Panamoz and the Nikon Nikon 20mm f/1.8

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Am thinking about a new lens, a

Nikon 20mm f/1.8G ED AF-S G Nikkor​


available (with a month delay) from LCE for £799.99.

Thought I'd have a look at Panamoz with a view to using them for the first time. I was surprised to see the lens was only twenty quid cheaper at £780 (although available immediately).

Even Amazon is much cheaper at £727.

I honestly thought it would be a lot less than that on Panamoz. Do lenses not change that much in price as grey imports?
 
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same lens is £600 at e-infin.
If you have a Z body then 20mm 1.8 Z is £759.

In my experience Panamoz are more competitive on bodies than lenses.
 
It typically sells for £350 second hand, I wouldn’t pay nearly £800 for one. It’s a good lens, small, light sharp centrally but corners let it down.
 
Brazo said:
It typically sells for £350 second hand, I wouldn’t pay nearly £800 for one. It’s a good lens, small, light sharp centrally but corners let it down.
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SFTPhotography said:
It's not an £800 lens IMHO. £350 is about right on the used market.
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Interesting. I'm only thinking about a wide-angle at the moment and since it wouldn't get used a whole lot I'm quite willing to consider other manufacturers such as Sigma and Tamron. Unfortunately, Sigma don't make many, if any, prime lenses and I'm not sure I want another zoom as if I did I might save my pennies for the Nikon 14-24mm to complete my Nikon Trinity (already have the 24-70mm and the 80-400mm); unfortunately at around two grand I couldn't really justify the purchase.
 
ShinySideUp said:
Interesting. I'm only thinking about a wide-angle at the moment and since it wouldn't get used a whole lot I'm quite willing to consider other manufacturers such as Sigma and Tamron. Unfortunately, Sigma don't make many, if any, prime lenses and I'm not sure I want another zoom as if I did I might save my pennies for the Nikon 14-24mm to complete my Nikon Trinity (already have the 24-70mm and the 80-400mm); unfortunately at around two grand I couldn't really justify the purchase.
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There's a used 18-35 Nikon F fit in the classifieds. They're actually sharper than the 16-35 and 14-24 (which is actually a bit of a dud with bad corners) and generally a bit of a pain with the big front end. Guys selling it for £310. If I hadn't got the 20, I might have gone for that. If I were you, that's what I would buy. A modestly priced and surprisingly capable little lens that's rare on the used market.

Sigma do make an F mount 20mm prime, but it's got that bulbous front element like a 14-24. I've been there and I wouldn't go that way again.

There's a Tamron 15-35 and Sigma 14-24 ART, which is cheaper and better than Nikons dated 14-24 F mount - but again, they have these awful bulbous front elements.

There's rare but nice Zeiss manual focus primes in 21mm and 18mm flavour also. But neither have stellar corners (no wide Nikon F lens does and I've had most).
 
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Thanks anyway but at 3.5-4.5 it's just too slow.
 
SFTPhotography said:
For astro yes, for conventional landscape photography where you live at F8 to F13 it's fine.

IF you are shooting Astro F2.8 probably isn't ideal, so the 20 1.8 or Sigma ART 20 1.4 would be my choices.
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I have no particular genre in mind but astro photograpy has to be an option. The Sigma 20 1.4 seems very good value, WEX for example have it for £779. It's a hefty piece of glass, weighing in at nearly a kilogram.
 
ShinySideUp said:
I have no particular genre in mind but astro photograpy has to be an option. The Sigma 20 1.4 seems very good value, WEX for example have it for £779. It's a hefty piece of glass, weighing in at nearly a kilogram.
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Fast lenses are like that. Nikon did a terrific job of making that 20 1.8 really light. It's a nice wee lens, and if you can find a used one a good buy.

I've got a few Sigma ARTs now - big fan but they are heavy but the complex optical formulas give that biting sharpness all over the frame I like. There are Sigma 24 and 28 1.4's for you but it might not be quite what you are looking for as they aren't really ultra wide. The big plus of the Nikon 20 1.8 is it takes screw in 77mm filters - the Sigma has that bulbous front element which precludes that.
 
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For corners the Tamron 15-30 G2 is hard to beat!

Like @SFTPhotography says though getting sharp corners on Nikon FX lens is difficult and it does matter on a wide angle and is noticeable!
 
SFTPhotography said:
Fast lenses are like that. Nikon did a terrific job of making that 20 1.8 really light. It's a nice wee lens, and if you can find a used one a good buy.

I've got a few Sigma ARTs now - big fan but they are heavy but the complex optical formulas give that biting sharpness all over the frame I like. There are Sigma 24 and 28 1.4's for you but it might not be quite what you are looking for as they aren't really ultra wide. The big plus of the Nikon 20 1.8 is it takes screw in 77mm filters - the Sigma has that bulbous front element which precludes that.
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Plus I already have the Nikon 24-70mm which covers that focal length admirably.
 
If you are after a good sharp wideangle you are much better off buying one along with Sony or canon body, subject to a good copy as always
There is little wrong with canon 16-35 f4 on the wider half and I'd have that over Nikon anything every single time, and in fact a reason I never bought into Nikon system
 
LongLensPhotography said:
If you are after a good sharp wideangle you are much better off buying one along with Sony or canon body, subject to a good copy as always
There is little wrong with canon 16-35 f4 on the wider half and I'd have that over Nikon anything every single time, and in fact a reason I never bought into Nikon system
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Not going to happen anytime soon. I have used Nikon cameras since 1974 and at my age I'm not about to change now. At new prices (although much of my stuff is discontinued and pretty low-value now, I suppose) I have probably got about seven grands worth of Nikon kit and you can imagine I'm not going to discard all that just for a few sharp edges on a Canon lens. Plus, at f4 that's a non-starter for me; although I note they also do a 16-35mm f2.8 for almost twice as much money.

I do have a Fujifilm X100V though for ease of carrying a camera of some sort and if I was ever going to change systems it would probably be to Fuji.
 
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