Sigma 10-20 or 12-24 or Tokina 12-24 or Tamron 11-18?

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Sue Fisher

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Hello all, I'm having trouble deciding which one of these to go for and would appreciate any opinions/thoughts/comments.

I have a Canon 350D and also a 300 which I mainly use for B/W film. I definitely want to get a wide angle lens and I think I would like a lens that I can use on both. I've narrowed it down to a Sigma 10-20 or a 12-24.

I know I can use the 12-24 on both, but there's a few things that are making me hesitate:
The size of it on the 350D body - feels/looks very big compared to the 10-20.
I'm doing less and less film work, so how often would I actually use it on my 300?
The bloke in my local Jessops said that there have been some quality problems/faults with some 12-24 lenses.

I don't think I can use the 10-20 on both cameras - the Jessops man said it would attach to the 300, but I think he said there would be some vignetting (or some other problem, I can't remember exactly) - is this right?
Both Jessops and my other local independent photo shop say the 10-20 is a terrific lens, and I know that a few people on this forum think so too.
The 10-20 is £120 less than the 12-24.
The 10-20 is noticeably more wide angle than the 12-24.
However, if I upgraded to full frame DSLR in the future (no plans to at present tho) I wouldn't be able to use the 10-20 would I?

I haven't managed to try out the lenses on my own camera(s) yet and I know I should, but in the meantime has anyone got any suggestions that may help me decide?

Sorry, I have gone on a bit haven't I? :help:
 
:shrug: Not sure about Canon sensors, but with Nikons, the general advice was that if you are digital only, the 10-20 is the beastie to have, but if using both film and digital, then the 12-24 was the glass for you.

I went with the 10-20 and love it, but I am purely digital these days.

I also tend to think that you get what you pay for, the 12-24 is more expensive because its the slightly better lens. :shrug:
 
Have you considered the Tokina 12-24? It's a scarily sharp peice of glass. I went for this one when I was in the same prediciment(Sp?) 2 months ago.
 
I have the Sigma 12-24 which I bought for the 10D before all the APS-C super-wides were available, and also the Canon 10-22 EF-S which I use on the 30D.

The 12-24 - aka 'Popeye' because of the huge front element - is a bit of a beast. The overall image quality is OK, but it is a little soft at the edges even on a 1.6x crop factor camera. Also you can't use front-mounted filters - there's a gelatin holder at the rear - so no polarisers or ND grads.

Although it can give some impressive perspectives on a full frame camera, and it is the only full-frame zoom to go this wide, I really wouldn't recommend it on anything else - there are better alternatives.

I like the Canon 10-22 but it is dearer than the third-party APS-C super-wide lenses (although I got a voucher with the 30D which knocked the price down quite a bit). It scores over the others by having lower barrel distortion, but I don't think the sharpness is much different from the Tamron, Tokina and Sigma lenses.

I know people with the Tamron 11-18 who get excellent results, so perhaps add this to the shortlist. Tamron QC seems rather better than most others. :)
 
Thanks folks, two more possibilities to consider!

That front mounted filter issue on the 12-24 - would that also include a Lee filter system, as that's something I have and would want to use on whatever lens I end up going for?
 
Sue Fisher said:
Thanks folks, two more possibilities to consider!

That front mounted filter issue on the 12-24 - would that also include a Lee filter system, as that's something I have and would want to use on whatever lens I end up going for?
Click to expand...

The adaptor that is used to fit the lens hood can be used with a croped sensor camera for the sigma 12-24, and it has filter thread for mounting various types of filters. But on full frame camera you can't use it as it creates alot of vignetting. I am not sure how the Lee filters are mounted.
 
Can anyone recommend a good, large, camera shop in Kent/London/southeast, which is likely to stock the Sigma, Tokina, Tamron lenses as well as the Canon one, where I could compare the lenses side by side on my camera and actually come nearer to making a decision?
 
I have the sigma 10-20mm, I find that I cant help but use for landscapes etc. A couple of things I find annoying with it are:
when I use a 77mm screw on polarizer and pull the lens back to 10mm it vignettes the corners. When you bang the contrast up in Photoshop I get a dark surround around the edge of the photo, sometimes this is a nice effect but not all the time. I also found out very quickly that I can't use a filter holder on the front of the lens without seeing it in the picture afterwards!

I still love the thing and put up with the restrictions it imposes, I expect other lenses have the same problems.
 
I'm a Sigma 10-20 owner. I bought the 10-20 over the 12-24 because I wanted something as wide as possible. If I was out and stuck at 12mm wanting just that bit wider I'd have been annoyed. So I chose wideness over edge sharpness.

img_9232_1_0.jpg


Its hardly soft on my copy and that photo was picked out of 20,000 by the BBC recently. It wouldn't have worked at 12mm. I can also mount ND grads on the front or a polarizer.
 
You can use a Cokin P holder without vignetting with the Canon 10-22 (and I guess the others) if you get a hacksaw and modify it a bit so the edges don't intrude into the frame.

IMG_3928.jpg
 
petemc said:
I haven't haxor'd mine and it works fine on my 10-20.
Click to expand...

Using a cokin P holder on my 10-20 as well with no vignetting problems either. Im lucky as well, and have a very good copy of the 10-20, its really very sharp at f/11-f/14. From what i have heard sigma quality issues are very hit and miss though.
 
That's interesting. The sides of an unmodified Cokin P holder intrude quite a way into the frame with the Canon 10-22, and turning it through 90 degrees doesn't really help with a graduated filter. :)
 
Thanks for the interesting info everyone and top pic Pete. Oh dear there's lots to think about. My Lee filter holder looks similar to the Cokin and attaches with an adaptor ring according to the size of the lens. I haven't used it much yet, but incidentally got some vignetting at the corners recently when shooting B/W film zoomed out at 28mm with my 300.

I'm going to London tomorrow so will try to find a decent shop to try these lenses out.
 
Haven't managed to try out the Tokina 12-24 or the Sigma 10-20 yet - not in stock at Jacobs New Oxford St.

Anyone got any further comments about the Tokina 12-24 or the Tamron 11-18? All the reviews I've seen of the Tokina are very good. Would the Tokina work on both my 350D and my 35mm?

Any further info would be useful, thanks.
 
I know someone with the Tamron 11-18 and he is very satisfied. He actually compared it with the Canon 10-22 and thought the Tamron was a little sharper, but maybe he had a bad copy of the Canon lens???

All of these are designed for APS-C sensors so will not cast an image circle large enough for full frame. AFAIK the only full frame zoom in this range is the Sigma 12-24, and that's a bit of a brute. :)
 
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