Ellen Morris Bishop

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The real voyage of discovery is not seeking new landscapes, but having new eyes. (Proust)

The Nikon 14-24mm ultra wide angle is the most ungainly piece of equipment in my photographic arsenal. It is also the most nerve-wracking to use. The huge, round dome of expensive, coated glass that protrudes into a scratch-prone world. Minimal lens shade. No protective filter even possible. NO filter possible. Front-end heavy, inviting disaster. Who would even WANT such a thing?

Well, I do. At its widest, 14mm, it produces a sharp, and importantly, semi-rectilinear image that, while not distortion-free, is an image that someone who revels in geologic landscapes can live with. The 16-35, with its hideous, blasphemous, wide-end distortion is now forever banished to the D7000, where it is a more reasonable and usable 22-50.

With the 14-24mm lens, and its decent 10-inch close-focus, foregrounds are a cinch. Just don't get that class too close to the rocks.
It is wide enough to incorporate all sorts of un-expected nearby trivia into the unwary photog's picture. Feet. Fence-posts. Fingers.
But to incorporate a whole scene, and especially to capture the all-important story of foreground, mid-ground, background,  this is a not-to be missed lens. Worth the weight to haul on a pack trip.  But it needs a tripod.  It deserves a tripod.

The only other rival is the Sigma 12-24. A sharp copy of this lens (half the price of the 14-24) yields great images, but from 12 to 16mm, this lens produced considerable and for me, unpleasant distortion.  I sent mine back, despite it being a very sharp and fast-focusing copy, but at times, I miss its super-wide capabilities, distortion or not.   And it was a bit smaller. And less nerve-wracking to haul.  Still, I do not for a moment regret the switch to the more reliable 14-24. It's  in a class of its own.
Ellen Morris Bishop

Enterprise, Oregon 97828
541 398-1810