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Which wide angle lens?
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I was wondering what you folk would recommend as a good general wide angle lens. What have your experiences been, I would like a good sharp lens dosent have to be f2.8 probably f4 would be ok constant across the range.
Thanks John
hello John,
I use the Sigma 12-24 for Nikon.
a good lens, if a little slow,
though needs stopping down anyway-
It has the distinction of being the widest full frame zoom,
(I believe)
I must pick up a roll of film for it sometime-There are times when I’d like the extra 20% of the 10-20mm.
(a point I had difficulty getting across to the salesman in Talbot St.
who just saw it as an extra 2mm,
and therefore hardly worth bothering about-
he looked at me as if I were mad)Likewise there are times when I’m glad of the constraint,
If I had it I might be down the Ultra end just a little too much.Although I’ll probably end up getting one anyway-
j
I use the Sigma as well. I find it a little soft at times, but no problem sharpening it in photoshop.
What I like about it is there is not a huge amount of barrell distortion. Certainly less than my 18-200 vr when shooting 18mm.If shooting landscapes and using an ND you need to get something like the Cokin X-Pro filters and hand hold them as when 12mm you can see the filter holder. Stuck it on the F5 the other day and got dizzy !!! Looking forward to giving it a run out with film.
All in all I’d say it is a very good lens and quite good value. Not exceptional, but it all depends on the size of budget.
Rgds
Kevin
Hi John,
I’m not sure what system you have, but if you’ve got an APS-C sensor camera, the Sigma 10-20 is pretty excellent. It’s not a constant aperture across the range however – not sure how much of a sticking point that is, and reportedly is a bit prone to vignetting when used with standard thickness filters on Nikon (seems to be more of a problem on Nikon than Canon – the Nikon sensor is slightly bigger than the Canon cropped sensor, which I think is the reason)
Otherwise for Canon, the EF-S 10-22 is supposed to be an excellent lens (though again only cropped sensors need apply), though whether it’s worth the extra money over the Sigma, I’m not sure. Same goes for the 17-40L, which won’t go ultrawide on a crop sensor, but DOES have a constant aperture of f4
John
Hi John
I’m using the Sigma 10-20mm lens alot of the time since December last .. and I love it – I’m becoming pretty familiar with it at this stage and I find it a very versatile lens … Its not the fastest lens and for the occasions i’ve experimented with Street stuff this has been a small niggle but overall for I think it rates well. ( JB its well worth it ;) )
here are a couple of shots I’ve taken with it –
http://www.lorrainegilligan.com/misc/bray_3_lenscorrect.jpg
http://www.lorrainegilligan.com/misc/bray_2_small.jpg
http://www.lorrainegilligan.com/misc/coolbawn2_small.jpg
http://www.lorrainegilligan.com/misc/phoenix3copy2_small.jpg
http://www.lorrainegilligan.com/misc/cityLife_bw2_small.jpgL
I have the Tokina 12-24 (F4 throughout the range), bought it new on ebay, 380 euro including postage and vat (600 in the shops in Dublin). Excellent lens. Build quality is excellent second only to Nikon and Canon. Used to buy sigmas in the past but found the build quality not to be great and they eventually get dust behind the lens but optically they are great. If i lost the tokina in the morning i would buy it again
One other important thing to note is Vignetting on wide lenses. Only have experience of the Tokina’s but it does not Vignette with the wide angle versions of the polarizer or lee grad filters which is excellent
Check out rockwells site below, some people think he’s a muppet though, up to you, im sure there are more up to date comparison reviews at this stage
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/digital-wide-zooms/comparison.htm
M
wjklewis wrote:
dosent have to be f2.8 probably f4 would be ok constant across the range.
I presume this means your’re looking for a wide angle zoom lens. You could always consider a fixed wide angle. I’m using the Sigma 14mm 2.8 EX and it’s a brilliant lens. Ideal for Street and Architecture.
I received great advice from a photographer friend many years ago. He maintained that a zoom lens quite often means you don’t get the shot you want in fast situations (eg Street Photography), because you quite often lose the moment tricking around trying to get the right focal length. A fixed wide angle gets you away from this. You just concentrate on the shot and move closer or further away to get the frame that you want. Also, fixed lenses tend to have wider maximum apertures, and that means shorter depth of field and faster shutter speeds,
Dave
Thanks Dave, I do have an old 24 mm as my wide angle but it dosent work with the cameras exposure system and that is why I was thinking of getting another lens. I do agree with you that fixed is better but I only have one SLR body at present and I forever seem to be changing lenses.
Must have a look at the 14mm do you have any sample shots taken with this lens. I would want the wide angle for group shots mostly, some landscape.
many thanks for the advice John
i’ve owned the sigma 10-20 for 2 days now and i love it. the canon 17-40L is also in my arsenal, and i can say i love that one too. in fact, i’m thinking of getting a second body just so that both will always be attached to a camera :D.
bethwjklewis wrote:
Must have a look at the 14mm do you have any sample shots taken with this lens.
John,
I’ve pm’ed you a link to a high res shot taken with the lens. It was shot on as a 6mp RAW file saved as a high quality jpeg. I’ve left it as is so you can assess it for what was shot,
Dave
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