[agrandal]

Hello. Looking for suggestions for a budget friendly, good quality wide angle lens. Have a 16-45 already, so I'm looking for something a bit wider. Thanks for the help.

[kenafein]

Nothing cheap. Look at the sigma 10-20.

[c-meier]

Question is, how wide do you want to go? Besides the pentaxformus reviews of wide angle zooms, there was a lenghty discussion on this topic in the other forum recently. The overall conclusion, I think, was that the Sigma 8-16 was the better option.

I personally think I will go for the Samyang 14 (aka Rokinon, Vivitar, etc.). Mostly because it is inexpensive and FF -- can't wait to play with it on my film body.

Note that there are two Sigma 10-20s. I think the older version is better rated.

[interested_observer]

This has to be one of the most asked questions here on the Forum. There is already a lot of information in threads out there, just move your cursor up to the search box and type in "wide angle lenses". Having said that, here are some questions that you really need to ask yourself - as only you can answer them:

• Zoom or Prime? - What type of lens do you think you want?
• Rectilinear (normal) or Fisheye? - You probably are looking for a Rectilinear, but it is always worth asking. Fisheyes are usually 180 degrees wide (Field of View) diagonally corner to corner.
• How wide? - Zooms go down to 8mm (112 degrees FoV), 10mm (100 degrees FoV), 12mm (90 degrees FoV) while Primes are at 14 (81 degrees FoV) and 15mm (77 degree FoV). FoV calculated from Angular Field of View Calculator. Also this question also essentially asks how much distortion are you willing to have? The wider the Field of View the more distortion you are going to get, especially along the edges.
• Sharpness & Resolution - As you put wide angle lenses on your camera body, the shorter the focal length, the more view or information you are focusing on the sensor. The sensor is not getting any larger, so each pixel will be representing an ever larger amount of area. This will lead to reduced sharpness. For instance, a image from a 85mm lens will be sharper than an 8mm lens. However the 8mm lens will have a much wider view than the 85.
• How much do you want to spend? - There is wide angle and ultra wide angle. The wider the lens the higher the price. It takes a lot of optical engineering, fine quality optical glass, and manufacturing techniques to build a wide angle lens. The wider the lens the more view along the edges (top, bottom and sides) it needs to pull into the lens and then bend the light and get it aligned so as to hit the sensor.
• Physical Size - Most of the zooms can be somewhat physically large. The primes tend to be small (for a f4 aperture) and larger for a faster f2.8 aperture.
• Aperture - Most of the wide angle lenses tend to be somewhat slow - f4+. To get something faster you go to a f2.8 prime or a fisheye that tends to be faster.

For the most part your choices are going to be from:

• Pentax - Pentax has the DA 12-24/f4 - a good lens, noted for its well controlled distortion. It is large. Pentax also has 2 primes the DA 14/f2.8 and the DA 15/f4 limited. Pentax also has the DA 10-17 Fisheye. The Pentax lenses tend to cost a bit more than the rest....
• Sigma - Sigma has several zooms, the 8-16, 10-20, and a 12-24. The problem with Sigma is getting a good lens. Once you find a good lens (with out problem), folks really like them.
• Tamron - Tamron has a 10-24 that folks also like. It is well priced, and they appear to deliver lenses that work well out of the box.

After having written all of this - I am going to assume that you are looking for a moderately priced zoom, and your choice will probably be the Tamron 10-24.

I would suggest scooting over to the lens clubs and taking a look at what the various lenses produced in terms of images.

• https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/lens-clubs/86234-15mm-limited-controls-my-mind-club.html
• https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/lens-clubs/117422-pentax-da14mm-club.html
• https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/lens-clubs/33549-fisheye-fever-club-flaun...ye-photos.html
• https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/lens-clubs/84539-sigma-10-20mm-club.html
• https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/lens-clubs/107938-sigma-8-16mm-club.html
• https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/lens-clubs/103557-tamron-10-24mm-club.html

Also, here are a few links on wide angle lenses:

• Using Wide Angle Lenses
• Tutorial: Wide Angle Lens
• 17 Amazing Wide Angle Images
• How to Choose and Use Wide Angle Lenses | PhotographyBLOG
• Nature and Wildlife Photography Articles

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Last edited by interested_observer; 08-16-2012 at 05:58 PM.

[VoiceOfReason]

I can personally vouch for the Tamron 10-24

[kenafein]

I love the samyang 14 that was mentioned, but it is not wide enough sometimes. I ended up selling mine.

[Kaufeetime]

I vote for the 10-24 Tamron




St. Louis Gateway to the West.

[jimr-pdx]

I believe and hope that the Sigma 15mm fisheye will be wide enough for me. In all other ways it's been excellent but I have yet to go out into wide-open spaces to see it perform. I need to look thru my old 16-45 shots and see if I have a yard shot I can duplicate.

Shots like this are not my intended use, but it is fun and impressively wide.

[northcoastgreg]

If you already own the DA 16-45 but still need something wider, I think your best options are either the DA 10-17 or the Sigma 8-16. The 10-17 really goes wide, but it includes strong fisheye distortion, meaning increasingly rounded distortion toward the corners. The 8-16 does not go as wide and still distorts toward the corners, but the distortion is rendered in straight lines. If you're shooting objects with straight lines (trees, buildings, signposts), particularly if important lines are going to wind up away from the center of the image, the Sigma is the lens to get.

[agrandal]

Thanks everyone

[agrandal]

So I am still considering between

Sigma 8-16
Sigma 10-20
Tamron 10-24

I would like it to be the widest possible, but the budget deal looks to be either the Sigma 10-20 or Tamron 10-24. Any major differences in quality? Thanks!

[liukaitc]

I do not know optical quality between 10-20 and 10-24
but build quality wise, sigma 10-20 is a step up from tarmon 10-24. very solid build. feel like a pro lens on my hand.
anyway most sigma lens has better build quality than tarmon lens.

[civiletti]

Question is, how wide do you want to go? Besides the pentaxformus reviews of wide angle zooms, there was a lenghty discussion on this topic in the other forum recently. The overall conclusion, I think, was that the Sigma 8-16 was the better option.

I personally think I will go for the Samyang 14 (aka Rokinon, Vivitar, etc.). Mostly because it is inexpensive and FF -- can't wait to play with it on my film body.

Note that there are two Sigma 10-20s. I think the older version is better rated.

The Samyang 14 has great IQ - Zeiss-like.

[DaveHolmes]

I can personally vouch for the Tamron 10-24

If it's anywhere near as good as the Tamron-17-50.2.8 then I'd second that...

[civiletti]

So I am still considering between

Sigma 8-16
Sigma 10-20
Tamron 10-24

I would like it to be the widest possible, but the budget deal looks to be either the Sigma 10-20 or Tamron 10-24. Any major differences in quality? Thanks!

If you can afford the premium, go for the 8-16. It's a fine lens.