What Wide Angle (Nikon fit)?

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pscolling

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Paul Colling
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Done a bit of searching around on the forums and I'm still confused as to which Nikon mount wide angle to open my wallet for.
I think I've got it down to either the Sigma 10-20 the Tamron 11-18 or the Tokina 11-16.. The Tamron and Tokina seem to be held in higher regard than the Sigma but the Sigma seems to come up more often in the classifieds..
Good old Ken Rockwell reckons the Tokina is the one to get, but I'm never really sure whether he talks sense or not...some of the stuff he writes appears to be utter cobblers!

Is there anything else out there that I should be considering and does anyone know where the best place to pick one up would be (apart from the TP Classifieds... I keep checking there!)... I guess my upper limit is around the £350 - £400 mark.

Many thanks,

Paul
 
Personally I prefer the Tokina 12-24 over the Sigma.

For some reason the Tokina is now generally more expensive then the Sigma (it used to be the other way round).

The 11-16 does sound awesome,but you may find only a 6mm zoom range limiting.
 
I do like the idea of the 12-24...gives a bit more focal range, however it seems to be £100 more expensive new than the Sigma!
 
Tokina 12-24 here as well no problem with sharpeness at all build quality is what swung me over to this one. I have only handled the Sigma 10-20 and the Tokina is better built
 
Tokina 12-24mm here too...

A lens straight outa the top drawer.

Great build quality, tack sharp too. Lovely and smooth zoom/focusing. :)

When I was searching through various reviews etc the Tokina seemed to get the nod over the Sigma...

I`d certainly try and go for the Tokina but I understand £100 is big difference.
 
pscolling said:
I do like the idea of the 12-24...gives a bit more focal range, however it seems to be £100 more expensive new than the Sigma!
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Unless there's more than 1 model of Tokina 12-24 (f4 one?) Warehouse Express are advertising it at £349 (cant check @ work)
Paul
PS - From the reviews I've read it'd be the one I'd go for too when funds permit
 
There are two versions in Nikon fit.

One without a motor, one with for D40, D60x and D40x. This has been out since middle of January. Not seen it in the flesh, but it seems to have a red stripe on the lens barrel.
 
puddleduck said:
There are two versions in Nikon fit.

One without a motor, one with for D40, D60x and D40x. This has been out since middle of January. Not seen it in the flesh, but it seems to have a red stripe on the lens barrel.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that p-duck (y) (I see the OP is a D80 owner) ... Paul
 
The reviews I had read (on nikonians) gave it to teh Sigma over the Tokina. Not sure if the reviews are still available now with their changes to membership policy.
 
I don't know how much faith you have in Ken Rockwell, but here is his review: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/digital-wide-zooms/comparison.htm

Its a shame that the price has increased so much, almost forces you into a Sigma.

The Tokina seems like a fun lens to me, I suspect that the Sigma will be exactly the same.

I went for Tokina for the perceived extra robustness, but it feels quite heavy.

Even though I am just starting to learn how to use it, I love it.

(y)
 
jiberjaber said:
The reviews I had read (on nikonians) gave it to teh Sigma over the Tokina. Not sure if the reviews are still available now with their changes to membership policy.
Click to expand...

I believe Nikonians did have a review saying that if you could not afford the Nikon, to get the Tokina.

Every review I have read about the Sigma suggests that it is great value for the money.

Win/Win situation really.
 
IF you're planning on going full frame, go for the Sigma 12-24. Not quite as wide as the 10-20 on a crop sensor but significantly wider on FF!
 
there are some lovely lenses out and about

the Nikon 12-24 is a cracker IMO, as is the Sigma 10-20 having owned both of them. I've just got a 15-30 and hope to use that over the weekend and put it through its paces.

other available are a Tokina 11-16 (this there is one for sale), Tokina 12-24, Sigma 12-24, Tamron 11-18

The sigma can distort quiet abit at 10mm but its easily sorted in PS as i found out the other day when testing and correcting
 
The Sigma 12-24 is supposed to be a very nice lens, with less distortion than than any of the others.

I've been trying to source one for a while, just to have a play.

No way of using any sort of filters though, which is something to consider.
 
PaulBoy said:
Unless there's more than 1 model of Tokina 12-24 (f4 one?) Warehouse Express are advertising it at £349 (cant check @ work)
Paul
PS - From the reviews I've read it'd be the one I'd go for too when funds permit
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The £349 price is Canon fit... its £439 for the Nikon version... humph! :bang:

Would ideally be looking to pick up one of these second hand to save a bit of cash... I've also got designs on a 100mm (ish) Macro lens should funds allow!

