Other wide range zoom lenses for NX

Hi there!

I currently own a NX10 with kit 18-55mm lenses. No complaints whatsoever about the system.

I'm planning a year-long around the world trip, living out of a backpack, thus, space and weight are issues. Also, switching lenses in most situations is a bit of a problem. For these reasons, I am not planning to carry a bunch of lenses, but only a wide range zoom, to be used in most situations (from landscape to wildlife) and maybe a tiny low aperture (f2.0) prime lens for night shots only.

I would like to replace the kit lenses by a wide range zoom lens, something from 18-200 mm, such as the new announced Samsung lenses (not yet available in the US for now). I found the announced price to be a little steep, to be honest.

So, considering that there are adapters to use lenses from other manufactures, would it be a good option to use other non-Samsung lenses? Are they fully compatible when it comes to auto-focus and stabilization? What considerations to make on crop factor, sensor size, etc?

If so, can I get a few recommendations on compatible lenses for a low budget enthusiast? This is what I'm looking for:

• Wide range zoom (about 18-200mm, or even up to 135mm would suffice)
• MUST have auto-focus
• MUST have vibration reduction/image stabilization
• f3.5 wide open is preferable

Thanks!

Hi,

I am sorry for you but non NX dedicated lenses won't work with autofocus nor Image Stabilization.
Moreover...not all Samsung lenses have IS.

If you want to keep autofocus...and from what I've read from your description of your travel...I suggest you to pick 16mm 2.4 pancake + 30mm F2 pancake + 50-200mm with OIS for longer range.

To my eyes...and for such a travel...Using manual lenses (with no AF and no OIS) can be a real option to consider. Why? Because for such a long travel (dunno what you will do and how? Camping? Humid places? Climbing? etc?) you will need strong lenses. As manual lenses are strongly build and have no electronics it makes less chances to get problems with it. It is easy to find cheap 24mm / 30mm / 50mm and longer legacy lenses...

Moreover...because it lacks all electronics...you can keep battery longer if it is hard for you to get electricity sometines...

Maybe this is an option to consider. Unfortunately...for wider range that 24mm price of legacy lenses are generally to high...your only would still be to pick a 16mm pancake.

If the place you will go are safer and you ahve no problem with electricity...then NX pancakes seem to ahve the best weight/size/performance ratio for you...

Starwolfy
--
Yashica ML 21/3.5 - Leica R 35/2.8 - Leica R 50/2

The only 18-200mm with working autofocus in the NX series is the samsung one. So, you can wait until is released in US, go on vacations to some place you can buy it, or relax your requirements (like complementing the 18-55 with the 50-200).

Ah...also...about the fact that you want an only wide range lens..
I suggest you to re-consider it.

First...it is big and heavy to carry always.
Second...only one lens? What will you do if it is broken suddenly?

Third...Pancakes are like 90gramms each...And it is not a big deal to switch lenses (I'm sure you photography style will adapt to it easily...Don't imagine you will change lenses any minute...!)

Starwolfy

--
Yashica ML 21/3.5 - Leica R 35/2.8 - Leica R 50/2

Ah...!

I always forget about that lens too lol!
You can also consider the 20-50mm kit zoom!

It provide excellent performance...and it is really small for a kit! not much biger than pancakes.

20-50 + 50-200?

--
Yashica ML 21/3.5 - Leica R 35/2.8 - Leica R 50/2

Starwolf,

First, thanks for all the advice! Greatly appreciated.

I'll be doing a whole 4-season-all-weather trip living out of a tiny 40L bag (about 2400 cubic inches), that should also be large enough for everything else, including some winter clothing (summiting Cotopaxi in South America, EBC in Nepal, some treks around Fitz Roy in Argentina). All my daily use stuff, iincluding camera and accessories, should fit on a 5L drybag, which I use as a "day pack". I've done a couple shorter trips before ranging from 2 weeks to 1 month and got the packing process really good, but this will be the first time I am replacing my pocketable point-and-shoot by a larger, better quality camera.

