Are there any good alternatives to the legendary 14-24?? They seem too tough to find and also too expensive even the used ones...
I am looking for a rectilinear wide angle lens to do landscapes.
I would like <20mm the wider the better.
I am ok with manual focus.
I do not need very fast aperture.
Budget is about $1000.
Lighter the better
It is rectilinear, very wide, and way below your budget.
Sharpness is out of the world (at least matches Nikon 14-24 at 14) and contrast seems good too.
On the downside, the distortion is heavy (although it can be largely fixed in post) and focusing scale often is incorrect (but since it's a 14mm, this is not a big deal. also can be fixed diy)
The new Tokina 17-35/4 fits in your budget. Built as a tank, great optics and moderate distortions. The only cons is that is a bit soft at f4 but for landscape that's not important.
From using a 14-24, I'm going to say no, there is no substitute at this time. My Zeiss 21 is the only lens I've tried that seems to edge it out - and it's not nearly wide enough for a lot of my work. My 14-24 sees a lot of landscape use!
That said, the Zeiss 18 (at least my copy) isn't bad. While it may be a just a touch behind in the sharpness category compared to the 14-24, it's still steller (at least at the F8-ish range where I do a lot of shooting). Really nice rendering and takes a polarizer too.
Have you considered a Nikon 20mm or 24mm f2.8 prime? These are small, fast, cheap(er) than the wide zoom and sharp. The compactness speed and light weight are great for travel. I use these for travel on DX and FX bodies, respectively (mostly for cityscape and landscape/night photography). I have used a wide zoom (tokina wide zoom) as well but don't feel it adds much except for bulk and weight.
lighter than 14-24, take 77mm filters easily, so I chose it over 14-24. The Tokina 16-28 is very good but I gave it up due to its size/weight (close to 14-24). I personally don't worry too much about CA when shooting Nikon since CNX2 is so good at removing them (IMO better than Capture One 6). Can't say the same for raw files from other brands.
I wouldn't say the 14-24mm is tough to find. Seems available at all the major camera stores. I'd say that the price of $1,999 they want now is a little hard to swallow as I paid $1,500 when I bought mine in 2008.
An alternative is to buy a refurbished version, or keep eyes peeled on the buy and sell board here.
A personal rule of mine is try not to spend too much effort on any subject niche where my skills and equipment don't equip me to do as well as anyone. I wonder how you plan to compete against people who are using the Canon 17 TS-E? Or large format film, for that matter?
You may match sharpness, color, and contrast, but you will not have perspective control or focal plane control. And while you may think that <17mm wide is an advantage for the Nikon, the shift capability of the Canon largely negates it (you are using an available image circle notably wider than the 14mm delivers, choosing the part that counts the most, and getting more pixels per pigeon to boot).
I remember looking at the 18-35mm when I was on a tight budget
It's very light (a huge plus point), and when stopped down, has reasonably decent performance