I'm unlikely to go Full Frame in the next few years so I'm not too concerned about that... Just can't make my mind up whether the extra couple of mm is worth the drop in build/image quality for the Sigma.. The Tokina 12-24 looks like my best bet but it is out of my price range new and I can't find the 11-16 anywhere at a sensible price either... it would have to be second hand for either of these!

Camera Box (never heard of them!) have the Tamron 11-18 listed at £269 which seems good value but it isn't in stock! It doesn't seem to get particularly sparkling reviews either...

Help!
 
pscolling said:
The £349 price is Canon fit... its £439 for the Nikon version... humph! :bang:

Would ideally be looking to pick up one of these second hand to save a bit of cash... I've also got designs on a 100mm (ish) Macro lens should funds allow!

I'm unlikely to go Full Frame in the next few years so I'm not too concerned about that... Just can't make my mind up whether the extra couple of mm is worth the drop in build/image quality for the Sigma.. The Tokina 12-24 looks like my best bet but it is out of my price range new and I can't find the 11-16 anywhere at a sensible price either... it would have to be second hand for either of these!

Camera Box (never heard of them!) have the Tamron 11-18 listed at £269 which seems good value but it isn't in stock! It doesn't seem to get particularly sparkling reviews either...

Help!
Click to expand...

Shame on the Canon / Nikon price difference - When I was looking around I found the best price at Simply Electronics but again they seem to have at best mixed feedback & more than a few comments about being 'grey imports' etc - They have the following listed:

Tokina 12-24mm f4.0 AT-X PRO (IF) DX (Nikon mount)
The all-new AT-X 124 AF PRO DX lens is Tokina's first lens designed for use exclusively on Canon and Nikon Digital SLR cameras having an APS-C sized sensor. This lens gives the Di ....
Click for more info
£334.95
Out of Stock

When I looked a few days ago they had the lens 'In Stock' in the Canon mount so unless they're complete scammers they can get gear apparently - Worth a bit more research? Or get your largest bargepole out? Maybe someone here will help?

Paul
 
puddleduck said:
The Sigma 12-24 is supposed to be a very nice lens, with less distortion than than any of the others.

I've been trying to source one for a while, just to have a play.

No way of using any sort of filters though, which is something to consider.
Click to expand...

Yes there is! On a Dx (or other APS-C sensor) body, you can remove the central pinch cap from the bucket cap that slips over the hood. This leaves an 82mm filter thread. On FF and 35mm bodies, you can use gelatin filters in the holder that sits behind the rear element - Sigma provide a template for cutting gels to fit.
 
Thanks, I look into that with fresh interest then.

I'm pretty sure any attempt to use a filter on the 82mm thread is going to cause any attachments to show in the frame on full frame? Its impossible with the Nikkor 14-24 and this is even wider!

The rear filter option I'm not convinced by - no way to rotate a C-Pol really for a start?
 
puddleduck said:
Thanks, I look into that with fresh interest then.

I'm pretty sure any attempt to use a filter on the 82mm thread is going to cause any attachments to show in the frame on full frame? Its impossible with the Nikkor 14-24 and this is even wider!

The rear filter option I'm not convinced by - no way to rotate a C-Pol really for a start?
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I have the Sigma12-24 - Seriously wide on FF! :)

You can use the cap thing to screw the 82mm filters into from 22mm onwards which to me is a little pointless! Even then you may have to go upto 24mm to totally get rid of filter vignette. In DX Mode, it goes to about 17mm before vignetting.

I'm not convinced by the real filter option either. To be honest, I wasn't a filter user when I used my Canon 10-22, so it is likely I will remain so with the sigma and not be bothered about it.
 
AndyBorzi said:
I have the Sigma12-24 - Seriously wide on FF! :)

You can use the cap thing to screw the 82mm filters into from 22mm onwards which to me is a little pointless! Even then you may have to go upto 24mm to totally get rid of filter vignette. In DX Mode, it goes to about 17mm before vignetting.

I'm not convinced by the real filter option either. To be honest, I wasn't a filter user when I used my Canon 10-22, so it is likely I will remain so with the sigma and not be bothered about it.
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Thanks Andy - very helpful!

I love to use my ND Grads,Grads and C-Pols.

I bought a HUGE 105mm C-Pol for my 14-24 but thats not going to work which is a pain in the bum, to be frank!
 
Just thought I'd update this thread seeing as I'm now the owner of a Sigma 10-20mm! Was holding out for a Tokina but the Sigma came up first at an unmissable price (especially considering the current price-rise situation:nuts:) on the classifieds... despite the wildly varying opinion on the lens I figured it was worth the risk at £240 and it looks like I've landed a nice sharp copy... so many thanks to Whitey for that one! (y)

Just got to find the time to get out and have a play now.. If I'm feeling really brave I might even post some results!!

Many thanks all.

Paul
 
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