I am not very experienced with the whole DSLR format and switching lenses, other than the weight and volume, my concerns in multiple lenses while travelling are the harsh environmental conditions and how bad would it be to get dust and moisture to reach the sensor.

The idea of bringing along a 50-200mm I will have to dismiss, it's just too heavy to have both. I will certainly consider a non-AF small prime lens.

The trip is still far (next year), so I will sit and wait for the NX 18-200mm price to drop a little. Worst case scenario, I'll stick with my 18-55mm and deal with not having more zoom than I'd like.

Thanks

EDIT: I realize I am basically repeating starwolfy's suggestions....so yeah, you don't have to read through this post but just know I am supporting starwolfy's suggestions

Yes, the price for the 18-200mm lens is a bit unfortunate, but keep in mind it's priced high because it is a video optimized lens. Unfortunately there are no wide-to-tele lenses with autofocus other than that lens. You could try waiting to see if you can pick up a used one or if the price does happen to drop low enough (although I doubt it- mirrorless lenses in general are a bit expensive compared to DSLRs because they are a newer market and don't sell as many lenses as DSLRs. And just over the past two years, the prices of the nX lenses have not dropped whatsoever, except for an $11 price drop on the 30mm pancake lens)

If you end up not being able to buy the 18-200mm lens, you can, like starwolfy suggested, buy manual lenses. The lack of AF can be a bit of a problem, but without electronic parts they have less of a chance to break down

I would personally suggest getting the 16mm f2.4 lens (no OIS, but there is a big-ish aperture to help make up for that) and the 50-200mm lens, that covers wide angle and tele, although that may not be the perfect option. The 30mm lens would be good to pick up too.

I recently completed a trip around China with the NX10+18-55 kit. It is no good for wildlife of course but otherwise is excellent. You want to travel light, compact and simple so my suggestion would be stay with what you have, leave the lens on the camera all the time and just accept there are some shots you will have to pass up. Another option might be to take the NX10 with just the 20f2.8 or 30f2 lenses, just one of them attached to the camera all the time. Very compact, very simple. You get to use the "two foot zoom" a lot which is no bad thing.
Have a great trip.

Is the investment on the NX 20mm f/2.8 worth just to gain a little on aperture in comparison to the NX 18-55mm f/3.5?

In other words, is the wider aperture noticeably better for low light photography?

Or should I get the more-restricted-view-angle 30mm f/2.0 ?

toozler said:

Is the investment on the NX 20mm f/2.8 worth just to gain a little on aperture in comparison to the NX 18-55mm f/3.5?

Click to expand...

No. IS on the zoom makes up for aperture which at 2.8 isn't exactly stupendous. Plus you can get away with slower shutter speeds at wide angle. Take the zoom- it's flexibility will be invaluable.

toozler said:

Or should I get the more-restricted-view-angle 30mm f/2.0 ?

Click to expand...

Yes. It's currently the gem of the fledgling NX system and no NX10 is complete without one. I would also add that no photographer should be without a standard focal length (or equiv) prime.

Very envious of your trip. Where are you going? I'd say I'm moderately well heeled and Morocco is by far the most photogenic country I've been to so far. I'd highly recommend it on your itinerary...

Samsung ex1 and panasonic lx5 might be an option in case you decide to drop the tele zoom. They are both lighter and cheaper, and you can make close up photos of flowers and insects. They have good apertures, so you will be able to take decent night photos. They are vote very nice cameras. I have a feeling the nx will take much space in your 40l backpack.

If you stick to the nx camera I would recommend the 30 mm lens. It will be a very good mentor into photography. It is very good for documenting the people on the street, indoor and in the evening. The zooms can compete here. I is the lens as I use the most on my travel. I would recommend you only this lens if you will travel many more times, and see it as a learning tool, and you can really learn what you can do with it. If it is once in a life time travel, I might recommend a zoom.

OIS is not that important, and often reducing the optimal sharpness. This is not only a Samsung phenomena but also Canon. Without IS I get more rejects,but those that are sharp are much shaper (I have the canon 5dii and 70-200mm lens).

