What's a good wide-angle?

[patia]

Is there a good wide angle you'd recommend? Maybe cheap for now, or maybe a better zoom I can save up for.

[CaraRose]

Tokina makes two very good wide angles, the 12-24 and the 11-16mm, both of which are moderately priced ($400ish).

I recently rented the sigma 8-16mm and if you don't mind the barrel distortion at the widest end, it's a very nice lens and the widest now available for crop-sensor cameras.

[mjs1973]

I love the Tonika 12-24mm f/4!

[Photo-John]

How much are you willing to spend and how wide is wide enough, Patia? I've got the 12-24mm f/4 Tokina and it's excellent. I paid about $600 for it a couple of years ago, though. Not sure if the price has really come down that much. The new Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 is probably the most lustworthy superwide available for APS-C sensor cameras right now. I'd love to replace my 12-24mm with one but I can't justify it since the 12-24mm gets the job done so well.

I have a Sigma 8-16mm for review right now and I have to admit - I love it. It's soooo wide and the distortion doesn't bother me a bit. It's pretty expensive, though. The list price is $11000 and actual street price is $700. There's nothing else like it, though.

[CaraRose]

I love the Tonika 12-24mm f/4!

That's the one I own and I second the above statement

[Photo-John]

That's the one I own and I second the above statement

Really? You both own one? I've never even heard of Tonika lenses

[CaraRose]

I have a Sigma 8-16mm for review right now and I have to admit - I love it. It's soooo wide and the distortion doesn't bother me a bit. It's pretty expensive, though. The list price is $11000 and actual street price is $700. There's nothing else like it, though.

I had a lot of fun with it. I did notice the distortion as being a it significant in a few shots, but at 8mm, I sort of expected that.

Since we're talking about them, some samples of shots I've taken with these lenses...

Looking Glass Falls, taken with the tokina 12-24mm @12mm


Trail Ridge Road Overlook, taken with Sigma 8-16mm @16mm


My mom at Great Sand Dunes, taken with Sigma 8-16mm @8mm


My mom again at Great Sand Dunes, taken with Sigma 8-16mm @8mm, you can see distortion in this shot.

[CaraRose]

Really? You both own one? I've never even heard of Tonika lenses

:P I read typoese fluently and was able to translate without even noticing!

[Grandpaw]

How much are you willing to spend and how wide is wide enough, Patia? I've got the 12-24mm f/4 Tokina and it's excellent. I paid about $600 for it a couple of years ago, though. Not sure if the price has really come down that much. The new Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 is probably the most lustworthy superwide available for APS-C sensor cameras right now. I'd love to replace my 12-24mm with one but I can't justify it since the 12-24mm gets the job done so well.

I have a Sigma 8-16mm for review right now and I have to admit - I love it. It's soooo wide and the distortion doesn't bother me a bit. It's pretty expensive, though. The list price is $11000 and actual street price is $700. There's nothing else like it, though.

John, the Sigma 8-16 is a VERY EXPENSIVE lens at that price, Jeff :blush2:

[Photo-John]

John, the Sigma 8-16 is a VERY EXPENSIVE lens at that price, Jeff :blush2:

Oooohhhhh - you got me! Doh! :mad2:

The list price is $1100, not $11,000.

I am so ashamed, after making fun of CaraRose and mjs1973 for their "Tonika" lenses.

[Photo-John]

Here are a couple samples from my archives:

Sigma 8-16mm:



Tokina 12-24mm:


You can see more from each camera in the gallery.

Tokina 12-24mm Lens Sample Gallery >>
Sigma 8-16mm Lens Sample Gallery >>

You need to upload some more photos to the gallery, CaraRose! All the Sigma 8-16mm photos are from me. And you've got some good ones here. Add them!

[CaraRose]

You need to upload some more photos to the gallery, CaraRose! All the Sigma 8-16mm photos are from me. And you've got some good ones here. Add them!

I will as soon as I have time

[mjs1973]

Really? You both own one? I've never even heard of Tonika lenses

It's the gray market version of the Tokina.

[Photo-John]

It's the gray market version of the Tokina.

Did you get it on eBay from a Hong Kong vendor for $100?

[JamesV]

Is there a good wide angle you'd recommend? Maybe cheap for now, or maybe a better zoom I can save up for.

I have to agree with the others on the Tokina 12-24. I rented it last year from LensRentals and loved it.

When you ask about a zoom lens, what do you have now? Are you in need of a different zoom?

Have you rented a lens before? You should look into it to see if one lens is better for your needs over another.

James

[mjs1973]

Here is a link to an older thread with lots of wide angle images that you may find helpful.

The Ultra Wide Angle Thread

[armando_m]

I have the tokina 11-16 and it is great !
besides being wide I love the dof

here a couple of images taken using that lens

[mjs1973]

I was going through some old photos and I came across these. I did this as a test to see just what I was missing by going with a 12mm instead of one of the 10mm lenses. Both shots were taken with the same settings, from the exact same location. The first image was shot using the Canon 10-22mm lens @10mm. The second image is with the Tokina 12-24 @ 24mm.

It may be kind of hard to tell from viewing the images in this thread, but if you make a copy of them and overlay one on top of the other you will notice the difference that 2mm can make on a wide angle lens.

[Grandpaw]

I was going through some old photos and I came across these. I did this as a test to see just what I was missing by going with a 12mm instead of one of the 10mm lenses. Both shots were taken with the same settings, from the exact same location. The first image was shot using the Canon 10-22mm lens @10mm. The second image is with the Tokina 12-24 @ 24mm.

It may be kind of hard to tell from viewing the images in this thread, but if you make a copy of them and overlay one on top of the other you will notice the difference that 2mm can make on a wide angle lens.

Mike, that looks like a fairly noticeable difference to me. I am going to add a few pictures taken with my Sigma 10-20 at 10mm Jeff

[patia]

Hey, thanks everyone for the feedback and suggestions! The sample photos really help, too. I think the Tonika/Tokina :-) 12-24mm sounds like a good choice for me. I don't need super wide. I just want to maximize landscape photos.

At the moment I can't really afford much at all, but I will add this to my wish list. Thanks again!

[spiraleyes]

I really enjoyed my Sigma 10-20mm when I was shooting Pentax.

A few samples:

[patia]

Jim, I don't think I've ever seen that angle on the Eiffel Tower before. Cool.

[draymorton]

What brand of camera do you own?