much smaller than the 35mm and again can I say sharp.  Also, INMYHOP has pretty darn nice bokeh as well. 

For me, it all boils down to this.  When I can purchase all 3 of the Samyang lenses mentioned for less than the price of a Sigma 35MM Art and almost half the price of a Nikon 85MM 1.4G, it is well worth taking a very close look at their line of lenses.  Also, being manual lenses, it would be my guess, that they may be around longer than their AF counterparts, before heading in for repair. 

Note:  I originally purchased the 3 lenses as an inexpensive set of dedicated video lenses.  Being quite impressed...I began to use them for stills.  For photography that does not require AF and if you are comfortable using MF lenses, the Samyang line of lenses are affordable and can produce excellent images.  One could spend much more and do far worse.     

Mike Wallace

Shane

  • NG Member
  • *
  • Posts: 24
  • You ARE NikonGear
    • BeyondVisible
Re: 20mm for landscape
« Reply #44 on: October 16, 2015, 18:25:55 »
And now we have the Sigma 20/1.4 Art lens. Hopefully, for astro/nightscapes, it performs slightly better than the Sigma 24/1.4 in the coma and CA department.