The 18-200mm lens might be that heavy that you don't bring it out. It is not very difficult to make a better lens than the 50-200 mm lens, so I assume 18-200 is much better even if it is wider. None will be good for close up of flowers or insects.

Calcifer said:

Samsung ex1 and panasonic lx5 might be an option in case you decide to drop the tele zoom.

Click to expand...

I also recommend to look at Olympus XZ-1, cause I use one along with NX and it compete quite well in image quality (but I shoot RAW only).

Sounds like you had best stick to the NX 18-200 myself and forget the fast lens. If you were even considering multiple lenses then one versatile lens should be very affordable. One big lens is still smaller and more convenient than several small ones and does not need changing.

Once you have more photographic experience then the lenses you need will become very obvious.

Going for a wide range versatile zoom usually means extra size and weight and a smaller maximum aperture. But I do think you had best stick with the Samsung oem product and leave the legacy manual lenses for wild men such as Starwolfy and myself.

The smaller the f-number the more light is let in by the lens. Fast lenses usually start at about f2.0 and around 50mm equivalent seems to be a sweet spot for fast primes wider and longer seem to be harder and if you want a really fast telephoto it can be guaranteed to be both huge and expensive. However the slower f3.5 (quite a lot slower) is usually a good versatile lens for most users but note that these often go out to f5.6 or f6.3 at the telephoto end and you are going to need a support, good light, high ISO or a fair bit of skill to get good images in poor light conditions that way. IS obviously helps.

--
Tom Caldwell

toozler said:

Is the investment on the NX 20mm f/2.8 worth just to gain a little on aperture in comparison to the NX 18-55mm f/3.5?

Click to expand...

Sounds like you really want to shoot wide angle - this prime is at the far end of your proposed zoom range.

toozler said:

In other words, is the wider aperture noticeably better for low light photography?

Click to expand...

Yes

toozler said:

Or should I get the more-restricted-view-angle 30mm f/2.0 ?

Click to expand...

Do you want wide google-eyed scenes, or do you want people shots? The 30mm f2.0 is a really great little lens, very fast, very sharp, very small, comse as a kit with the camera. Does people shots close up well and scenes are no problem. If you can use lower ISO because the lens is quite fast then cropping images is a possibility to get a form of "zoom". Cropping an image taken at a higher ISO because your lens was slower is not such a great idea.

No telephoto of course but it ticks all your other boxes.

Don't forget that wide scenes of empty areas really need a small aperture f8.0 at least to get depth of field and detail. Preferrably a tripod and patience in capture for the best light. They are too hard for me but seem easy for tourists with a very wide angle lens on board or in panorama shot mode.

--
Tom Caldwell

toozler said:

Hi there!

I currently own a NX10 with kit 18-55mm lenses. No complaints whatsoever about the system.

I'm planning a year-long around the world trip, living out of a backpack, thus, space and weight are issues. Also, switching lenses in most situations is a bit of a problem. For these reasons, I am not planning to carry a bunch of lenses, but only a wide range zoom, to be used in most situations (from landscape to wildlife) and maybe a tiny low aperture (f2.0) prime lens for night shots only.

Click to expand...

Here is a 28-300mm equivalent zoom by Olympus that is very compact:
http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/olympus_m_14-150_4-5p6_o20/

You could pair that with a Panasonic 20mm f1.7 and your choice of m43 body.

But if you want to go cheaper and less compact, there are plenty of DSLR + 18-55 + 50-200 kits out there to which you could add 50/1.8 or 35/1.8.

NX100 is cheap right now. You could stick with the compact included zoom and add 50-200 OIS + 30mm f2. This is a nice compromise between the above two options w.r.t. price and compactness, especially if you don't need to carry the whole kit at all times. The 30mm f2 + NX100 is a nice compact kit for your evening outings.

--
Taken with recent gear:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelbarkowski/sets/72157626671237011/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelbarkowski/sets/72157625018860596/