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Wide angle Sigma/Tamron/Nikkor or Tokina

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Sparkedmind

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I'm thinking of getting a wide angle lens for D7000 to be also compatible with a D40X as well.
Would like to keep the price down if I can so as to buy a few other items.

Choices are
Sigma Lens 10-20mm F/4-5.6 EX DC HSM $719
Sigma Lens 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM $927
Tamron SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD $705
Sigma Lens 10-20mm F/4-5.6 EX DC HSM $949
Tokina AT-X116PRDXN AT-X PRO DX 11-16mm $749
Tokina Lens AT-X 116 PRO DX 11-16mm f/2.8 $999

Uses will be mainly landsapes and full sky astro shots on a tripod setup

What does everyone use, Anyone have recommendations on the good and bads of each of these? Hoping for a good balance of low distortion at the edges, good focus, low colour abberation, weight and price. All suggestion welcome.

Thanks
 
I have a tokina 11-16mm , love the lens , very sharp and well built , It's very wide and works good on my D90
 
These aren't US $ is it? The sigma 10-20 4-5.6 HSM is about $400 in the states (and cheaper on craigslist). I have one of these and it works nicely...with minimal lens flare/chromatic aberration. It takes nice landscapes.
Sparkedmind said:
I'm thinking of getting a wide angle lens for D7000 to be also compatible with a D40X as well.
Would like to keep the price down if I can so as to buy a few other items.

Choices are
Sigma Lens 10-20mm F/4-5.6 EX DC HSM $719
Sigma Lens 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM $927
Tamron SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD $705
Sigma Lens 10-20mm F/4-5.6 EX DC HSM $949
Tokina AT-X116PRDXN AT-X PRO DX 11-16mm $749
Tokina Lens AT-X 116 PRO DX 11-16mm f/2.8 $999

Uses will be mainly landsapes and full sky astro shots on a tripod setup

What does everyone use, Anyone have recommendations on the good and bads of each of these? Hoping for a good balance of low distortion at the edges, good focus, low colour abberation, weight and price. All suggestion welcome.

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
Tokina Lens AT-X 116 PRO DX 11-16mm f/2.8 with my nikon D300,sharp...sharp....and sharp...
 
Thanks for the tips. I think I'm down to choosing between Sigma or Tokina at the moment.

The prices I listed were best I could find on the Australian market, although exchange is 1:1 at the moment. Just thinking warranty issues if I need to return and shipping delays from the US. Wanting the lens for a great country drive soon.

Would love to get the Tokina, but thinking a little about weight, as I take my gear on the plane; two SLR, compact, speedlight, laptop, some charges, hard drive and some reading material and it adds up. Thought maybe the Sigma would save me some price-wise as well, just enough to spend on a variable ND filter and CP filter.

Anymore suggestions greatly appreciated.
 
How do you find it for low light and night shots (i.e. night sky + foreground)
Doctor Wowz said:
These aren't US $ is it? The sigma 10-20 4-5.6 HSM is about $400 in the states (and cheaper on craigslist). I have one of these and it works nicely...with minimal lens flare/chromatic aberration. It takes nice landscapes.
Click to expand...
 
Love the Tokina 11-16. Very sharp and although the zoom range isn't huge, it still gets a workout! I do sometimes miss it being a little wider, but 95% of the time it's just great. Just about to head off to Wesminster Abbey and this will be the lens on camera. Great in low light.
 
Just realised that the Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8 is actually $759, this might seal the deal assuming its in stock and I can live without those 'mm' on either end. Might need a 18-105/18-200mm Nikkor VR to fill in the higher gap.
 
The best of the lot. I have owned the Sigma 10-20 4-5.6, Tokina 11-16 and the Sigma 8-16, and have tested the Nikon 10-24 and Tamron 10-24. The 8-16 beats them all, and is the widest to boot.
 
kymarto said:
The best of the lot. I have owned the Sigma 10-20 4-5.6, Tokina 11-16 and the Sigma 8-16, and have tested the Nikon 10-24 and Tamron 10-24. The 8-16 beats them all, and is the widest to boot.
Click to expand...
Not that I don't believe you but, I'd love to see some tests to support your assessment.

Do you have tests to support these comments?

I'm honestly curious as an owner of the Tokina 11-16 whether or not I should sell it and buy the 8-16.

