Wide Angle/Ultra Wide Angle Lenses

Hi Ruth, will get later when I get home but the Sigmas 10-20 is a superb piece of kit. It comes in 2 versions fixed aperture of f3.5 or variable aperture f4 - f5.6. I have the variable one for my 500D and can well recommend it. If I am right Rod has the f3.5 version and again am sure he will extol its virtues

Sigma is always a very good alternative to marque lenses and the general user would not really be able to tell the difference

Thanks Dave, I did notice there were two versions of the Sigma lens. My zoom/macro lens is a Sigma, but I haven't got to grips with that yet. I fancy that a wide angle lens will be more use to me.

Most people I know are quite happy with the Sigma 10-20mm lens ( 15-30mm effectively on Nikon APS-C sensor cameras).

as for numbers, besides the focal length in mm, the F3.5 version is a constant maximum aperture of F3.5 throughout the zoom range whist the F4-F5.6 alternative gives a max apeture of F4 at the 10mm end and max F5.6 at the 20mm end. If you're taking your pics outside in the daytime as you suggest, you'll be stopping the lens down in any case.

but, if you find it also useful for doing interiors that might be a bit dim, the 3.5 apeture might come in useful at times, or otherwise, raise the ISO a stop.

I just tried a virtually never used Sigma 20mm F1.8 on my D300 verses a old Nikon kit lens of 18-70mm at 18mm. Zooming in on the images taken, the Sigma is significantly out performing the Nikon and the colours looked nicer too.

my Nikon lens nearest similar to your 10-20mm idea is so horrendously priced, all I'll say it it worked.  The Sigma as motioned by others is probably your best bet.

Thank you Paul. I don't take many interior shots, but when I do at the moment I'm not getting as much in the picture as I'd like, so I am wanting something that handles interiors well when I need it to.

It seems Sigma are coming out on top at the moment. I still need to look at the lenses suggested by Zbigniew, but I'm already getting a much clearer idea of what I'm looking for.

Just going back to your original post Ruth, don't go anywhere 'lens adaptors' as they are usually very cheap and nasty things that screw into the filter thread and will desecrate the quality of your lens. Avoid them like the plague. As to buying 2nd hand, my 10-22 is a used model and has never given me any problems. Be very wary of E-bay unless you really know what you are looking for and the sellers have a very high score and a good selection of photos of the lens and a sensible returns policy. Look for scratches on the rear lens mount and any ' major' scuffs on the barrel and handling rings. A bit of wear is to be expected of course. I would go along with Paul and suggest the f4-5.6 version unless you intend doing any interior shot, but again with Paul just raise the ISO. Tamron as indicated by Zbigniew are also very good but personally don't know much about them. The filter thread on these supr wide zooms tends to be quite large, 77mm in the case on the Sigma 10-20 f4-5.6, but apart from neutral density filetrs I cannot think of any others you would want to use. Polarisers are very ineffectice on very wide lenses as the light comes in at various angle and appears in the final image quite varied across the frame.

If you can find a used 10-20 f3-5 at a good price I would go for it but still weigh the cost against the f4-5.6. Even indoors you will be stopping the lens down to some degree anyway to ensure depth of field. Another point takes us back to one of your previous posts, that of 'Converging Verticals'. The wider you go the more the distortion will be evident but this is simply an inherent parts of ultra wide lenses. The extreme wide angle of the lens can take a bit of getting used to just realising the vast amount that can be captured in the frame. Also when using lenses of such wide angles it is vital to include some relatively strong foregroung interest

Rod - many thanks I've just been having a look at that particular lens on a couple of web sites with reviews, and very good they are too. As you say though it's not cheap, but seemingly well worth the money.

Dave - again many thanks for your comprehensive reply. You've certainly answered my question about the conversation kits, I will avoid them at all costs, I was getting the impression from the reviews that they were trouble. One chap got his on the lens and it wouldn't come off, not a good situation.

As for eBay, I don't think I'd ever commit to such an expensive purchase on there unless I was 100 per cent sure about the seller, and I don't think that's going to happen. It was worth a look though to see what the used prices were like. Used is still a good option for me though looking at the prices of the new ones. I will have to have a search round a few camera shop web sites, starting with Wilkinsons and see what's available.

Thanks again everyone. I can always rely on the good people at POE to offer excellent advice.