Wide angle: Sigma 10mm-20mm or Tamron 10-24mm?

[niccapo]

Hi. I'm looking for advice on buying a wide angle lens for my Nikon D90. Normally I would go for a Nikkor lens but I'm trying to keep this lens in the $400 range. The two lenses that interest me the most after seeing them in Popular Photography are below. Which one is overall a better quality lens in your opinion? Thanks a lot!


Sigma 10mm - 20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM Autofocus Zoom Lens for Nikon


Tamron 10 - 24mm f/3.5-4.5 DI-II B.I.M. (Built-in Motor) LD Aspherical (IF) AF Wide Zoom Lens for Nikon

[Aegea]

I'm in the same boat (or will be if Santa is kind this Christmas). From what I have read, the Tokina 12-24 may be better than either, if you are willing to give up 2mm on the short end. I'll be interested to see what the DPS hive mind has to say ...

Tokina AF 12-24mm f/4 AT-X Pro DX (Nikon)- Lens Test Report / Review

[daem0njin]

I am also in the market for a new UWA glass, and I'm leaning towards the Sigma. Best price for performance imho.

Ps. If I had the money though, I would go for the Nikkor. But, I really don't want to spent that much on a DX glass, because I'm looking towards going full frame in the future.

[jnelson]

I wish i had more to contribute to this thread other than the fact that I too am looking into these lenses. Ill be following this thread closely, hopefully some others will chime in with personal experience.

Out of the $400 price range but i have also heard great things about the Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 ($600)

[PowerPix]

Don't know much about the Tamron, but the I can say from experience that the Sigma is a fantastic lens. It offers a ton of bang for your buck. Images are crisp and lens is solid. I have absolutely no regrets with mine.

[Nicole]

I agree with PowerPix. I recently read an article comparing a bunch of UWA lenses and the Sigma really held it's own against a lot of the UWAs out there (and even beat quite a few in the ratings). Not quite in your price range is the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. Also gets brilliant reviews, but still hard to get sometimes and the price is around $600. But I can't say enough about how much I really love my Sigma 10-20mm.

[jnelson]

Nicole, I just looked at your flickr page, awesome stuff btw, and noticed some of the ones tagged with sigma 10-20 had real dark, almost black parts to the sky. Is this an effect of this lens, UWA lenses in general or just the way you pp'd them?

[Nicole]

Thanks jnelson. It's a combo of a polarizing filter and some post-processing. Usually the polarizing filter gets it most of the way there.

[kirbinster]

I have the Sigma 10-20 and it is a great lens. While 2mm may not sound like a lot, it really is when you are at the very wide end. If you are buying wide, you want as wide as you can get. The Sigma can probably be picked up for even less now that they came out with a slightly faster version.

[OsmosisStudios]

if you go the sigma route, the new f/3.5 constant aperture version has been reviewed poorly, especially compared to the older variable design.