Ultra Wide Zooms or Primes

[gerry297]

<p>I need an ultra wide zoom for my A700, but Sony doesn't have any primes in the 8-14mm range. This leaves me with a few zoom options i.e. Tokina 11-16 f2.8 or Sigma 8-16 fr4.5-5.6. I like the idea of the 8 - 16 however it will not accomodate a filter due to the curved shape of the front element. A polarizer is a must so that knocks out the Sigma. Does anyone here have any history with the Tokina? Any help here is appreciated. <br>

Gerry</p>

[ricardovaste]

<p>Hi Gerry. My two UWA/SWA lenses are the Samyang 8mm f3.5 fisheye and the Tokina 11-16mm f.8, I do like to use fisheye and I've got some good images with it, but there are times when you need something "straight" and/or fisheye just isn't appropriate. I mainly needed it for weddings, but it'll work equally well with landscapes of course. I chose it over the other options as the 2.8 is pretty vital for weddings, more so in the evenings. If you have any questions about the Tokina, don't hesitate to ask.<br>

Rich</p>

<p>The let and bottom right images here are taken with the Tokina</p>

<p><a href="http://rharris-images.com/Wedding-Photography/Sample-Gallery/13819493_b9HDC#1015304005_E28Sf-A-LB"><img src="http://rharris-images.com/Wedding-Photography/Sample-Gallery/ReceptionEvening1/1015304005_E28Sf-M.jpg" alt="" /></a><br>

(You can click for a larger view)</p>

[jonsjons]

<p>The 11-16 was my favorite lens back when I had a DX Nikon body. I found it to be really sharp corner to corner, though I rarely shot it at f/2.8. It was really cool to be able to stop down two stops and still be at f/5.6, a fairly large aperture. I've read some complaints here about sample variation, but my copy was awesome.</p>

[paul_de_ley]

<p>Looks great Rich! Can you post one or two examples at slightly larger size to give us an idea of the (lack of?) deterioration of sharpness in the corners?</p>

[ricardovaste]

<p>Thanks Paul! Sorry, only just seen your reply. This is as large as they go, I'm afraid, but they're plenty big enough to judge as they've been sharpened appropriately for web viewing - "click" the photo above, then at the top left click "O" for "original", that will give you 850px i think. Worth noting those two shots are wide open, at 2.8, so not optimum aperture, but still very usable. One of the first things i notice when i tested the lens was that it lacks that "stretchy/distorted" effect in the corners that you get with a lot of the other APS-C SWA zooms.</p>