wide angle lens..Tokina or Sigma?

[icassell]

I have had the Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 for a couple of years and it is one of my favorite lenses. It is well built and IQ is excellent. I did a side to side with the canon 10-22 when I bought it, and didn't feel the Canon was worth the considerable extra $$. It spends most of its time at about 10mm as I have a 17-50 f/2.8 for the longer focal-length imaging.

Monument Valley ... Sigma 10-20mm

 

[McNugget801]

Took this last weekend with my Tokina 11-16 and Canon Xsi.

Here comes the snow - San Rafael Swell, Utah. on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[dcmountaineer]

Took this last weekend with my Tokina 11-16 and Canon Xsi.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/summit42/4114370521/

Very nice.

How often do you find yourself at 2.8? I see some utility in be able to go wide open, but not sure if it's really needed. thoughts?

 

[Lyncca]

I can't speak about the other lenses, but I have the Tokina 12-24. I really like it; especially for the price.

 

[McNugget801]

Very nice.

How often do you find yourself at 2.8? I see some utility in be able to go wide open, but not sure if it's really needed. thoughts?

Thanks
I should say that I was dead set on getting the sigma 10-20, I have a friend who has one and I had been using fairly often. Then I got the chance to shoot the Tokina 11-16 and was blown away... it was no contest. The Sigmas was nice but the Tokina was clearly the obvious (and more expensive) choice for me.

I do quite a bit of shooting at night (light painting, long exposures, star trails ect.) and the F/2.8 is totally worth it.

A few 2.8 night shots form last months trip to Arches.

 

[dcmountaineer]

Very nice.

How often do you find yourself at 2.8? I see some utility in be able to go wide open, but not sure if it's really needed. thoughts?

Thanks
I should say that I was dead set on getting the sigma 10-20, I have a friend who has one and I had been using fairly often. Then I got the chance to shoot the Tokina 11-16 and was blown away... it was no contest. The Sigmas was nice but the Tokina was clearly the obvious (and more expensive) choice for me.

I do quite a bit of shooting at night (light painting, long exposures, star trails ect.) and the F/2.8 is totally worth it.

A few 2.8 night shots form last months trip to Arches.

Arches sure is great, isn't it? Nice work.

Pardon my ignorance here, but what benefit does the wide open at f/2.8 provide when shooting long exposures on a tripod? Does f/2.8 provide a diff effect from f/5.6?

 

[McNugget801]

Pardon my ignorance here, but what benefit does the wide open at f/2.8 provide when shooting long exposures on a tripod? Does f/2.8 provide a diff effect from f/5.6?

The more light you allow into the lens the more stars you're going to pick up.
to add insult to injury all those shots were taken at ISO1600

 

[dcmountaineer]

So tell me something: why is the 11-16 so rare? It's out of stock at almost every major retailer...