Has anyone tried the NIkon 20mm AF 2.8D?

[lerabu]

I am selling off some stuff on eBay (gone are my teenage collectibles...:P) and would like to invest the raised sum into some gear.

I went from thinking about ugrading from a D80 to a D7000, though a lot about it, ISO gain vs maybe a fast lens etc...

The main issue I wish to solve is that I do alot of indoor shooting under poor light conditions and my zoom (see gear description in signature) is too slow at the wide end in some instances. As it is indoor shooting I do need a wide lens as the 50mm eventhough it is fast has a bit of a constrained angle of view when you try to encompass more space in the shot.

I have identified the lens from the title as a good candidate as it would effectively be a 30mm lens on my cropped sensor but the 2.8 aperture could give me the speed I would need at low light without ramping the ISO up to 3200 and dealing with a whole bunch of noise removal in the process.

Has anyone used it? I looked at some shot on Pixel-Peeper -- Over a million full-size sample photos from lenses, SLR cameras and digicams. and I quite like what comes out

Any answers are more than welcome!

[ravncat]

It's a good lens. It's not stellar on a crop sensor - and works better on full frame, primarily because of the older film design. It's fairly sharp in the center, but there are better performing zooms at 2.8, so they may be a better option for you. (like a 17-50, if you look used or at tamron, they shouldn't be much more than a 20mm 2.8 - unless you find a really good deal for it.) I very much enjoy mine, but the performance is better on my d700 than d200, ignoring field of view changes

By the same token - the 20mm 2.8 af-d is no slouch and can produce quite nice images. I've not used it on a d7000, so I don't know if it performs better due to the microlens design on the d7000 sensor. (Stopped down, you may find that your lens is sharper with less distortion at 20mm , but of course you're specifically looking for low light performance.)

It's also a light weight lens, smaller than those zooms, so it's very portable. How you like it's performance depends a bit on how picky you are, it's not terrible, but not exceptional, just good - and you'll be able to make nice images with it. It's not a bad option, but you may find that there are better options, depending on your budget and what you're looking for. (If you don't mind losing autofocus and paying alot more, the zeiss 21mm is a very nice alternative) etc...

[sk66]

What type of indoor work? What's the subject/situation?
Sometimes investing in a flash and modifiers is the better answer...it will solve the issue with ANY lens.
For a wide lens DX solution I'd look at the Tokina 11-16 or the Nikon 10-24. For a more versatile solution the Nikon 17-55 (costs 2x more though). If you think you may go FF the 14-24 might be an option (about same cost as the 17-55).

[lerabu]

ranvcat,

Thank you for the small review of the lens! I primarily fancy it because it is low in weight and very portable and I hope it has good low light performance. I will look into the Tamron, but I was hoping to stay with Nikon brand (meh call me a fashion victim! ) especially as you said it has f2.8 constant through the range.

sk66,

A flash was something I was also thinking about. I am absolutely newbie to flash and ama little "afraid" of it at the moment I know this is ungrounded, it is just a new learning curve to take. I have seen photos with good use of flash and it gives great results, and control over light.

I will look into the lenses you have mentioned, especially the Tokina one takes my fancy quite a bit I must say with the width!

Most of the shots I am looking at are at indoor events where flash could ruin the atmosphere a little, I don't know if it can be used well in that kind of surrounding and for that purpose? If I am wrong (which I probably am) let me know!

[sk66]

There isn't a wedding or event photographer out there that doesn't need/ use flash at least once in a while. Done well (which isn't "easy") the added light can be impercievable.

[lerabu]

I just spend the evening reading up on flash photography and have tried stuff with the onboard flash, simply amazing! It is frontal and harsh light but I can already see the possibilities!

SB-700 methinks!