Lens recomendation for my budget

[davidh6781]

It's my birthday soon and family asked what I want and the only I really want is a lens, a grip.

What would recommend for lens with a small range like 10 - ?? Or similar with a budget of £400

Would you also buy a genuine grip or a copy one?

 

[John Mc]

I can't see what brand your camera is(on iPhone app) but have you a decent telephoto? 70-200 sort of thing? But a sigma 10-22 would come in budget, and it's a good lens from what I've played with and tested.

 

[specialman]

I take it you want an ultra-wide lens for landscape stuff? Sigma 10-20mm seems a popular choice because it's one of the cheapest out there, much cheaper than the Canon version. There are two versions of the Sigma, an f/4-5.6 version, and a constant f/3.5 version - that latter is newer and more expensive. Think the variable aperture version is about £360 and the f/3.5 version priced at over £400. Used you'll get the former for closer to £300 probably.

Tokina does a 12-24mm f/4 version, which is arguably the sharpest UWA out there for the money; my version was on a par with my Nikon 12-24mm f/4, which was tack sharp. I picked up a used version for £250 - I think new they go for about £440.

Tokina also does an 11-16mm f/2.8 and a 10-17mm - regarded as very good but not sure on the prices; look on www.camerapricebuster.com to see what they go for.

My advice if these are the kinds of lenses you're after; don't think that because a lens isn't as wide it won't be any good.... 2mm at the wide end is a step backwards in realworld terms so don't just think that it has to be 10mm or nothing. From a personal POV, I didn't like the variable aperture version of the Sigma - it had wierd distortion that wasn't confined to the edges on both copies we had at work. Over a DPS the images looked awful, but a lot of people like this lens. The Tokina 12-24 is amazingly good value, especially if you get a used one, and the 11-16 is supposed to be the nuts for sharpness too.

As for the grip, the 3rd party grips are actually pretty good these days

 

[Gadget_Daddy]

I would go for a copy grip most people I know use copies me included and never had any issues

 

[jonneymendoza]

I would go for a copy grip most people I know use copies me included and never had any issues

The copy I had was no good. As soon as I turned it on it disabled all my camera buttons minus the shutter button. I went off and bought a legit canon one and it's been solid as a rock so far

 

[davidh6781]

I can't see what brand your camera is(on iPhone app) but have you a decent telephoto? 70-200 sort of thing? But a sigma 10-22 would come in budget, and it's a good lens from what I've played with and tested.

Its a canon 40d, I have an ok tele lens, don't get me wrong not the best but does my needs, and generally never use it.

I will have a look for some reviews on the sigma 10-22 also is this capble of full frame also?

I take it you want an ultra-wide lens for landscape stuff? Sigma 10-20mm seems a popular choice because it's one of the cheapest out there, much cheaper than the Canon version. There are two versions of the Sigma, an f/4-5.6 version, and a constant f/3.5 version - that latter is newer and more expensive. Think the variable aperture version is about £360 and the f/3.5 version priced at over £400. Used you'll get the former for closer to £300 probably.

Tokina does a 12-24mm f/4 version, which is arguably the sharpest UWA out there for the money; my version was on a par with my Nikon 12-24mm f/4, which was tack sharp. I picked up a used version for £250 - I think new they go for about £440.

Tokina also does an 11-16mm f/2.8 and a 10-17mm - regarded as very good but not sure on the prices; look on www.camerapricebuster.com to see what they go for.

My advice if these are the kinds of lenses you're after; don't think that because a lens isn't as wide it won't be any good.... 2mm at the wide end is a step backwards in realworld terms so don't just think that it has to be 10mm or nothing. From a personal POV, I didn't like the variable aperture version of the Sigma - it had wierd distortion that wasn't confined to the edges on both copies we had at work. Over a DPS the images looked awful, but a lot of people like this lens. The Tokina 12-24 is amazingly good value, especially if you get a used one, and the 11-16 is supposed to be the nuts for sharpness too.

As for the grip, the 3rd party grips are actually pretty good these days

Yeah I was after something different to get different effects without going fisheye as thats not my thing.

The sigma sounding like a good option and noticed this after doing a couple searches, would you say the f3.5 would be a better option or is it not really noticable between the two?

Never thought of tokina, certainly something I will look for reviews on.

It doesn't have to be 10mm I was just using that as a starting point, will be looking at the tokina range.

Whose third party grips would you go for?

cheers

I would go for a copy grip most people I know use copies me included and never had any issues

cool who would you recommend, notice link delight do some good options?

The copy I had was no good. As soon as I turned it on it disabled all my camera buttons minus the shutter button. I went off and bought a legit canon one and it's been solid as a rock so far

I have been looking for a gen item but they seems to be like rocking horse **** or I'm just not looking right lol

 

[John Mc]

Take a look at some mate, the f3.5 is a good option, unfortunately the 10-22mm isn't compatible with full frame body's. Is that something you were looking for?

 

[davidh6781]

not as such no, I was thinking ahead as would like to upgrade to full frame. but its not essential just a thought.

 

[Alastair]

not as such no, I was thinking ahead as would like to upgrade to full frame. but its not essential just a thought.

I think most people think that, but if it comes down to it.. you can sell the EF-S lenses when you sell the crop body.. You can't be sure that if you did go full-frame that it wouldn't be a complete change of system.

The Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX is a good lens* on the 40D, and £300-370 new according to CPB. I read some reviews of the f/3.5 version when it came out, haven't read any recently, and none of them seemed to rate it over the variable aperture version.


*ok.. it can get soft when you start close-up the aperture, but with a lens this wide you shouldn't be closing it up beyond f/11 very often (if at all) anyway.