A cheap lens that can produce some sharp pictures if stopped down.
Light so you can travel with it without weighing you down.
Nice price....unlike the $400-$600 wide's

Build quality a bit sub heavy duty, but not bad if not used regularly.
Distortion at 19mm, but better if moved a bit longer.
Not consistent at all ranges and F settings.

Not a pro lens but quite good for the money. It can take some good shots. The corners are a bit soft wide open, but if I get fuzzy corners I crop them out in a photo program anyway. No problem so I don't worry too much about that. Its the center that I an worried about. If that's sharp then the lens is OK. Its a great amateur lens for the price.

Price
Image quality at f8 and f11
Wide!

Build quality - Looks like something that might be labeled Mattel
Loud focus
Flimsy lens shade and lens cap.

Bought it as a temporary ultra wide on Nikon N90s. To say that I was surprised at the images this lens can create is an understatement. Distortion is easy to correct once you get images scanned into digital form. Is this the ultra wide for heavy pro use? No. Will it last long? Who knows!

Not so great for crop sensor DSLRs. Definitely not to be used wide open. Then again, who uses ultra wides wide open?

Customer Service

Not used. A word of caution. I can't seem to locate the address for the company.

Similar Products Used:

Nikkor 28mm AI-S 2.8
Nikkor 18-55mm II AFS
Vivitar 28-85 AI-S
Nikkor 35-70mm AI-S

Price and optical quality at that price.

Zoom ring bends under moderate pressure. Slight barrel distortion at the extreme wide range.

What a good lens this is for the price! I use mine on a Canon Elan IIe and I haven't had any problems with it. It might not hold up to alot of hard use but I don't use it that often. If you need a good ultra wide zoom and don't have a big budget; this lens is worth checking out.

Customer Service

no problems thus far

Similar Products Used:

none

Outstanding Value! Top grade Glass! This lens brings incredible value and optics at a price that anyone can afford!

Super Ultra wide angle range of 97 degrees.

Very light lens for travel, backbacking, and because of the cost you don't have to worry it too much.

Multi-coated optics!

Very quick Auto Focusing.

Did I mention the price?

Incrediable Value.

Construction is the only weakness in this otherwise amazing lens. The construction is right on par with the price, so you really do get what you pay for in this aspect. Though, you DO get a sturdy all metal mount.

I think this lens might last 10 years at most.. for less than $200 is that a bad thing?

You REALLY cannot get any better than this. Buy it just to try out what Ultra-wide photography is all about.

Take a look at what Popular Photography rated this lens:

16x20 Prints: @f8 / @f11 (out of 100 points)
19mm: 93.9 / 91.8
28mm: 93.1 / 91.8
35mm: 85.7 / 92.3

As I said... YOU JUST CANNOT go wrong. What amazing glass for the price!

Customer Service

OUTSTANDING!!!! BEST Of the BEST! The zoom ring was sticking on the lens, and without ANY hassle, they will fix it for free even though I don't have the warrenty, box, or receipt!

This company is TOTALLY trustworthy. Support companies like these who treat customers REALLY as #1!

Thank you Phoenix.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma EX 28-70 f2.8 AF-D
Nikon 35-80 f4-5.6 AF-D

Nothing this wide before.

I am able to fit large areas easily into picture, mostly in cramped areas and it is beautiful for close-ups when a portion of the background needs to be included. My children and I have a lot of fun with this lens and it can be used very creatively. This is one of my favorite lenses.

A little distortion at 19mm.

Since I can not afford to spend a lot of money on lenses, this lens is a great buy for the price. I use it often, and enjoy finding the creativity of this lens.

Customer Service

Never needed

Similar Products Used:

None

Great value genuine wide angle,
Suprisingly good for price,

Smeary corners shockingly cheap-looking build,
A little distortion and vignetting at 19mm.

Surprisingly sharp images at f16 for what looks like a piece of rubbish. Very washed out, fuzzy and useless near f3.5.
Needs to be stopped down to at least f8 for sharp corners, a little barrel distortion at 19mm, but better 35mm performance than Nikon's lower priced zooms (eg 35-105mm)!

Similar Products Used:

Same as Soligor 19-35mm,
Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 (no comparison),
Nikon 28-85 AIS,
Nikon 20mm f2.8.

Lightweight and compact, very useful zoom range for scenics. Good contrast, low flare, and sharp once it's stopped down a lot. Great sharp pictures when used in bright light or with fast film so you can stop it down enough.

Extreme corners aren't sharp until stopped down to f/11, although this is the part that gets cut off anyway in 8x10 enlargements.

Very good value for the money. I compared it's corner performance to a much more expensive Sigma 18-35mm, and the Phoenix was better.

Similar Products Used:

None

Inexpensive

Build quality is poor.
Unsharp lens.
Coating on glass looks uneven, definitely not Nikon quality. The pictures I took with this are very soft.
Colors are weird also when compared with my Nikon lenses.

This lens is a piece of ****! I thought I would take a chance since it was so cheap. I would have been better off buying lottery tickets with my money, at least then I would have a chance of getting something for my money. I should have known better. I truly hate those who gave this a good review, you are all nuts and I should not have believed you. I wish a lower rating than 1 was available. Do not buy this lens. You will be very sorry.

Customer Service

Unknown

Similar Products Used:

None

Inexpensive
There was no obvious colour distortion at the edges even at 19 mm.
Possible to get really close and still focus correctly.

Contrary to other reviewers here, I noticed quite heavy barrel distortion at the edges at 19 mm. Buildings definately looked like they would fall over.
It feels like it could fall apart quite easily...time will tell.

I was sceptical about this lens when I first saw it. It is very inexpensive. So I took for a test shoot before buying. So far I have not noticed anything that I can't live with. Colours were natural and bright. Prints came out sharp...at least at 10x15 cm and 13x18 cm. If you do not want to spend a lot of money on a super wide angle lens....this could be your only option. I haven't seen any other lens offering 19 mm focal length at this price. Optically I think that the quality is acceptable. Mechanically I can't really tell as I haven't had it for very long.

Customer Service

Haven't had to use it

Similar Products Used:

none

Compact and inexpensive for a wide angle lens.

Cheap feel, AF a little slow, and not great sharpness. Slight distortion at 19mm.

Owned this lens for only a few weeks before upgrading to Canon's 20-35 2.8. The lens feels very cheap (does have a metal mount though). It is incredibly inexpensive, and is worth it to get the extra focal range (19mm is really wide!). Great if you want to broaden your photographic range without investing a fortune (well under 200 dollars).

Customer Service

not used

Similar Products Used:

Various Canon lenses.