Wide-angle lens dilemma

jammy_c

jammy_c

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I'm in a dilemma, and figured you'd be the best guys to help me decide.

I shoot wedding and studio and need a wider angle lens for both.
My budget is around £400 and I've been looking at the Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 to go on my 5D MK2.
However, I've worked out that for around the same money I can get a 10-20mm Sigma Lens AND another body like a 60D.

So better glass on the current body, or add an additional body to the collection and still achieve the wide angle range I require.

What would you do and why?
 
You do know that the Sigma 10-20mm an APS-C lens? Assuming you know that you'll know that you're going to have to crop the image you take with that lens on a FF body so you've factored in the loss of the 12-16mm range and the reduction in image size.

I think the 12-24mm is a great lens the only drawback being that using filters at wider focal lengths means getting creative with DIY methods. It's just an amazing lens with effectively zero distortion and that incredible wide view.

If you're taking pictures for money I'd imagine you already have more than one camera and that you need a lens that wide.
 
woof woof said:
You do know that the Sigma 10-20mm an APS-C lens? Assuming you know that you'll know that you're going to have to crop the image you take with that lens on a FF body so you've factored in the loss of the 12-16mm range and the reduction in image size.
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I'm guessing he did realise about the 10-20 because he mentioned getting a 60D to go with it

How about Canon 16-35, same sort of equivalent focal length as the 10-20mm on a crop sensor
16mm is very wide on FF, also the cheaper Canon 17-40, still a very popular lens
 
ahhhh… It's a long time since I had a Canon so I thought the 60D was ff.

I still think the 12-24mm is possibly worth looking at as it's such a good lens and of course you can use it on ff and APS-C.
 
I do have a Sigma 12-24mm used on my FF canon DSLR and it is a reasonably good lens. If you need to use filters, it may be an issue but I almost never use filters so not an issue for me. Do be warned that while the performance is very good for visible light, I cannot use it on my Infrared converted DSLR as the IR performance is very poor.

Dave
 
thirded on the tamron, i paid 400 new for mine but that was with about 140 quids worth of trade ins but for the money it is hard to beat as a lens. Only thing i have found i don't like is the autofocus switch when using it on a sling strap seems to switch to manual quite easily so make sure you keep an eye on that when shooting as for weddings you don't want to miss shots
 
A 10-20 on a crop body will give an EFL to a 16-32 on FF (Canons). At wide angles, every mm makes a significant difference. The 12-24 Sigma is extremely well corrected for rectilinear distortion but (as the laws of physics dictate!) the perspective is quite extreme!
 
Thank you for all the recommendations comments and feedback guys it's really helpful. I've actually been looking at lots of reviews and think that I may have overlooked the canon 17-40 f4 which looks good and is also in my price range. My other FF lenses are canon L-glass so will suit nicely.
I guess my real question was: would you buy a FF wide-angle lens to fit your existing FF body...or... Would you buy an APS-C wide angle-lens AND a crop-sensor body in order to give yourself an extra spare body for the same price and save having to switch lenses during a wedding for example.
 
jammy_c said:
Thank you for all the recommendations comments and feedback guys it's really helpful. I've actually been looking at lots of reviews and think that I may have overlooked the canon 17-40 f4 which looks good and is also in my price range. My other FF lenses are canon L-glass so will suit nicely.
I guess my real question was: would you buy a FF wide-angle lens to fit your existing FF body...or... Would you buy an APS-C wide angle-lens AND a crop-sensor body in order to give yourself an extra spare body for the same price and save having to switch lenses during a wedding for example.
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Depends how wide you need?
It's not often people say 'Buying a crop sensor camera for wide angle use'. Usually it's the other way around.
FF 12-24 is a lot wider than cropped 10-22.

Take a look at these examples
https://www.juzaphoto.com/article.php?l=en&article=8
 
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jammy_c said:
Thank you for all the recommendations comments and feedback guys it's really helpful. I've actually been looking at lots of reviews and think that I may have overlooked the canon 17-40 f4 which looks good and is also in my price range. My other FF lenses are canon L-glass so will suit nicely.
I guess my real question was: would you buy a FF wide-angle lens to fit your existing FF body...or... Would you buy an APS-C wide angle-lens AND a crop-sensor body in order to give yourself an extra spare body for the same price and save having to switch lenses during a wedding for example.
Click to expand...

Depends on shooting conditions, not sure how a 60d with a 4.5-5.6 lens would cope with lower light conditions without being too noisy?

Do you already have a backup body? If you do what is it?

T
 
jammy_c said:
Thank you for all the recommendations comments and feedback guys it's really helpful. I've actually been looking at lots of reviews and think that I may have overlooked the canon 17-40 f4 which looks good and is also in my price range. My other FF lenses are canon L-glass so will suit nicely.
I guess my real question was: would you buy a FF wide-angle lens to fit your existing FF body...or... Would you buy an APS-C wide angle-lens AND a crop-sensor body in order to give yourself an extra spare body for the same price and save having to switch lenses during a wedding for example.
Click to expand...


When I bought my 12-24 Sigma, I was still using 35mm film bodies for WA stuff since FF DSLRs weren't available so it had to be an FF lens - I'd tried a 10-20 on my crop body and wanted wider (not to mention less distortion.) Other than the kit lens that came with the D70 (the venerable but very good 18-70) and an 18-200 that I bought as a walkaraound for a 1 series kit, all my Nikon fit lenses have been (and still are!) FF.
 
I would think carefully what your next camera {system} will be and take it from there. Buying an outgoing mount gear may not be the most cost effective route forward. Another inferior camera sounds like the biggest net expenditure.
I would also suggest you may not likely need any wider than 16mm / 17mm on FF unless you are doing highly specialised work.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
I would also suggest you may not likely need any wider than 16mm / 17mm on FF unless you are doing highly specialised work.
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I would not agree. I am not a specialist but a general photographer and I have just checked that 7% of my DSLR shots in the last decade were less than 16mm focal length. The subjects are mainly architecture, inside buildings, landscapes and even the odd portrait where I wanted to exaggerate perspective. (It takes only a few seconds the extract such data from LR).

Dave
 
Tdes said:
Depends on shooting conditions, not sure how a 60d with a 4.5-5.6 lens would cope with lower light conditions without being too noisy?

Do you already have a backup body? If you do what is it?

T
Click to expand...
My backup is a 1Ds mk1 buy I carry that with me on weddings with a 50mm f1.4 mounted. If lighting/iso was a problem I'd use flash either on or off-camera
 
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LongLensPhotography said:
I would think carefully what your next camera {system} will be and take it from there. Buying an outgoing mount gear may not be the most cost effective route forward. Another inferior camera sounds like the biggest net expenditure.
I would also suggest you may not likely need any wider than 16mm / 17mm on FF unless you are doing highly specialised work.
Click to expand...
I shoot in a relatively small studio space and sometimes struggle to get enough in frame even zoomed right out at 24mm.
Likewise at many wedding where I want the whole congregation in shot or inside or outside a venue/church/reception/etc
 
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