Skip em all and get the 10.5mm f2.8... That is what I did and I don't regret it...

One vote for the Sigma 10-20 f/4-5.6. I like the extra width, as sharp as anything else mentioned here, and speed is not a big issue for me. You can handhold this easily at 1/15th, and in a wide lens I don't care much about a shallow DOF. I can take interior shots without cranking the ISO up just fine. Only complaint is distortion which is pretty normal and correctable in PP.

The Tokina 11-16mm pro is a wonderful lens I used to love mine. It gives wonderful star bursts, made of solid metal, nice feeling zoom and pro grade 2.8 speed. The only getcha is the short focal length 11-16mm. It feels like a wide angle prime actually, but if you really want a wide angle only this is definately your lens. Great price as well. You'll get 16.5mm on a crop sensor pretty wide I think.

Oops. 11-16mm. The 10-17 would be fun, but it is very different.

My best,

Mike

>>rage about the Tokina 11-17mm

Hi Mike,

Do you mean to say 11-16 , or are you referring to the tokina fisheye 10-17 which is entirely a different beast .... ( super wide as opposed to fish-eye zoom... ).

Alchse,

You could have a look at photozone.de too, they have loads of tests of lenses with example pictures of most of them....

Hi,

Renting and looking at the imaging links are terrific ideas. You'll find that you'll like wides the more you use them, the really wides are likely too wide (once the new wears off), but something more than 18mm (assuming that you're DX) is really nice.

My Nikon 10-24mm is acting up and is going to the shop this week. It must of got bumped, but in the 12-15mm range it was very nice. A lot of folks rage about the Tokina 11-17mm.

The theory is that you can hand hold a wide lens at a slower speed than a normal or telephoto. Good photography always favors rigid camera technique.

A lot depends also on what you enjoy shooting and your personal goals.

My best,

Mike

You could try renting lenses and trying them out.

You could also give this link a try.

http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/simulator/index.htm

Simulations for both full frame and crop frame along with different focal lengths.

This probably an impossible question to answer but....

As a newbie, short of shooting with the various wide zooms, how can I get comfortable with what range of zoom and speed is right for me?

Would looking at photos taken with the lenses to determine the most appealing to me be helpful or would that be too arbitrary?

If you want it realy W i d e , you could also have a look at the Sigma 8-16 mm .
I added that one to my 12-24 vr ( 10-24 vr wasn't there yet...) , and i never regretted it.

Okay, its not 2.8 fast, but its realy impressive to shoot at 8mm with little ( for that wide) distortion.

There is a new test on Nikon at Photozone for this lens, so you can have a quik look at that....

thanks Fargo

The DX II has a built in focus motor that will allow for it to auto focus with cameras like the D60, D3000, D5100, etc. If your camera has a focus motor (D90, D7000, etc) and doesn't require that the lens have the motor, then you should be fine with the DX version.

Looks like there is a Tokina 12-24mm F4 Pro DX and a pro DX II available now..

Is the II version worth the extra $$$ ($150 diff on Adorama)

PB PM said:
I like the Tokina 12-24mm F4 Pro DX, sharp wide open, and wide enough for most situations.

Absolutely agree. It's the only non-Nikon lens I own and I love it.

If you don't mind the slower sped, I would go with the Tokina 12-24. Good range. Better than Tokina 11-16, which is a very nice lens but it's range is limited.

Pretty much depends whether you need the speed or not. If for landscapes I would just go with the 12-24 Tokina.

tokina 11-16 f/2.8 is sharp and great.

I have the S10-20 on my d200 and I'm more than pleased with the results.

I like the Tokina 12-24mm F4 Pro DX, sharp wide open, and wide enough for most situations.

Hi,
I am a hobbyist and am looking for a wide angle zoom lens. The alternatives available are Sigma 10-20mm f3.5, Tokina 12-24mm f4, Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 and the Tamron 10-24. The new Nikon 10-24mm is too pricey.

My current collection of lenses include a Nikon 50mm f1.4D, Tamron 70-300 zoom and a Nikon 18-70mm.

Any suggestions?