FX Wide Angle Lenses That Don't Cost a Fortune?

[pointedem]

do not buy the nikkor 17-35 2.8. Notorious AF motor failure, and the lens underperforms considering it's weight/ cost.

[austriker]

Thanks for the tip. I've pretty much narrowed my search to just the Nikon 16-35 f4. Although I can't buy before selling my tokina 11-16 or Nikon 16-85 which it even though they are in great condition no nibbles..

sent mobilely from an HTC G2

[Chainsaw_Willie]

I was going through some older pics from a trip a few years ago and now I'm regretting selling the 18-35 F3.5-4.5 D I had on that trip.

That lens took some pretty good pictures, I picked it up used for a decent price but had a hard time selling it and didn't get as much as I paid. Should've just kept it. Maybe I can find another on Ebay for cheap.

[outabounds]

I was going through some older pics from a trip a few years ago and now I'm regretting selling the 18-35 F3.5-4.5 D I had on that trip.

That lens took some pretty good pictures, I picked it up used for a decent price but had a hard time selling it and didn't get as much as I paid. Should've just kept it. Maybe I can find another on Ebay for cheap.

Isn't that lens flimsy and slow with a lot of distortion? What is it about hte 20-35 that you don't like. The fact that it's fast, sharp, or that it's built to last?

[Chainsaw_Willie]

No, the 18-35 f3.5-4.5 D is much better than a kit lens. Very solid construction. It's out of production now, but at the time it was produced it was marketed in Nikon's "professional" line of lenses. It's an older design, so no AFS and no VR but neither of those is a big deal. Doesn't seem to have any more distortion than most other lenses in this range (less than the 16-85 DX I'm using now) and faster focusing than some of the cheaper AFS lenses. If by 'slow' you're referring to the aperture, well, f3.5-4.5 isn't bad compared to constant aperture F4s which people seem to think are fine.

I wouldn't say I have anything against the 20-35 other than that I'd like something a little wider at the wide end. That's a compromise I may be willing to make. Haven't ruled it out. Heck, I don't even have the camera yet so I'm not ruling anything out at this point. I'll probably rent a couple of the lenses I'm considering before I make a purchase decision.

If all goes well I'll have a new, higher paying job by the end of December and no debt so will be looking to get ahold of a D600 soon.