Camera Labs

Im planning to pick up a new Ultra Wide lens.

I would like to have some suggestions from users here.

Lenses that are within about $1000 are preferred.

I have the canon 550d and 500d bodies which i intend to use these lenses on.

Thanks

Sigma 8-16mm F/4-5-5.6 DC HSM
or
Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8.

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Canon EOS 7D + Red Canon IXUS 300HS.
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L,Canon EF 100mm F/2.8L IS USM.
Sigma 70-200mm F/2.8 APO EX DG OS HSM, Sigma 50mm F/1.4 HSM
Canon Speedlite 480EX II + Tripod+ B+W MRC (2x77+67), hoya HD UV (77) B+W MRC 77mm(CPL slim+10 ND).

Samyang 8mm.
Very cheap and a good quality lens. Check lenstip.com for a good review.

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Ruben

Panasonic DMC-FZ18, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, Canon G5, Canon 350D, Canon 50D + BG-E2N
Tamron 17-50 2.8, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM,
Canon 18-55 II plus lots of Minolta MD/M42 lenses and bodies

Hi Guys,

I was actually looking at the Sigma 8-16mm. But i didnt mention it cause i didnt want to bias the suggestions at the start.

Ruben > the samyang being fixed Focal length how do you find using it in practical situations when it comes to composition ?

Thanks

I love the Samyang 8mm, but being a fisheye it is a bit different in use than a rectilinear wide angle. I find you can still crop if needed to alter the framing.

If you don't want the fisheye distortion, then the 8-16 is about as wide as you're going to get. It generally gets great reviews.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I researched many, then strongly considered the Tokina 11-16mm 2.8, but went with the 10-22mm Canon, with which I am well-satisfied thus far. In spite of the maximum 3.5 aperture, it "sees" quite well in low light, compared to other zooms I have that start at f/3.5, that hunt for focus unless I provide extra light.

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Canon 7D/5D/40D/1D2N; Nikon F6, FM3A, & Coolpix A; Canon 40mm Pancake, 135L, 50L, 35L, pre-II 50mm 1.8, 100mm 2.8L Macro, 10-22mm EF-S, 28-135 EF, 400mm 5.6L; Nikkor 50mm 1.2 AI-S, 50mm 1.4G, 50mm 1.8D, 16mm 2.8D Fisheye, 180mm 2.8D, 100-300mm 5.6 AI-S; Tokina 17mm & 100mm 2.8 Macro

Personally I'm planning to buy the Sigma 12-24mm - it's wide on a crop frame sensor yet - but it can be used on a full frame / analog camera, too. That's pretty cool as I'm using an analog camera and I'm planning to get a full frame camera in the future.
Pretty amazing lens.

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Canon EOS 500D + Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm 4L IS USM + EF 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 100mm 2.8L Macro IS USM + Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM + Canon Speedlite 580 EX II + Nissin Speedlite Di 466

And the distortion is also very low on the Sigma 12-24, if I remember correctly.

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

Yes - that's one of the reasons why I want this lens indeed. I'm not such a fan of the fisheye effect.

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Canon EOS 500D + Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm 4L IS USM + EF 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 100mm 2.8L Macro IS USM + Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM + Canon Speedlite 580 EX II + Nissin Speedlite Di 466

I have the 8-16 and i can tell you that i love that lens!!!

I haven`t find a way to take pictures of people with it, but for anything else 8mm is priceless!

Nice to hear your opinions. Any user experiences are welcome. Keep them coming.

Im still leaning towards the 8-16mm. As i have the 18-55mm and i feel this would fill in the lower than 18mm needs but for the 2mm void inbetween.

I have a week or 2 more to decide and take the plunge though.

I'm in a similar position. Whilst laying out huge sums of cash does make me a little twitchy - the fact that lenses hold their value well means I accept saving a little longer for a lens I want irrespective of price.

So far I've narrowed it down to Canon's 10-22, Tokina's 11-16 and Sigma's 8-16.

From what I read, the wide angle focal length makes a big difference. The Canon can show you 10% more than the Tokina and the Sigma 20% more than the Canon.


Tokina seem to have the fastest lens and arguably the sharpest - but also have the largest quantity of complaints about CA and flare. It comes with a hood and is re-assuringly weighty.

The Canon is, as per usual, berated for not coming with a lens hood which seems to be mandatory for lenses with such high viewing angles as the front element is more exposed to stray beams. Apart from that, I borrowed some content from a user on pbase.com;



Talking about the Sigma, it's another one to two hundred quid on top of the other lenses, but it seems to have the least barrel distortion (fisheye effect) of the three, despite its extra 2mm over the Canon.

In my personal opinion, I'm thinking that if I buy the Canon, then I get some sort of peace of mind that I wouldn't with the Sigma. I fear it's a placebo effect though and that one of the others are better! Aaargh!

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I have the Sigma 10-20/3.5 and I'm very pleased with it. It comes with a lens hood but I think it's mostly for drcoration/protection. At these angles it has to be relatively smal in order to keep out of the fame, so not much protection against flares. I think the Canon 10-22 one is better and has a bit more reech (almost the same price here) but I liked the ideea of a 3.5 constant aperture.

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Radu
Canon PowerShot S100
Canon 50D , SIGMA 10-20 f3.5 ,Canon EF 24-105 L IS USM, Canon EF 100/2.8 macro Canon EF 50/1.4 ,Canon EF 85 f1.8,Canon EF-S17-85 4-5.6 Old Tamron 28-300 inherited from my Canon Rebel G film camera
Canon580EXII
http://www.errre.net

I like the constant aperture on the Tokina, but my head says that the Canon will spend most of its life at 10mm on a tripod, so the variable aperture is a moot point.

For my application, anyway.

@ Radu - Is that the Sigma that everyone seems to be returning/selling on auction sites and Amazon?

I was reading about it and the poor reviews said they wished they had spent a little extra to get Tokina/Canon. What's your experience?

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Adding my voice to the chorus, I've had the Tokina 11-16mm for a little over a day and I think it's a cracking lens. I have noticed a bit of light flare but other than that I don't have any serious complaints.

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Bodies: Canon EOS 550D w/ Magic Lantern
Lenses: Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX f/2.8, Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Accessories: YongNuo Speedlite YN-468 Flash, Neewer Macro LED Ring Light, Meike Battery Grip, YongNuo RF-602 Wireless Flash Trigger & Receiver YongNuo WR-128 Wireless Remote Control