Wide Angel Lens - choices?

[Miss.Abel]

Hi Everyone,

I am looking for some reviews/advice about a wide angle lens, which would be mainly used for travel photography.

I am shooting with a Nikon D90 but am looking to upgrade in the near future. I have been recommended by a professional photographer to consider lenses in the Tokina range. He recommended a 12-24mm f4 lens. However, after researching I have discovered a 11-16mm f2.8 lens.

My questions/thoughts are:

- Considering I am shooting on a subframe camera, the focal lenght on the 16mm is actually closer to the 24mm (times by 1.5)- should I bite the bullet and pay extra for the bigger f?

- I am mainly living/travelling throughout Asia, where haze can be a problem but vistas can be spectacular- current planned trip is to Mongolia/China and later Laos.

- Are there any other candidates - I have heard to avoid Sigma due to quality, and forums have outrated the Tokina over Nikon

I am rather torn, thoughts, ideas and opinions are welcome!

Thanks

Erin

[ravncat]

I have a Tokina 11-16 2.8 and It's a good lens, not without flaws (particularly chromatic aberration.) They are generally good and sharp, with some softness in the corners at f2.8 and they seem to have no distortion (at 14mm) and have a sweet spot at 14mm. The 11-16 should be sharp enough for a d7000 but I haven't had a chance to test that combination. You can get some limited use out of the 11-16 on a full frame camera at 16mm. So it's not a bad choice if/when you upgrade, but there are other choices.

as for your questions

1. Depends on what light you shoot in. The larger aperture of the 11-16 is nice, but the zoom range is fairly short. If you are shooting landscape - you're probably wanting larger depth of field and you're probably shooting on a tripod - the larger aperture isn't so important. If you aren't using a tripod - you still don't need very fast shutter speeds because the lens is wide angle - you can get away with 1/24 of a second.

2. If you are going to be traveling alot, you may be concerned about weight - the 11-16 is a chunky lens - not sure how it compares to the 12-24 though - and depending on your other lens choices you may be happier with a larger range - like the 12-24 or width like the sigma 10-20 or nikon 10-24 / 12-24. Haze can be a battle with any lens. Lenses really wide can show uneven skies with a polarizer. Shooting Infrared is really the best way to cut through haze and gives great results in black and white.

3. Any of the wide angle lenses are fine really. The Sigma lenses have perhaps more quality control issues than tokina, but just about all of the third party lenses do. The sigma 10-20 is lighter weight than the tokina, and it's biggest flaw seems to be hard to correct distortion at the wider end. I haven't used one. I eventually chose the Tokina 11-16 because I knew I didn't need a large zoom range (having an 18-70) And I shoot in low light alot. As for quality - the Nikon 14-24 2.8 (which is a huge, and fine for any future upgrade, and very costly lens) Is the best Wide angle zoom out there.

I really wouldn't get hung up over brands too much - People rank brands, but it really comes down to individual lenses - and the wide angle choices from sigma and tokina are pretty close to eachother. You'll find sigma has a slightly more yellow color and Tokina is slightly more blue than nikon glass. The tokina lens has a nice build quality to it, the sigma feels cheaper. If I were you, I'd make a list of what is important to you for shooting.

If it were me - and travel photography / landscape were the highest priority, i might be inclined to go with the sigma 10-20 because it's got a larger zoom range and it is lighter. Or the Tokina 12-24 because it may be more rugged than the sigma and has a larger zoom range than the Tokina 11-16. Once those lenses are stopped down to 5.6 or 8 or so, they have pretty similar sharpness. So ask yourself, what is your budget, what focal length do you think you'll need and what apertures do you think you'll be shooting at. How much weight do you want to carry.

I doubt you'll really go wrong with any of the choices available.

[OsmosisStudios]

Also think about NIkon's 10-24 f/3.5-4.5. Longer range, similar f-stop range. Super super wide.

[Miss.Abel]

Wow, this is why I love DPS! Thanks for your great advice, I was on a photowalk yesterday and most were saying go withthe F2.8 - only way to truly decided is trying it out, so I'm off to the store today to check them both out and the Nikon lense.

Thanks again for your wonderful advice!

E