Sigma 8-16mm and other UWAs

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What's happened to the Sigma 8-16 lens? I can't find it their website, has it been discontinued?

I'm currently looking for an UWA for my D5100 to get some epic vastness on some of my shots. The Sigma 8-16mm looked pretty smart.

Other considerations are:

Tokina 12-24
Tokina 11-16 (either the original or the MKII)
Sigma 10-20
Sigma 12-24
Tamron 10-24 (been scared off this one by the super soft corners)
Nikkor 12-24 (a bit long in the tooth now when comparing MTF with the competition)
Samyang 14mm (is it wide enough?)

I also noted that the Samyang 10mm is available, but they haven't got a Nikon AE fit ready yet, meaning I won't be able to meter.

Anything else to consider?
 
should still be stock of the 8 16 about even if its discontiued, there is a filter issue with it, you need cokin z size or bigger
 
I have the sigma 8-16mm. Recently purchased actually.

Had the Tokina 12-24mm f4 too.

Filters are a problem if you intend on this being your only wide - I also have the tamron 17-50mm so use that for filter work. Anything that wide will be a problem for filters.

In the sharpness department it's decent, not amazing, but good enough. The tokina is amazing.

Distortion on the 8-16mm is very well controlled (as good as it can be I guess).

Focus is spot on.

Vignetting is well controlled.

All in all, 4.5 out of 5 starts for me (would get 4 if the sharpness was up to the tokina standards).

If I were to choose one lens out of the above, the sigma 10-20mm is probably the best bet - very wide with the ability to accept filters and I believe this is a match for the tokina in the sharpness department, having seen some RAWs.

The 8mm is very wide and for what it is, it's a fab lens - but you ahould decide whether not having filters is fine for you.

I wouldn't rule the tamron out by it's corners - I used it and it was OK... I would rule it out as the build quality isn't as nice as the rest.

11-16mm...f2.8 on a wide? Doesn't appeal to me and the 5mm of zoom doesn't either.

Guess they all have their pros and cons but like I said, 10-20mm is probably going to get most votes due to it's versatility.
 
As suspected, the sigma 10-20mm comes out most favourable...

The sigma 8-16mm is pretty close to it though so just a question of 8mm, vs the ability to attach filters via an easy thread...
 
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I have a 10-20 and I love it - I'm thinking of selling most of my zooms and going to primes only, but I'll be keeping the 10-20.

Shameless pic:

8514753015_7d3ea6af8d_b.jpg
 
I own the Tokina 11-16mm mkII, Build quality is great. F2.8 is very handy but I do like using it for star trails, The range can be little frustrating but I also have feet :) what do you want to use the uwa for?

Kellett
 
flyingmonkeycorp said:
I have a 10-20 and I love it - I'm thinking of selling most of my zooms and going to primes only, but I'll be keeping the 10-20.
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That does actually look nice and sharp in the corners which is better than some examples I've seen.

@kellett - I'm looking for an UWA to give the impression of the vastness of things, basically a change of perspective. I also want to use it at times when you can't simply stitch images together to capture the whole scene. Things like star trails, northern lights etc.. would be a good example of this.
 
Is the ds100 a crop? I have the samyung 14mm on a 5Dmkiii (full frame) and it's pretty wide. Manual focus and manual aperture but I find it's pretty versatile. Slightly soft in the corners but there is a profile to correct in lightroom.

Do you use Lightroom? Whatever you choose I'd look to see if there is a profile for lens correction as a consideration if you do.
 
2.8 is never a disadvantage even if you don't intend to use it.

2.8 is incredibly useful even if you only ever shoot at F8. This is because it gives you a brighter image in the viewfinder or rear screen and once you start adding filters such as grads and even nd 'stopper' filters an extra 1- 2 stops is a huge advantage in being able to 'see something' or not.

To my eyes at least the Tokina is a clear winner at the wider angles and thats why we buy an UWA lens.
 
Brazo said:
To my eyes at least the Tokina is a clear winner at the wider angles and thats why we buy an UWA lens.
Click to expand...

Particularly when it can be picked up for £330 currently, which is similar price to the variable aperture Sigma, albeit with only a year's warranty compared to the 3 with the Sigma.
 
I've the Sigma 10-20mm as well and it's a great lens, works very well for me and I'm very pleased with it.

Make sure you move you're feet out of the way though :D
 
Phil Young said:
As suspected, the sigma 10-20mm comes out most favourable...
Click to expand...

except for smudged corners at all apertures... The choice is simple on APS-C format - Tokina or OEM lens.
 
i am looking for a 10-20 for my 1DS i have just purchased, i'm led to believe it's the best option for full frame.....unless anyone has other ideas ?
 
Haha, sound like you have one to sell. Unlike with Canon where you pick up a 5Dmk1 cheaply, there is more of a jump to going full frame with Nikon, so I don't think I'll be doing that any time too.
 
Well anything that fit on full frame will work on it. That doesn't mean there won't be heavy vignetting. WA and UWA tend to vignette by around a stop anyway. Sticking one on an FX body is only going to make it worse. :p
 
Bought a Sigma 12-24 in the end. I didn't trust the Tamron 10-24 to be decent in the borders, and the Sigma 12-24 has lower distortion and better theoretical resolution in the corners than both the Sigma 10-20 and Tokina 12-24.

The Tokina 11-16 DX II was just too expensive, and if spending that amount I'd rather have the Sigma 8-16.

On my Nikon DX body, I guess it gives a FOV similar to 18mm at FX. Which should be plenty wide enough for some decent perspective.

Anyway, let's see how I get on with it. If we start getting some decent clear nights I might have to switch to something a little faster, but the 12-24 should be fine for my use at the moment.
 
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