Here's a 100% crop from the 11-16 at 16mm and f8 at infinity (image did receive standard sharpening).

 
Sparkedmind said:
Would love to get the Tokina, but thinking a little about weight, as I take my gear on the plane; two SLR, compact, speedlight, laptop, some charges, hard drive and some reading material and it adds up. Thought maybe the Sigma would save me some price-wise as well, just enough to spend on a variable ND filter and CP filter.

Anymore suggestions greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Off topic but to address your concerns.

I often fly with quite the large kit. I have a Lowepro Vertex AW 200 which is almost exactly equal to regulation carry on sizes.

http://products.lowepro.com/product/Vertex-200-AW,2073,16.htm

Assuming no laptop it barely fits under an airline seat which is required on smaller commuter planes, but it also fits fine in the overhead bins on typical commercial airlines.

I generally carry about 8 lenses to include the 80-200 f2.8 and 300 f4 + the D200 & D5000 bodies.

I have flown 6 times with this bag both nationally and internationally and have never been asked to store it in the belly of the plane.

Ian
 
I am also interested to see some samples for the sigma 8-16. I was also thinking about getting the Tokina 11-16 but now i will wait to see results.
 
I understand your feeling. I only had the Tokina 11-16 three months before the Sigma came out. I was not happy to spend all that money over again...

First, you can read the review of the 8-16 at photozone, and compare it to their review of the 11-16. Lenstip also has a good review of the 8-16.

This site has a good mouseover comparison:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Sigma-8-16mm-f-4.5-5.6-DC-HSM-Lens-Review.aspx

The bottom line is that the lenses have different strengths and weaknesses. If you are interested in the wider end, the Sigma is the better choice, but the Tokina does better at the longer end.

Here are my "real-world" comparisons of the two lenses. First, flare comparison at 11mm (with an extra shot with the Sigma @8mm). Not full-rez:













Here are full-rez comparisons of the two @11mm, and in the second set, one more with the Sigma @8mm:









All photos have been sharpened from RAW, but not corrected for CA.













My feeling is that the Tokina is marginally sharper in the center, but the Sigma takes the corners definitely. It is close, but the extra millies at the wide end make the Sigma my choice.

Here is a rogue's gallery of shots with the Sigma, mostly at 8mm:





































You can see why the flare resistance is important to me from the HDR shots. Also, the Sigma is somewhat better with CA, and that can be very important with HDR as well. But if you do mostly low light stuff and use the long end more, the Tokina is probably the better choice. Here are two more with the Sigma @8mm just to see the overall sharpness and distortion:







 
NYC_LUIS said:
I am also interested to see some samples for the sigma 8-16. I was also thinking about getting the Tokina 11-16 but now i will wait to see results.
Click to expand...
I would get the Tokina if you want/need f/2.8 and the Sigma if you don't care about f/2.8 but want a wider field of view.

My Sigma 8-16mm was a bit soft in the extreme corners, but very sharp otherwise. I wrote of a review of the lens here:
http://erphotoreview.com/wordpress/?p=124

Eric
--
I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object
be what it may - light, shade, and perspective will always make it
beautiful. - John Constable (quote)

See my Blog at: http://viking79.blogspot.com/ (Weekly)
Flickr Photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28177041@N03/ (updated daily)
See my PPG Shots: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/erictastad (8/31/09)
 
Sigma 12-24 EX HSM FX is my recommendation for all FX and DX bodies...
 
viking79 said:
NYC_LUIS said:
I am also interested to see some samples for the sigma 8-16. I was also thinking about getting the Tokina 11-16 but now i will wait to see results.
Click to expand...
I would get the Tokina if you want/need f/2.8 and the Sigma if you don't care about f/2.8 but want a wider field of view.

My Sigma 8-16mm was a bit soft in the extreme corners, but very sharp otherwise. I wrote of a review of the lens here:
http://erphotoreview.com/wordpress/?p=124
Click to expand...
Judging by the comments on your review page as well as other evidence, it seems that the soft corners is a characteristic of your particular specimen, not a general characteristic of the lens. Unfortunately, sample variation is not unusual, especially with wide-angles.

As you can see in the sample pictures that kymarto posted, the Sigma 8-16 does a bit better than the Tokina 11-16 in the corners, even when they are stopped down to the same aperture. This is consistent with other evidence I have seen.
 
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