I can't even begin to comment on how nerdy your last comment was, mcammer. Unbelievable.

(Did everyone else stop reading? Oh, good. Your last comment was awesome!! What can't you figure out with the right metadata?)

Really, all the information was already there for you... ;-)

Angle of elevation for that time of day at 42N 84W is 48.7 degrees

http://www.jgiesen.de/azimuth/

Vertical field of view for that lens at 11mm is 72.1 degrees. Since horizon is in middle of pic, sun must be another 13 degrees higher.

Sorry about that all other NR readers!

Hahaha! You're right, mcammer.

Your method works for me. I wonder why in the metadata they don't save the focal length info to three digits of precision on the wide end like they do on the long end (I mean, I might see 136mm but not 13.6mm). Probably I'm the only one who cares, but it could have saved you a couple of shots in this case. By the way, I'm impressed by the flare handling in that shot. How far off the frame is the sun?

Ah, I'm facing the same issue here. However I'm pretty much set on the Tokina 11-16. Just waiting for a little bit more research

Ah, a Socratic temperment married up with a physicist's precision. A result and a correction is still two publications jonny!

(not shown- intermediate shots where i was trying to find when 11 rounded up to 12)

Nice test, mcammer. Now how will you check that the focal length is really 11? (just kidding ;-)

90 degrees FOV at 11 mm? (D5000 w 10-24mm DX lens)

You shouldn't give me credit (or hold me responsible) for that site, mcammer. It's a useful one, but also just one that I bookmarked, not created. ;-)

That's not what I get from angles a la jonny

http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/calc.htm

at 12 mm the 90 degree field of view is measured DIAGONALLY ! so you cant get a whole room from the corner.

Thanks Ted, it was nice to see the comparison. 18mm always felt too limiting! Apparently I need 12 mm to get 90 degrees field of view.

I've ordered this lens. I didn't order one of the others because of autofocus, limited range, and build quality issues. It's supposed to arrive Monday.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pictureted/4442216592/in/set-72157623517265777/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pictureted/4441437673/in/set-72157623517265777/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pictureted/4442217208/in/set-72157623517265777/

Here are three shots from the same location at the Filoli Gardens in Woodside, California. All shot with D90 and Nikon 10-24 at f16. 15mm, 12mm and 10mm. You can see in this setting how much difference a few mm makes.

Besides, go ahead and pull the trigger. Both lenses are highly rated.

I was hoping some new eyes might read it and give their opinions as it had dropped to the bottom of the page. I have the Tokina 11-16 and Nikon 10-24 in my cart right now, but can't quite pull the trigger, so I was just hoping for a little more input.

Why the bump? You haven't added anything new to the discussion.

bump

The 10.5/2.8 is fun, but very limited in it's usefulness. I'd get either the Nikon 10-24 (the one I love) or the Tokina 11-16.

On other hand... from the 10.5

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pictureted/4272146199/in/set-72157622886711048/

My favorite actually isn't on your list. The 10.5mm f/2.8 prime...

The 11-16 for your D90 would be a sweet combo, its so good I'd even tolerate the manual focus it on the D40 if I were you no problems. It focuses manually with ease and speed I thought on my D40x and D80 back in 2007-2008.

Hi, I'd like to throw another vote in for the 11-16mm Tokina. I no longer own this lens as I traded it in when I went FX but this lens is amazing and very sharp. Its a professional 2.8 solid piece of medal lens that produces incredible images all for a nice price. Some of my best shots ever were taken with this lens. It gives amazing night shots giving light star patterns even at F6! Its also great with water (waterfalls, beaches etc) making it a serious landscape lens. My one complaint was the limited zoom range and it always felt like a wide angle prime and not a zoom lens to me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pictureted/4169830443/in/set-72157622963759336/
10-24 at Hearst Castle 1/4 sec. f8, 10mm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pictureted/4169830635/in/set-72157622963759336/
10-24 at Hearst Castle 1/20 sec f3.5, 10mm

I not only like it going wide to 10mm, but because it goes to 24mm (36 equiv.), I like it for crowded street shooting.

I have the Tokina 11-16 on a D60 (no auto focus) and love it. Focusing on a wide angle is not as hard as trying to manually focus a 50mm 1.8 or something. The DOF is much deeper making it easier to focus. I got my 11-16 just for real estate, but have found myself using on more things than just a staged room.

Now, having said that, I still wish it had auto focus, but there isn't anything else as fast so if you don't need the 2.8, go with something that will auto focus. If you want to shoot in lower light, manually focusing is not hard on it. I only say this because once you have a lens that you thought you needed only for one thing, you may find yourself wanting to use it for other things and so it might well be worth taking that into consideration.

If you plan to use it on D40 and landscapes Sigma EX 10-20mm F/4.0-5.6 is probably the best option and it is currently around 500$.

If I only planned on doing landscapes, you are right, I wouldn't need to worry about aperture. However we host a lot of different events at our house, and I think that using a wide angle could really throw a new angle on indoor party pics.

With wide angel lenses it really depends on how you intend to use it. If you want the lens for landscapes, then you'll want to put the camera on a good tripod, in which case having a wide aperture may not be as important.

The D40 will mainly be used as a backup body and I could deal with manual focus if I had to, but that is one of the reasons I am leaning toward the Nikon 10-24 - auto focus plus the 10mm. I have read a number of blogs/reviews that claim the 10-12mm range on the Nikon has terrible distortion and super soft corners though, hence me hesitation. The F2.8 makes the Tokina very very attractive as i find myself carrying my heavy 70-200 just as much as my 18-200 due to the low light performance.