[chappers]

what is the lowdown on a wide angle lense??
through very shallow invetigations i have seen the sigma 10-20mm http://www.dpreview.com/news/0502/05021403sigma10-20dc.asp
what else is on the market? any recomendations? anything that is less money, but still good?

i have a D50.

thanks.

[dave]

i use a sigma 10-20 on a D70 its reet good. i got one 2nd hand for a good price recently. mine is very sharp, much sharper than the 18-70mm kit lens. i have heard there are quality control issues in manufacturing, so be sure to test out any copy you get cos it could be wack. there is also the tokina 12-24 for similar money, for me it was a toss up between this and the sigma, and the sigma won by virtue of it being available at the right price and the tokina wasn't. i would have been happy with either. i know johnny brown has got the tokina (i think) so may have some beta on it. everything i have read says both are excellent, and its six-of-one-and-half-a-dozen-of-the-other chosing between them. there is of course the nikon 12-24 but that costs $$$$. and the tamron 11-18 but that looks toss frankly.

[jwi]

Have no idea really, but it looks like one should be able to get some decent pics with the Sigma 10-20: http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualadventure/tags/sigma1020mm/

[Johnny Brown]

The Tokina 12-24 is good. Plenty sharp, only problem is chromatic aberration in the corners at 12mm, but you'd only notice it if you're shooting silhouettes. I doubt the Sigma does any better, to see an improvement you have to buy the Nikon.
For me 12-24 is a more useful zoom range. If I want a wider view than 12mm (18mm 35mm equiv) I'll go for a non-rectilinear, otherwise the distortion becomes more hassle than its worth, you might as well let it go and not squish heads.

[dave]

at the rist of sounding a geek, the sigma seems to be pretty good with CA. Here is a 200% crop (i.e. like looking at a 2foot wide print) from the corner of a frame, at 10mm, wide open:



this is the most extreme example of CA i can find in any of me photos, and it took some finding. i'm not complaining. its about 1-2 pixels wide at most, and you can only see it at the edges, theres fuck all to see in the middle of shot.

the main thing i can see working against this lens compared to the tokina is the lack of f4 across the range. the sigma is a stop slower in theat respect at the long end.

[chappers]

thanks for the advice (and for your time dave rooting through your shots). ive been looking into both on the interweb now, both come out similar in price on fleebay (JB's one slightly more), i will do some more reading on the subject, but judging by pictures that i have seen from both of you, i think that i can trust your advice.
i take it that there is no trouble on the fitting, i.e. one lense will fit a d50 and d70. i just have to specify nikon, not D50.

any recomendations on shops in the UK? are they too new to pick one up second hand that is in good-nick.
when it says international warrenty card on one from Hong Kong, does it mean just that, i.e. can i take it into a stockist in the Uk if it knackers?

[Johnny Brown]

Yeah, just get a Nikon fit, it'll mount on any Nikon camera.

The Tokina lens didn't seem to be advertised much online. I bought mine from harrison's in sheffield. I think its always worth handling a lens before you buy, its very rare i buy on specs alone. In my experience most shops will make a good effort to match web prices, especially if you factor in postage. Paying 10 or 20 quid extra is well worth it to buy from a real person you can return it too should there be a problem.

[dave]

i got the sigma 2nd hand off http://www.mifsuds.com/

the international warranty thing depends on whether that manufacturers UK distributer will honour it, otherwise you're looking at posting a lens back to HK if it flakes. for example with a Nikon lens Nikon UK is under Nikon Europe, so if you buy a european market lens from france then nikon Uk will honour the warranty, but they won't honour a lens from asia or USA. i don't know what the UK distributor of sigma and tokina is. if they wont honour then you're relying on the retailer warranty, that's assuming they stay in business long enough to honour it  .

personally I wouldn't have thought it worth the hassle to buy from HK, especially cos zooms tend to have a fair bit of give in quality control issues so a brand new one could be wack straight out of the box if you're unlucky, or be fucked in transit. If you buy mail order from the UK at least theres generally an approval period, and cheap and quick to post back if theres a fault, you can phone up and speak to someone, or at worst you're never more than 4 hours drive from whatever shop it is! I would personally rather buy second hand from the UK rather than brand new from asia even if the latter is cheaper. or buy like JB says in a man-to-man shop in the highstreet if you can afford the full whack.

good luck.

[Rob]

I wandered out of a camera shop with a D80 under my arm a few months ago (damn those marketeers) and was about the ask the same question. I need to find a shop with samples of both lenses to fiddle with before I buy one.

Reviews >> http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=298&sort=7&cat=37&page=1

[Rob]

A wide angle zoom comparison by some fella >> http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/digital-wide-zooms/comparison.htm

[chappers]

thanks again guys. that review is pretty good rob, thanks.