Originally Posted by
anrkitec
Neither the 12-24 nor the 18-35 render "straight lines" at 18mm. They both have visible distortion.
Barrel distortion is an as-of-yet unavoidable problem with extreme wide-angle lenses, particularly wide-angle zooms.
Even my $1700 14-24 f/2.8 [which is currently the best lens of it’s kind regardless of brand] has some distortion at 14-16mm.
The Nikkor 12-24 at 12mm has mustache or complex distortion which is very difficult to correct. From about 15-18 it has simple barrel distortion which is easy to correct but there none-the-less. The truth is that in absolute terms that lens really doesn't shine until about 20-24 and, IMHO is significantly over-priced for a lens with consumer-grade build and an f/4 maximum aperture.
I'll take your word for that, since I don't use the Nikkor 12-24 lens (I have heard that both Tokinas are better). That's why I prefer primes at the wide end. I am pretty darn pleased with my 14mm f2.8 Sigma lens (at least on a DX camera and a 1.3x crop camera (Kodak DCS-760). Although I've heard that this lens is soft in the corners of a full 35mm frame, I've only tested it on DX and 1.3x crop) My "tests" of this lens in full frame have been severely limited to looking through the viewfinder of my Nikon F2. I have yet to run a roll of film through with it.
Originally Posted by
anrkitec
The 18-35 is another mediocre lens that also has visable barrel distortion in the 18-22mm range and it is woefully soft in the corners until f/8, it also flares like a SOB and has problems with chromatic aberations [color fringing] to boot.
I agree that it flares, and that it's soft in the corners wide open. As for barrel distortion, it's much milder than the wider range kit zooms. All very wide lenses flare. Anyways, I am new to the world of distorting wide zooms. Coming over from the Olympus system, where they make two SUPERB wide zooms (the one I used was a fabulous 11-22 f2.8~3.5 with negligible distortion, that also cost me under $600), it's been frustrating to find any wides in the Nikon system that compare, other than Primes or very expensive FX zoom lenses that are overkill for DX bodies.