I'm primarily a landscape photographer, so I've been concerned that my
Canon EF-S 18-55mm (300D kit lense) is sharp enough at 18mm. I did a lot of
research, using Fred Miranda and
especially PhotoZine.de websites.
Fred Miranda's site is based on the user-experience of photographers, where
PhotoZine is more technical/test based.
Basically, it came down to the best wide angle lens I could get for
less than $400. Initial research of lenses came down to these three:
- Canon EF 20mm f2.8
- Sigma 20mm f/1.8
- Tokina 17mm f/3.5 AT-X pro
Each lens reviewed really well, with minor pros and cons to each. Unfortunately
the street price of the Canon was a little more than I wanted to spend, so it
came down to the Sigma and the Tokina. They scored identically at PhotoZine.de.
The main difference was the fact that the Sigma had a 82mm filter thread, which
is a huge jump in price for any filters. The Tokina had a more modest 77mm.
So after many nights of flip-flopping between the two, I settled on the Tokina
and ordered it from Adorama, who had a decent price (I called them to see if
it was in stock, and the quote on the phone was $30 cheaper than their
online price, so that was pleasant to find.
I was bored so I thought I'd verify that I had made the right decision, so
I did some sample shots, same view, tripod-mounted with a cable release.
The results are below:
Which would you pick? Top or Bottom
Well if you picked the top of the two sets, you're with me. Unfortunately
for me, that's the Canon EF-S lens. Which means I have a lens to return to
Adorama. Here are more comparisons:
Here is the source image that I used:
Edge
Center
