Sigma 8-16 versus 10-20mm

[crockny]

Well after thinking about the Tokina 11-16 I'm thinking I need more like a 10mm or 8mm on my crop body and am thinking about the two Sigma's ... is there any reason I wouldn't want the 8-16mm for landscape photography (aside from price)? I'm covered from 18mm up ... I'd love to take some grand landscape photos ...

I read something about the 8-16 not taking filters but I'm not sure if they meant graduated ND filters or circular filters ... I'm a newbie when it comes to filters ...

[IABoomer]

If you look at the front of the lens, you'll see the element is bulbous, so you can't screw a flat filter onto it.

Sigma AF 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM - Lab Test / Review

Provided you understand the inherent distortion of a lens like this and are fine with working with/around it, I'd say it looks like a good purchase for a crop body camera.

[crockny]

Well I'm thinking of a SinghRay Graduated plate-type filter that sits in a cradle of some sort ... guess I have to go to B&H so I know what I'm talking about ... wish they were open Saturdays ...

And don't all wide angles have distortion?

[navcom]

Originally Posted by crockny

Well I'm thinking of a SinghRay Graduated plate-type filter that sits in a cradle of some sort ... guess I have to go to B&H so I know what I'm talking about ... wish they were open Saturdays ...

And don't all wide angles have distortion?

At 8-14mm, even on a cropped body, a filter won't work in front of the lens as the field of view is as wide or wider than 180 degrees. That means that you will see the edges of the filter in the field of view. I've found on a cropped body, 16mm is about as wide as you can go with a filter and holder attached without it intruding on your image.

As for all wide angles having distortion...yes and no. You pay for less distortion, but at the widest lengths, pretty much yes.

Hope that helps!

[crockny]

Well I'm still at sea - the 8-16mm sounds great, but maybe I should go with the 10-20mm Sigma as my first wide angle, since the other seems a little beyond me ... I just want to do those really grand landscapes with stunning clouds ... that's all!

[milosh]

I have spent many hours searching the internet trying to find people's experiences with using ND grads and holders with Sigma 10-20, and I've found many of them stating that they use this Sigma lens with Cokin P series wide angle holder (there is a Cokin standard holder with 3 slots and the wide angle holder with 1 slot) all the way to 10mm with some vignetting and with no vignetting from 12mm up. Also, they say they use a low frame CPL (like some Hoya models) without vignetting.
cokin p sigma 10 20mm - Google Search

[crockny]

Thanks - but apparently you can't do this with the 8-16mm because of the bulbous lens element ...

[GreggObst]

With the limited (as in none) filter possibilities of the 8-16mm and the fact that it "will vignette horribly on a full frame camera body" as Ken Rockwell puts it in his review, Sigma 8-16mm and the fact that it's nearly twice the price of the 10-20mm, I would strongly recommend the 10-20mm.

I have the 10-20mm and I use it for probably 80% of my landscape shots, heck I even use it for portraits when I want to "go all Platon" on my subject. It's built like a tank and is a great value for the price. As far as filters you can use with it, I have both the Singh-Ray Vari-N-Duo and the Sing-Ray fall color boosting filters that work great with it. On both those filters, I use the "thin mount" version to prevent vignetting on the widest (10mm) side. I also use the Cokin Pro-Z series of 100mm square and rectangular filters with the Pro-Z filter holder and again, no vignetting.

I fell last year while doing some waterfall photography and landed on the D300 body and that Sigma 10-20mm lens and ended up with my right leg broken in two places but that Sigma lens is still one of my first goto lenses even though it has a slight wiggle in the barrel. I don't plan on replacing that thing any time soon because it still works like a champ.

[ororockcrawler]

the Sigma 10-20 is a great lense, good IQ, I really enjoy this lense, built very solid

[crockny]

Thanks Gregg -- really good info. I guess I was confused also because there's a 10-20mm 4.5 and a 10-20mm 3.5 -- is it worth getting the 3.5 which is more expensive and is the IQ the same? Having trouble figuring this out from the reviews ...