The Nikon 10-20mm lens is a great little budget ultra-wide angle DX lens. It is quite good in providing nice images to the DX user, you can use on FX camera but will need to revert to DX mode or use only down to 13mm as the widest setting and be prepared for a lot of distortion – which can be corrected in post processing easily.
Lets focus on what this lens is. First it is a super close focusing lens, is very small and is ultra-light weight and as mentioned the optics are superb. This lens also has Vibration Reduction (VR) one of the few ultra-wide lenses on the market that I have tested with this feature for DX cameras. ( I will be testing beside the Sigma shortly ) It also has instant manual focus override, a feature I love to have. The auto focus is very quiet and reasonably fast. But it does have a lot of plastic, not surprising at the price point. It is also missing a switch to turn AF off, no big deal as is nearby on camera body.
This lens will not work on all cameras, essentially only the newer models introduced since 2013. Will aperture will work the focus system will not, even using manual focus! These lenses focus with an internal motor and all the ring actually does is send a signal to the cameras computer which then moves focus motor in lens. But it will work with the D5, Df, D810, D850, D750, D600*, D610*, D500, D7100, D7200, D7500, D5300*, D5500*, D5600, D3300* and D3400. ( * be sure to update firmware on these cameras)
This lens appears to have some focus breathing which is not a problem for still photographers. It is not huge but is noticeable.
This lens as in virtually all the DX ultra-wide lenses has a lot of barrel distortion at the widest end and going away at 20mm. Set distortion correction on in camera and it is gone! One thing I do love about Nikon branded lenses. However, if wish you can also correct in post processing using Lightroom or Photoshop. (I prefer Lightroom as I try to retain my photos as natural as possible)
You can use filters with this lens, as long as you don’t stack a lot on the front and there is no vignetting visible. If you want to stack more than one, use the Lee or Cokin style filters which have ample width. Even with filter any flaring or ghosting was almost non-existent.
VR works great and I was shooting with no problem down to 1/2 second.
How does it compare to bigger lenses, well I also own the 12-24mm and it is actually sharper than the 12-24mm. Having said that it can not hold a candle to the 14-24mm f/2.5 lens, but no other lens on the market can either so no surprise there.
How does it compare to the Canon 10-18mm – I tested side by side this afternoon briefly and they appear to be about the same level of performance.
This is a no brainer and one you should simply jump on and grab if you shoot DX format!