Wide lense for 550d

[V8A*ndy]

Wife wants a couple of lenses for Xmas.

As I know very little about this i've kinda narrowed down a

Sigma 10-20mm f3.5 EX DC HSM Lens

Or Canons own 10-20mm.

Obviously the former is a fair bit cheaper and I could buy her a prime lense maybe as well with the saved cash but am I buying the right thing?

She has the kit lense and a Canon 70-300mm already so i'm looking for some suggestions for moving her forward.

She mostly takes pics of cars/motor sport, the kids, landscapes and flowers.

[Ireland]

I have that Sigma and personally I reckon it'll be no use for you for sports, everything will look too far away.

Have a look on YouTube for reviews of it.

I have to say that I do like the lens and it's ideal for close-up (not macro) stuff but I wouldn't use it for that.

[londonagent]

looks like you've got the motorsport covered with the 70 - 300, I've got the sigma 10-20mm f/4 - 5.6 and it is a good landscape lens, a lot of people on here also rate the Tokina 10-17mm lens highly.

[V8A*ndy]

londonagent said:

looks like you've got the motorsport covered with the 70 - 300, I've got the sigma 10-20mm f/4 - 5.6 and it is a good landscape lens, a lot of people on here also rate the Tokina 10-17mm lens highly.

Hmmm just realised I would probably need a lense that would be compatible with a full frame camera if she ever upgraded.

Starting to get complicated now. Would those lenses you mentioned do both?

and yes I got her that 70-300mm last year and she has had some cracking results with it.

[londonagent]

The sigma is for crop sensor only, not sure about the Tokina. I also have the 17-40 F/4 L lens which I bought in anticipation of going full frame, it is a lovely lens and it is pretty much my main lens now as it is so sharp, although the 10-20mm gets used in the day for interior photography as it gets in pretty much most of any room I'm photographing.

Edit to add an example from the 10-20mm


IMG_8414 by iainsr, on Flickr

and from the 17-40mm


Waterloo Sunset by iainsr, on Flickr

Edited by londonagent on Monday 19th November 17:43

[RobDickinson]

Know the sigma 10-20 f3.5 is a poorer lens overall than (and more expensive) than its smaller brother the 10-20 f4-5.6. It is faster if you need it.

IMO you cant beat the canon 10-22 for all round use. Look at the tokina 11-16 f2.8 too

[Seight_Returns]

I think Rob's nailed it - they be your choices. There's a Tamron UWA is well but everyone seems to dissmiss this as a distant last place.

Trouble with these threads is that plenty of people will have experience of one of these lenses - but it's rare to find someone who's had several and can make an objective assesment.

Personally I've got the Canon 10-22 and I think it's brilliant. By far the sharpest and best colours of my lenses.

[V8A*ndy]

Guys thanks so very much for the input.

Think I will play safe and opt for the Canon (sure she can sell it if she ever goes full frame) though I suppose I really need to buy a hood for it as well?

I see there is some unbranded hoods on Amazon around a tenner.

[Seight_Returns]

Yes you certainly need a hood - UWA more susceptible to flare than anything else. Hoods for UWA lenses are funny looking things - by necessity they're very shallow and broad to keep then out of the field of view - this makes them a bit of a pain to carry and store, you can't reverse it on the lens and forget about it when not needed as you can with most hoods - but that's just the way it is.

I got a Chinese knock off from Ebay for less than a tenner and it's a bit tight to fit but otherwise fine. Mine is branded "uWinka" which I find mildly amusing.

I think your wife will enjoy it - it's not a lens I use all the time but probably my favourite for the IQ and the unique perspectives you can get from it. Not the tool for capturing on track action as noted above, but she'll get some great paddock/pit lane shots with it when she takes it motor racing.

Edited by Seight_Returns on Tuesday 20th November 18:54

[Dr Slotter]

I have Canon's EFS 10-22 and echo the comments already posted. Definitely my most used lens. Get a propoer flash and it's great for indoor stuff too.

[CommanderJameson]

Another vote for the 10-22mm.

Great bit of glass.

Example (from a 550D too):


Dawn Rays by Peter Whysall, on Flickr

Edited by CommanderJameson on Tuesday 20th November 20:18

[northernmonkeybo]

I've bought two lenses recently - Canon 28mm prime and Sigma 10-20mm 3.5 for my 50D - Only got the Sigma last week so not had too much chance to play - The thought process is to have the perfect two lenses to go travelling with... - So far I think I've nailed it...!

[Kermit power]

I have the Sigma 10-20 4.5-5.6 and I love it.

I wouldn't even contemplate spending the extra £95 for the Sigma 3.5, never mind the extra £225 for the Canon lens. The vast majority of the shots I'll ever take with it are between f8 and f16, so there's no need for the slight speed increase, and I can't see image quality being bettered enough by either of the other lenses to make it worth the extra money.

If I had a budget of £600 to spend on wide angle photography, I'd go for the cheaper Sigma and spend the change on a good quality lightweight tripod or something.

[tenohfive]

I've got the Tokina 11-16mm and I love it. I'd show some photo's but I'm a great example of how having the right kit doesn't make you a good photographer, but when I do some close it's a very sharp lens.

I went through the same decision making process a while back and settled on the Tokina over the Canon but the consensus seemed to be that you can't really go wrong with either (the Sigma got too many hit and miss reviews to get a proper look in, and I wouldn't want to regret not spending the extra.)

Sod it, here's one example - ignore my poor PP:


On Lingmoor Fell by tenohfive^, on Flickr

[Kermit power]

tenohfive said:

the Sigma got too many hit and miss reviews to get a proper look in, and I wouldn't want to regret not spending the extra.

From what I've seen, this is down to quality control rather than anything intrinsically wrong with the Sigma. You see lots of examples of people getting lenses replaced once or even twice before they get one they're happy with, but once they do, they're ecstatic with them. I was lucky, and got a good one at the first time of asking.

This to me simply suggest buying new from somewhere like Amazon with a good returns policy, but since you can do this for much less than the second hand cost of the Canon glass, it's not really a problem.