wide angle lens query

[Reado]

Hi,

I'm looking to get a wide angle lens for my Nikon D5000 but notice that none of the available wide angles (Sigma, Tamron, Nikon) seem to have stablisation (VR) in them.

This may be a daft question, but do you not get VR stablised wide angle lenses? If not, do you have to use a tripod to use the lens or can you still shoot handheld whilst getting sharp pictures?

Thanks

[Fen]

This may be a daft question, but do you not get VR stablised wide angle lenses?

VR is normally on sports/macro type lenses, from what I've seen.

Wide angles, more for landscapes which don't tend to run around as much

If not, do you have to use a tripod to use the lens or can you still shoot handheld whilst getting sharp pictures?

I've got the http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-...-lens/p1023050 and never needed any stabilisation whilst hand held.

I would suggest practice holding techniques with the camera. It's possible to keep the camera still for a reasonable length of time without any shake.

[matt golowczynski]

Vibration Reduction is more useful with longer lenses as it is these focal lengths which are more susceptible to image blur. This means is that you either have to shoot at a faster shutter speed than with wideangle lenses, or with Vibration Reduction activated, in order to capture a sharp image. When using wideangle lenses you can often use relatively slow shutter speeds such as 1/20 or 1/30sec and still get good results, and as image stabilisation systems are expensive to manufacture they are often seen as less of a necessity for such optics.

As the subjects which suit these focal length tend to be those where you will take more time to consider an image (such as with landscapes and architecture), manufacturers assume that you will generally be using a tripod anyway. There are, however, a few reasonably wide lenses with some form of stabilisation, such as the Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G ED VR and Tamron’s SP 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD Aspherical (IF), which can be useful if you ever need to shoot handheld at a slow shutter speed.

Matt