Wide Angle Lens

[Scott™]

At present I have the sigma 10-20 F5.6 and tbh it's a fantastic piece of kit and the len's I use the most.

But I feel I'm now restricted using this lens. The reason I say this, is because I tend to do a lot of night pictures and sunsets and it struggles with a wide enough aperture. On top of that, it has no manual focus option so in the dead of night, with no light I can't use this lens due to my D5000 not having a focus motor.

So if I was to sell the Sigma and go for something else, what would you recommend? It needs to have manual and auto focus and a better F value.

Scott.

 

[Dunx90]

You get f3.5 sigma 10-20mm.

http://www.t4cameras.co.uk/productdetails/sigma-1020mm-f35-ex-dc-hsm--nikon-fit/565/

 

[Andy.]

Tokina 11-16 f2.8. Great build and optical quality. No other UWA options really.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

The Sigma 10-20mm gets a lot of rave reviews from what I've seen.

If you're a Nikon user, how about the 12-24mm f/4? I had that as my first UWA, awesome lens.

 

[Andy.]

Good call. Even canon folk want to strap the Nikon 12-24 on their cameras. Depends on whether f4 is enough for you though.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

For landscape shots, I can't see why you'd go as large as f/4, night shots is something different though.

I have no experience of that type of photograph at all really, but I see a lot of shots taken wide open with expensive glass (f2.8).

 

[Scott™]

The problem being the D5000 has a crop sensor so 12-24 is possible not going to be wide enough? The sigma 10-20 f3.5 is a good shout!

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

12mm is still wide, that's 18mm on full frame. My wide angle lens is a 16-35mm (FF).

Remember the wider you go, the more distortion etc. yes ok you can fix it, but it's still not the same.

I doubt you'll say "I wish I had an extra 2mm" if you got the Nikon.

 

[Scott™]

Ok, cheers for that Dan.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Have a google for reviews on every lens you're interested in too.

 

[SamP]

The Sigma 10 - 20 F3.5 is a terrible terrible terrible lens. The Tokina 11 - 16 on the other hand is a fantastic lens thats F2.8 and sharp all the way through, even works at 15mm on FF. Why not get the 14 - 24 if you've got the money? Pretty much the only Nikon lens I want as a Canon user.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

That's a bit of a different in price lol!!

Also, with that lens you can't use screw in filters, or even normal slot in filters without a special adapter.

 

[SamP]

That's a bit of a different in price lol!!

Also, with that lens you can't use screw in filters, or even normal slot in filters without a special adapter.

Yeah, but thats the same for every 14mm lens almost?

 

[Hixle]

Scott, if you do get rid of the Sigma will you fire me over a PM with a price please mate?

In relation to the topic, I've heard nothing but good things about the Nikon 12-24, meant to be very sharp.

 

[Matt_90]

Scott, how sharp do you find your sigma?

I have borrowed one off a friend a few time and have found it to be really soft. I think if I buy one I will go for Tokina or the Nikon.

 

[Brazo]

Scott I would stick with what you have, f5.6 is a perfect aperture for a 'landscape' lens indeed stop it down to f8 and you probably have the perfect balance of sharpness and dof.

Why do you want faster in such a lens?

A wide angle doesn't especially lend itself to bokeh or low dof and is best used on a tripod anyway thus negating the speed issue.

SamP, theres no such thing as a terrible 'modern' lens, only the person behind it!

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

I can only guess f5.6 isn't big enough for star photography.

But I would imagine a killer body with super awesome high ISO performance would be better.....do Canon even make such a camera?!

 

[Scott™]

Scott I would stick with what you have, f5.6 is a perfect aperture for a 'landscape' lens indeed stop it down to f8 and you probably have the perfect balance of sharpness and dof.

Why do you want faster in such a lens?

A wide angle doesn't especially lend itself to bokeh or low dof and is best used on a tripod anyway thus negating the speed issue.

SamP, theres no such thing as a terrible 'modern' lens, only the person behind it!

I can't manually focus and lock it off so shooting at night is impossible. That's the only reason. It also a tad soft if I'm being critical.

 

[Brazo]

Why can't it be manually focused mate? Can it not be set to infinity? Coupled with f8 should give you focus from a couple of metres onwards?

 

[SamP]

SamP, theres no such thing as a terrible 'modern' lens, only the person behind it!

When you compare it to the competition there certainly is... Pics relevant.

Top's the Tokina bottom is the Sigma 10 - 20 f3.5, both shot at f5.6. The Sigma doesnt sharpen up at f8/f11 either.

 

[Brazo]

Well you've picked me up before on pixel peeping

I have no doubt the Tokina is better but suspect the results would be better once the sigma was stopped down a little, don't forget that its wide open at that focal length where the Tokina has been stopped down.

I have seen many great shots with 10-20 and suspect as I always do that the main limiting factor is behind the lens

 

[SamP]

Thats the 10 - 20 F3.5 which is 3.5 all through, so thats down a stop and a 3rd. Not denying that it wont make much of a difference, but its pretty muddy and gross at the end of the day.

 

[Ben]

I know this is probably far too wide for you lot but I love my Samyang 8mm

Winter Farm House B+W by bensambrook, on Flickr

Samyang 8mm Long Exposure by bensambrook, on Flickr

 

[Tigger]

Dam all wrong with the Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6

There's it then I got my Nikon 10.5mm f2.8 :hail:

 

[White16valver]

When you compare it to the competition there certainly is... Pics relevant.

Top's the Tokina bottom is the Sigma 10 - 20 f3.5, both shot at f5.6. The Sigma doesnt sharpen up at f8/f11 either.

Thanks for the comparison, made up my mind on this now!