Wideangle zoom: persuade me not to buy Sigma 8-16 :-)

[Andrew_McP]

I've neglected the wideangle end of my imagination for too long, but visiting a few Cathedrals last year made me realise there are times when nothing else will do.

I started out looking at the Samyang 8mm, because IME (according to analysis of my photos anyway) a zoom always ends up getting most of its use at the extreme end, and the Samyang has a halfway decent reputation. As a hobbyist lens, obviously... no Pro's going to use it, but then I'm no Pro.

The Sigma is considerably more expensive, but offers considerably more flexibility, and almost overlaps with my kit lens, which is tempting.

But then you start looking at things like the Tokina 11-16, with its equally tempting f2.8, and wondering if the extra light grab might be more useful for internal shots than the 8mm. At that end 3mm is a huge margin though, even allowing for correction in Lightroom, which means a little cropping.

Decisions, decisions. Still, it stops me wondering whether to order a 70D from Digital Rev for £850 and play the import duty lottery.

 

[Andrew_McP]

Thanks guys; that's useful feedback. Just to confuse myself even more, I've spotted a Sigma 10-20 now at a very good price. I can see I'm just going to end up going round in circles until -- as usual -- I get cheesed off with my indecision and just buy the first thing under my mouse pointer.

 

[Andrew_McP]

Lots of useful food for thought there guys, thanks. I think my final decision may well depend on which of the Ebay auctions I'm watching stays at reasonable prices. Though reasonable prices and Ebay seldom go together.

One thing which helps me though is that I'm not really interested in the 'normal' lens range. My walkabout lens has been the 100-400L for a long time, and I enjoy identifying and isolating small windows onto the world, rather than taking standard views.

With a wideangle I'm definitely looking to go as far the other way as I can without entering nasty fisheye territory. So range and light gathering is probably less important than getting as wide as possible without losing quality. So I think 10 is about as high as I'm prepared to go at this stage... though bargain hunting may make me more flexible.

In theory my future setup will be 70D with 100-400L, and 40D with the wideangle. But at the moment that's pretty theoretical.