A good friend is looking to purchase an ultra wide angle lens and is boggled down by the choices available. He has a 18 to 200mm Nikon lens and wants to complement this lens. His current list includes the following:
#1 : Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8
#2 Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6
#3 Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5
# Sigma 10-20mm f4 -5.6 EX DC HSM (cheapest among this lot)
Which of the above choices would add value considering he is covered till 18mm.
I used to have the Sigma 10-20mm f4 -5.6, that was paired with a 40D.
It was a decent lens, quick enough focus and the focal range was pretty good. Obviously the f4 was a bit of a hindrance in low light, but I was able to get by with it.
The one thing I did hate, is you couldn't put the lens cap on, or at least not very easily when the hood was in place. But this may be a general problem with Sigma lens caps.
Thanks khphoto. How was the quality of the picture for this lens? Have you compared it with any other UW lenses out there? Do you still carry this lens?
Quality was precent good for the price point, but I mostly used during the day time and most often f/8 and up. Sorry I don't have any samples readily available.
I no longer have it. When I sold it, I replaced with a 17-40 as I was beginning my transition to full frame (5Dc).
If I was still using crops, I probably would have replace with the Canon 10-22, as I always thought that lens had much more punch.
If you need it for lowlight the Tokina is the one. If you want cost then the Siggy. A step up is the 3.5 constant Sigma. Really the best all around is the EF-S 10-22. You might also look at Sigma 8-16, it has great IQ but it's not lowlight either. 4-5.6 I believe. Tough choices but be glad there ARE choices. I'd go Canon since overlapping is the best way to go. If you say he's covered to 18 then I bet that's a soft 18.
Have you considered the 16-28mm F2.8 Tokina ? I'd go with this one or the 11-16mm Tokina. Personally, I just have to have the continuous aperture because I don't like bumping up the ISO or lowering my shutter speed. On top of that, the tokina lenses have been known to perform as far as speed and sharpness goes.
EB-1 wrote:
What is wrong with the 10-24 Nikkor? Failing that look to the 12-24.
EBH
Nothing is wrong, but nothing is right either. The only thing I really love about the 10-24 is the range. The 2mm on the low end relative to the 12-24 make a lot of difference, and the 4mm on the long end make it more of a general purpose lens. It is my main lens. Having said that, it does everything decently but nothing really well. Relative to the Sigma 10-20 MkI its only benefit is color rendition, as the Sigmas tend to run a bit on the yellow side. At 2x the price you don't get much value relative to the Sigma.
