[Mystic]

Hi, yesterday i've bought a lens DA 12-24mm f/4 ED AL [if]
and what i've noticed..

CAs..
terrible vignetting when with a hood...

is this lens any good at all?

can you give me any tips on how to use it? when are the situations, that i need to attach that hood?
how to eliminate the vignetting if with a hood..?

how does this lens stand in comparison with DA*16-50mm or sigma 10-20mm (optically)?


what are the conditions and situations in which this lens gives best results?

thanks for your tips, tricks and ideas.

[Canada_Rockies]

Compare your results with the tests I ran on my Flickr site (in my sig). I don't find it to be at all bad, in fact it is quite good. Vignetting is much reduced by stopping down a bit. I found with mine, even when the sun was directly in front. I always use it with the hood to fight flare because of the huge angle this lens takes in. CAs can be bad with backlit subjects, yes, but for $150 or so DxO Standard will just about eliminate the flaws.

To put this in perspective, I have never met a lens with this wide an angle that does not have flaws with vignetting and chromatic aberrations. I include the top of the line 21mm a friend of mine used on his Leica, with hood. Keep in mind that the angle of view of 12mm is the equivalent of 18mm in film terms. That is one huge angle of view.

Yes the lens has some CA problems but I don't find it a deal breaker. I've found that I can correct this in post processing. To me, there is no comparison between the 12-24 and the Sigma 10-20. The 12-24 is not quite as wide, but the color, rendering, and build quality are much superior. I used the Sigma 10-20 extensively on my K10d for over a year and it performed well enough. It's a fun lens. But when I upgraded to the the higher resolution K20d the Sigma's flaws became apparent. That's when I gave up and bought the 12-24. You should keep in mind that the lens will give you the best sharpness at f5.6 at 12mm, and at f8 at 24mm. Stop down anymore than that and you will lose quality due to diffraction. You should study Photozone's resolution tests for this lens and then, (like any lens) really get to know it before you think about switching.

[aleonx3]

This is one of my favorite go-to lens especially when travelling because of the wide-angle application. I don't have any issues with vignetting and always have the hood on (to cut flare and protecting the lens front element). I don't find any issues with wide-open at either end; the wide focal lengths (12-24mm) makes this lens very easy focus and the images are sharp.

[pdo]

This is my go to lens for landscape but I do shoot portraits with it when outside though. I never notice vignetting just because I never shoot landscape wide open, and I always have my hood on.

[Marc Langille]

You never mentioned what you normally photograph or under what conditions you are shooting.

It's a landscape and large object photography lens of choice. I have many examples that back up it's excellence.

Regards,
Marc

[RawheaD]

This is my go to lens for landscape but I do shoot portraits with it when outside though. I never notice vignetting just because I never shoot landscape wide open, and I always have my hood on.

Not to belittle the lens; I love my 12-24, but isn't that pretty obvious vignetting in your second photo?

[ivoire]

Its a very good lens for architecture and landscapes. You didn't mention indoor or outdoor shooting, so I'll recommend that you us the hood outdoors only. I noticed some vignetting when using the hood indoors . I also had the sigma 10-20mm and it was fine with the k10, but not as good on the k20.

[Wheatfield]

Hi, yesterday i've bought a lens DA 12-24mm f/4 ED AL [if]
and what i've noticed..

CAs..
terrible vignetting when with a hood...

is this lens any good at all?

can you give me any tips on how to use it? when are the situations, that i need to attach that hood?
how to eliminate the vignetting if with a hood..?

how does this lens stand in comparison with DA*16-50mm or sigma 10-20mm (optically)?


what are the conditions and situations in which this lens gives best results?

thanks for your tips, tricks and ideas.

Don't use it wide open, if you can help it.
My 12-24 has a bit of decentering, but not enough that I'm sending it for repair.
A lens of this FL range with the K-mount flange to focal plane distance is going to be just about impossible to get perfect, if you need perfection, you will have a lifetime of disappointment.

Shot with the 12-24.

[Mystic]

maybe it's defective? but without a hood there is not such thing..
it's f/5.6 12mm i believe you do notice strange vigneting in borders all over..
it's a jpeg straight out of camera..

[deadwolfbones]

Not to belittle the lens; I love my 12-24, but isn't that pretty obvious vignetting in your second photo?

Looks to me like it was added in pp, but I guess he can tell you better than I can. ;]

[Canada_Rockies]

Looks to me like it was added in pp, but I guess he can tell you better than I can. ;]

That looks very much as if it were added with a frames plug in. For one thing, no lens vignettes with a straight line along the borders of the image.

This is shot directly toward the sun at 12:44 MST 2008-03-13. DA 12-24, 1/250 @ f/6.7 ISO 100. Latitude is 49 degrees and a few minutes North. The Elk River runs SSW from this viewpoint. What appears to be vignetting in the top right of this image is the sky darkening as you look more to the North. Frankly, the quality of the image is astounding for a 12mm lens, let alone for a zoom at that focal length setting. Mr. Pentax got this lens right.

A full size jpeg with all EXIF data is here

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2290/2331422893_a770c580be_o.jpg.

[Mystic]

well, thank you all for your suggestions, but, i assure you i did not add any borders or something.. and experience that strange vigneting, only with a hood on. maybe my hood is bad.. is it possible to mount it incorrectly? whay might couse such a strange vigneting in the sides of the image

[Canada_Rockies]

well, thank you all for your suggestions, but, i assure you i did not add any borders or something.. and experience that strange vigneting, only with a hood on. maybe my hood is bad.. is it possible to mount it incorrectly? whay might couse such a strange vigneting in the sides of the image

I just duplicated your vignetting. I put the PH-RBJ 77mm hood from my DA* 16-50 on the DA 12-24. The 12-24 takes the PH-RBI 77mm hood. A quick way to tell them apart is that the hood for the 16-50 has a polarizer window in it. The longer petals on the side of the RBJ caused darkened sides in my image.

[Alfisti]

Is your hood clicked on properly? I used to get that too until i discovered the hood needs to click into place.