wide angle zooms

magicbastarder

for a nikon DX body.
anyone any opinions? there's plenty of choice - the two sigma 10-20mms, the tokina 12-24mm (which seems to be the cheapest), and 11-16mm, the nikkor 10-24mm (seems the priciest 'entry level' one), and tamron 10-24mm.

a bit of a paradox of choice; the difference between 10mm and 12mm is not crucial to me, so all are in play.

Promac

The sigma 10-20 keeps coming up, over and over. I reckon I'll probably have to get one.

magicbastarder

according to this review, the tokina 12-24mm is better than the sigma with the variable max aperture:

But perhaps because of its more modest aspirations, it comprehensively outperforms the other third party APS-C wideangle zooms we've tested recently, i.e. the Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM and the Tamron 10-24mm F3.5-4.5 Di-II

http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/tokina_12-24_4_n15/page4.asp

might give that one a test run.

smelltheglove

Oh I had a go of a few lenses today, one being a 14 - 24 mm nikon 2.8 as far as I recall. Lovely lens. Also tried the 14mm 2.8 which was good too, both were superfast.

Borderfox

and super expensive, Sigma 10-20 is a great lens

Crispin

I have the sigma 10-20 f4-5.6 and it is class. Buy one. I rarely use it below f11 anyway so the faster version of it or any of the f2.8s mentioned would be overkill for me. Got mine for 400Euro in McSweeney's in Cork about a year ago.

magicbastarder

new? it's €550 in conns; i don't think i've seen that much variation in irish shops before.

Arciphel

smelltheglove wrote: »

Oh I had a go of a few lenses today, one being a 14 - 24 mm nikon 2.8 as far as I recall. Lovely lens. Also tried the 14mm 2.8 which was good too, both were superfast.

Both FX/full frame lenses, waste of money buying for DX.

I'd recommend the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 ;-) Had one on my D300, was a great lens. I sold the Sigma 10-20mm at the time to buy the Tokina, didn't regret it.

edit - Here's some sets on flickr to check out

11-16mm Tokina pics
10-20mm Sigma pics
14-24mm Nikon pics

Crispin

magicbastarder wrote: »

new? it's €550 in conns; i don't think i've seen that much variation in irish shops before.

Yep, should've been 450 but the girl in the shop misquoted the price and her manager stuck to it (fair play to him/them!!!!). They also had a crazy cheap price on the sigma 12-24 at the time but it was no use to me as it doesn't take filters.

Could €550 be for the newer, faster version of the 10-20?

magicbastarder

€550 for the 4-5.6, €600 for the 3.5, i think.

Crispin

magicbastarder wrote: »

€550 for the 4-5.6, €600 for the 3.5, i think.

If you can get it in the UK then I would. Can't believe it's gone up that much :eek:

I just checked McSweeney's in Cork online, it's €499 there apparently now. Definitely paid 399.99 myself but as I said it was a while ago. Just goes to show, good glass holds (or increases) it's value

mrmac

Followed Arciphels advice a few months ago, and bought a Tokina 11-16 f2.8 - it's absolutely brilliant, I love the thing, and only take it off the camera if I really have to.
Even the colours seem "extra" vivid, just superb, I can't fault it.

@Arciphel - thanks again!

pete4130

smelltheglove wrote: »

Oh I had a go of a few lenses today, one being a 14 - 24 mm nikon 2.8 as far as I recall. Lovely lens. Also tried the 14mm 2.8 which was good too, both were superfast.

It's not a DX specific lens. I've got one on my D3 and its probably the best 14mm and 24mm lens you can get and everything in between (better than the Nikon 14mm which has its own problems/issues if you read up on it). 14mm on a DX sensor is about 21mm which isn't all that wide.

It's pretty much the only lens I use for work when I'm shooting property interiors.

magicbastarder

gunns have the tokina 12-24 f4-f5.6 at the moment, for a good price, but it's the older model; which doesn't have the motor for the cheaper nikon bodies. i have the D300, but herself has the D40, so it would be something i'd like to have. decisions, decisions.

i've also heard bad things about sigma's quality control.

Heebie

I have a Sigma 10-20 for my Pentax, and I really like it.

This was shot on it:

The glass is basically the same on the Sigma for whatever mount you choose.

magicbastarder wrote: »

for a nikon DX body.
anyone any opinions? there's plenty of choice - the two sigma 10-20mms, the tokina 12-24mm (which seems to be the cheapest), and 11-16mm, the nikkor 10-24mm (seems the priciest 'entry level' one), and tamron 10-24mm.

a bit of a paradox of choice; the difference between 10mm and 12mm is not crucial to me, so all are in play.

CabanSail

I too have had the Sigma 10-20mm for some time. It seems to be the lens I have on the camera the most. I was also considering the Tokina 11 - 16 at the time I was buying but came across a deal on the Sigma first (too good a deal to pass up)

Neither of these lenses are that fastest or the sharpest lenses, but they are vey useful. I really do like my Sigma a lot, then I seem to like shooting wide.

magicbastarder

i ended up plumping for the tokina 12-24 in gunns.