tokina vs canon UWA

[brownin]

Hi All,

First off, I have a 500d which I will be looking to upgrade in the not too distant future to either 7d11,or 70d but that's another conversation and depends on moneys available in the future and personal hands on reviews of the 7d11

But what I have been looking at as sooner rather than later purchase is UWA's, read countless reviews of both the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 and the USM canon 10-22mm. But still can't decide which is better for what I want.

I love landscaping photography and I would like to dip my toe into some night/starscapes too. For this reason I think the Tokina would be the best with the constant fast Apperture. BUT... I've also read that the IQ of the 10-22 is the closest you can get to 'l' quality on a crop Camera, both suffer with lens flare although I will be using filters that should help with that, but the tokina comes with a lens hood as standard the 10-22 doesn't and it costs another £35..

Argh... could anyone with actual experience and images with these lenses give details/pros/cons of each to help me decide?

Thanks in Advance
Nathan

 

[woof woof]

I've also read that the IQ of the 10-22 is the closest you can get to 'l' quality on a crop Camera,...

If it helps at all... I owned that lens and although many seem happy with it I was very disappointed with it and it quickly made was for a Sigma 12-24mm. My issues were vignetting, distortion and it wasn't impressively sharp. It could be argued that these things are easily corrected post capture but it could also be argued that if other lenses don't suffer these maladies to the same extent then they're better lenses.

It might be worth reading even more reviews and maybe adding the various Sigma offerings and the newer Canon 10-18mm to the list of possibilities but personally I'd be a little wary of the Canon 10-22mm given it's relatively high price (I paid a lot for mine but maybe it's come down a bit since then?) and IMVHO not outstanding performance.

 

[Carlh]

I have the tokina 11-16mm and works great on crop sensor, it will work on full frame but only on the 15mm/16mm range as you get vignetting.

It is soft for F2.8 but around the F8-F14 its pretty sharp

Taken yesterday on the Tok (image is only 1200 x 800), F11 on the 600d focus is on the flower in the foreground

Focus on the bridge.

I cant vouch for the canon as I dont have that lens. The Tokina is a nice solid lens though tbh.

 

[AJQS]

11-16mm always gets my vote...unless the Samyang 12mm f2 is an option (which it isn't for you as you have a DSLR)

 

[brownin]

If it helps at all... I owned that lens and although many seem happy with it I was very disappointed with it and it quickly made was for a Sigma 12-24mm. My issues were vignetting, distortion and it wasn't impressively sharp. It could be argued that these things are easily corrected post capture but it could also be argued that if other lenses don't suffer these maladies to the same extent then they're better lenses.

It might be worth reading even more reviews and maybe adding the various Sigma offerings and the newer Canon 10-18mm to the list of possibilities but personally I'd be a little wary of the Canon 10-22mm given it's relatively high price (I paid a lot for mine but maybe it's come down a bit since then?) and IMVHO not outstanding performance.

Thats interesting and very important feedback thank you! the other thing that makes me consider the canon more is with a slight modification (new rear baffle off another lens) the lens can be used on a FF so if by some miracle I can afford a FF body it would not be wasted and I've seen some fantastic shots with this setup.... BUT i also borrowed a sigma 10-20mm earlier in the year from a colleague and that was a lot of fun although the distortion was outrageous lol.

I have the tokina 11-16mm and works great on crop sensor, it will work on full frame but only on the 15mm/16mm range as you get vignetting.

It is soft for F2.8 but around the F8-F14 its pretty sharp

I cant vouch for the canon as I dont have that lens. The Tokina is a nice solid lens though tbh.

wow they are sharp, any PP done there as they look SUPER sharp

11-16mm always gets my vote...unless the Samyang 12mm f2 is an option (which it isn't for you as you have a DSLR)

Thanks Alan, could you or anybody comment on the 1mm difference in FOV? is it a great difference?

 

[AJQS]

Thanks Alan, could you or anybody comment on the 1mm difference in FOV? is it a great difference?

You'd never notice the difference at all in use.

Some more examples....

Dinorwig 3-1-13 by R. Alan Jones ~ www.quarryscapes.co.uk, on Flickr

Ultrawide Selfie! by R. Alan Jones ~ www.quarryscapes.co.uk, on Flickr

Bricks by R. Alan Jones ~ www.quarryscapes.co.uk, on Flickr

2 on APSC (Fuji S5), 1 on Full frame (Sony A7R). Been my most used lens since I bought it till I replaced it with the Samyang. (Wouldn't have replaced it at all if it was available for Fuji X)

 

[hollis_f]

, both suffer with lens flare

Half right. The 11-16 is terrible for flare. The 10-22 is one of the most flare-resistant lenses I own.

I will be using filters that should help with that

No filter can help with flare. Indeed they will make ot worse.

but the tokina comes with a lens hood as standard the 10-22 doesn't and it costs another £35

I never use the hood on my 11-16 or 10-22. All my other lenses have hood on all the time. The problem with UWA hoods is that they're too thin to help much, either blocking the sun or protecting the lens. They also take up a huge amount of space in the bag.

 

[Carlh]

wow they are sharp, any PP done there as they look SUPER sharp

Just threw the raw back into PS camera raw to get the settings:

Exposure +0.25
Contrast +49
Highlights -100 (to get the sky back in and clouds not so blown out)
Shadows +65
Pumped up the clarity to +63 (normally I have it at around +9) to get more detail in the clouds and get the image to "pop" a bit more
Vibrance +18
Sharpness +25 (default)
Pumped up the Blues to get more blue, in the sky


Once opened into PS, ran noiseware to reduce the noise I generated from lift of shadows in CR and then ran smart sharpen (I only use smart sharpen when Im just processing a few images, as it takes so long), normally I just add sharpness in CR to +38 or +49 (if it needs it).
Thats it.

If I use the lens at F2.8 things are pretty soft - but I do use it, especially if I want to get up close to a car or another object and get the nice distortion - it works well for some things) and at F9 you need a fair bit of light (obviously) so just horses for courses, depending on the subject matter. If the canon lens is cheaper than the Tok and its even wider then I'd go for the canon, especially if its going to work "properly" on FF. If you do get the canon, please post up some samples.

 

[hollis_f]

MyTokina does need to get stopped down to around f4.5 for optimum sharpness. The Canon is sharpest wide-open.

There's little point in stopping down an UWA as depth of field is almost always infinite. Here's my pal's spare car at f4 - note how the whole car, and the buildngs across the road are all in focus.