Lester, if you have the dollars to burn also consider the Nikon 14-24 G with Novaflex adaptor. I have it (on a 5DII) and it outperforms the Canon 14 L prime at f/2.8 by a fair margin (in terms of sharpness, coma and vignetting in the corners).
It's an awesome lens... the sharpness of a prime with the versatility of a zoom. Only downside I've noticed is some off axis flare when moon is around due to the large front element.... and I guess no slot for front filters.
One other thing to consider is future proofing yourself. If you have or move to a full frame camera you'll want a lens also compatible with that.
Many thanks, Mike, Chris, Dave and Collin for your replies. Thanks for the offer Chris. I have just done a search and now leaning towards the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8, with reviews saying one of the sharpest in the range even compared to the Canon 10-22. http://www.tokinalensreview.com/ Only down fall I came across is the CA that can be removed in processing.
Thanks Dave for your info on fisheye lenses, think I will stick to the rectilinear lenses.
Colin I will check the price on that lens as your results are impressive.
Thanks Carl, I just re-read Colin's first sentence; "if I have the dollars to burn", as I am a farmer and what do all farmers have in common = huge overdraft. Trying not to burn anymore $$ than I have to.
Unless someone can talk me out of the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 I may do a phone call tomorrow morning.
One other option...cheaper this time . Samyang 14mm. If you can snag a good copy it's as sharp as the Nikon, but has more barell distortion and flare issues. "Good copy" is the key though. I went through 5 before I found a good one. Quality control not up with Canon and Nikon.
Excellent for a comparison Mark, with some very interesting results. Even some of the more expensive fixed lenses don't out perform the zooms. I must say Colin's Nikon 14-24 did perform very well, the best I saw.
This is from my Tokina 11-16 at 16mm f2.8. Unimap solved. You can see as it gets towards the corners the constellation lines don't quite hit the stars but it is not far out. Sorry about the amount of compression it needs to get under 200KB.
I agree that the 14-24 Nikon is the best wide angle zoom that I've seen or heard about. Alexch on here has it and produces some great images. Ask him for his thoughts.... I hired this lens twice from a place here in Adelaide and it was stunning. It's the next lens I'll purchase! Second hand on ebay (if you want to risk it) it $1600-1700 that I've seen. The only thing is that it's for an FX Nikon camera body (ie. full frame camera). The Canon 5D Mk II is full frame too. If you use the lens on a normal crop sensor body (not the high end semi-pro or pro bodies) then the image that the lens produces will be approx 1.5 larger than the camera's sensor so it wastes a lot of what it captures, and it will be the equivalent of a 21-36mm lens.
I use the Tokina 12-24mm for all my wide field images and have good results. It's not perfect but none are. It does have CA on the edges but as people have stated that can be corrected. I haven't had any problems with it at all. I assume the 11-16 would be similar. My Tokina is also very sturdy and feels solid - something that is important to me - but I don't know about the Canon, Sigma etc. For cost wise I would recommend one of the Tokina's. Ken Rockwell rates the Tokina 11-16 as #1 also! And it takes 77mm filters, so if you have any that size already you're laughing!
My vote would be for the Tokina 11-16 for your budget.
Thanks Andrew and Wayne for your input to this thread. And Colin think I will give the Samyang a miss, as I without a trained knowledge/eye would need a good quality lens to compare to.
I have come across a Sigma 15mm F2.8, but it has the word "fisheye" that scares me a bit and I have not seen any comparison tests on this lens.
I am still at a loss as to why there are not more fixed lenses that are fast and sharp at 10-15mm and a good price. As to my thinking a fixed lens should be easier to make with less moving internal lenses to yield the best possible view.
Thanks Terry, I had not thought of going that way about it. I will do some checking on how sensitive the 5D is compared to the 20Da. Do you or others know how the 5D performs for astro imaging compared to a 20Da?
Hi Lester, I have the Tokina 11-16 f 2.8 and love it. I am mainly doing timelapse and widefields with it and am very happy.
Here is a sample taken on new years morning with it.
I got mine from Crazy sales about 9 mnths ago and if I remember I think it was aprox $640 and delivered within a week!
No Liz, I have put it on hold for now. I seem to be getting on okay with Photostitch to put together 2 frames and getting in wide field that way. What Terry suggested about a full frame camera with my 24mm F1.4 lens has appealed to me. With my 1.6x crop sensors in both present Canon cameras the 24mm actually = 38.4mm. So to go the way of a Canon 5D MK ll would gain me a lot wider FOV where the 24mm would be 24mm. I know this option would be a lot more expensive, so have put it on hold for now.
For anyone wanting to shoot wider FOV, with 1.6x crop sensor type camera, the Tokina 11-16 IMO is as good as it gets for the money.
Hi all, after a few days looking on the net at wide field lenses and toing and froing, I have ordered the Samyang 14mm f2.8 today. I did a full 360 in the last day from the Canon 16-35 L f2.8 after seeing the Samyang results with only 1/3 the price. Other than the moustache distortion of the Samyang in many of the other tests it came out better than the Canon. Also considered the more expensive 14mm f2.8 Canon, but the cheaper alternative won me.
Just hope I get a good copy, as the only downside I keep hearing is the 5 lenses Colin had to try before getting a good one. Prices of this lens vary from over $800-less than $400.
Samyang 24mm F1.4, Samyang 35mm F1.4, Nikon 24mm F1.4 (rated the best in its class), Nikon 28mm F1.8G (newly released not in shops yet - about $700 which is cheap for Nikon).
Canon 15mm fisheye and use software to correct for distortion.
I have already got a Canon 24mm f1.4, so was looking for the wider 14mm. Yes I looked at the fisheye Greg, but thought that may be a bit too adventureous for me.
. Samyang 14mm. If you can snag a good copy it's as sharp as the Nikon, but has more barell distortion and flare issues. "Good copy" is the key though. I went through 5 before I found a good one. Quality control not up with Canon and Nikon.
