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Nikon Ultra-Ultra Wide Lenses
© 2008 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

Nikon 13mm f/5.6, 15mm f/5.6, 15mm f/3.5, 14mm f/2.8 and 14-24mm f/2.8.

(click to enlarge)

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December 2008      More Nikon Reviews

Introduction

Intro   Specs   Performance   Usage   Recommendations

Nikon has made the world's widest lenses.

When the 15mm f/5.6 came out in 1973, it was the world's widest non-distorting SLR lens.

When the Nikon 13mm f/5.6 came out in 1976, it became the world's widest non-distorting SLR lens, and today, even out of production, it remains the world's widest non-distortion pro SLR lens ever created.

Nikon has made a total of five models of 13mm, 14mm and 15mm lenses.

Let's compare them head-to head.

This is an FX and film article only; if you're a DX shooter, forget these and get the Nikon 12-24mm or Tokina 11-16mm instead, which for little-sensor cameras, are much better than any of these FX lenses.

Specifications        top

Intro   Specs   Performance   Usage   Recommendations

Performance        top

Intro   Specs   Performance   Usage   Recommendations

On a Nikon D3, 12MP FX:

Recommendations        top

Intro   Specs   Performance   Usage   Recommendations

For FX cameras

For most people, the 14-24mm f/2.8 is by far the sharpest and most popular today for popular FX cameras.

The 14mm f/2.8 is also worth a very close look, because it's a lot smaller and lighter than the 14-24mm. The fixed 14mm weighs 12 ounces (333g) less than the 14-24mm!

For AF Film Cameras

The 14mm f/2.8 fixed lens is the best idea.

Also, if you have an F6 or F4 or other hot Nikon, any of the others except the 14-24mm can be worth a look, but your finder image will be dimmer.

For Manual-Focus Film cameras

I prefer the fixed 14mm AF because it's fast f/2.8 speed makes it so much easier to view and focus through the finder. Distortion isn't a problem for me, but if it is. use the 15mm f/3.5 instead.

My second choice, or first choice if distortion matters, is the 15mm f/3.5. The gotcha is that you've got to be careful about shielding the bright sky or open windows indoors from shining into the lens and creating big blue glare globs on the bottoms and sides of your images.

Oddly, the 15mm and 13mm f/5.6 lenses are not a good idea because their finder images are so dark and therefore not fun.

Forget the 14-24mm G, since you can't use filters with it. If you shoot without filters you're probably not an experienced film shooter, but if you're happy without filters, the 14-24mm otherwise works great on most AF film cameras made since the F4.

For DX cameras

Get out of here, these are big-boy lenses.

FOr DX cameras, use the Nikon 12-24mm or Tokina 11-16mm instead.

PLUG

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