Should I sell my Tokina 12-24mm? Tell me your wide angle lens comparisons!

pepper44

I love the fun effect of the Tokina 12-24mm lens I have, and I love the ability to shoot wide angles...but I keep finding that it's very soft and slow in even the slightest bit of low light.

For example yesterday we had a beautiful sunset and I wanted to use it to shoot my 3 year old in a huge open field, but the photos came out so soft in the low light. (I have a Canon 40d and I was shooting in full manual mode.)

The Tokina 12-24mm is the only wide angle lens I've had. Is it just this lens, or is the softness a general thing that comes with using wide angles? I've noticed it's not super sharp in bright light either most of the time. It's like the lens has sweet spots you can hit or miss.

Would the Canon 10-22mm be sharper in low light? I'm considering selling my Tokina if there's a sharper wide angle equivalent.

bgarland

I just picked up the Canon 10-22 last month before my trip to N AZ. Here's an example using the 10-22. This was taken around 6:30 AM in low light before the sunrise.





So far it seems sharp to me and like the wide angles it opens up to me.

pepper44

Wow it looks a lot sharper than the Tokina 12-24mm would get!

stirinthesauce

It has been a few years since I have owned my old Tokina 12-24 but the copy I had has been my sharpest lens I have ever owned. It was definitly as sharp or sharper than my 70-200L. As for low light focusing, it was a tad slow but wasn't soft IME.

Of course, my experience is obviously different than yours.

insanefred

Tokina 12-24 is a very good lens. You may have a bad copy. Tokina is not known for their QC.

But if you do shoot Canon, the Canon 10-22 is better IMO.
As for sharpness in low light, nothing beats a sturdy tripod!

pepper44

Hmm...I wish I knew someone with the same lens to compare mine to it in person. If I did get a bad copy that would be sad!

I really love this lens. Maybe I'm just not used to the whole wide angle thing yet. Perhaps wide angle lenses aren't great for shooting fast moving children in low light. (I do have a great tripod, but carrying it around while managing small children is too much for me to handle!)

ziggy53

Super-wide zooms have to be "really" sharp and contrasty to look good because they typically take in sooo much view in a scene. Post-processing can usually help to create the "pop" in an image, but strong, contrasty light can work too.

Do you have any examples to demonstrate the problems you are experiencing, preferably with full EXIF and a link to the full-sized original?

tsk1979

maybe your copy is not sharp?
I recently got a tamron 10-24, and the copy is sharp, with the trademark tamron corner wooziness.
However, dpreview review got worse sharpness results than my copy.
You could have the case of a not so sharp copy. Try getting a different 12-24 and see if that works?

pepper44

I've been playing with it some more recently, just around our house and such...

These are typical shots from the lens in anything other than bright sunlight. There are, of course blurrier ones, but I haven't saved any of them! I didn't do much editing to them other than very slight color adjustments. They were taken at 1200 ISO and f/4. I don't know how to link the exif from smugmug?



Original: http://eingefangen.smugmug.com/Other/April-2010/11712412_uJACo#835260970_UHfAm-O-LB



For this one the camera was resting on the fence. I'm sure it would be more clear with a tripod, but I can't carry one around with my kid too!



Original size: http://eingefangen.smugmug.com/Other/April-2010/11712412_uJACo#835260669_Dohsx-O-LB

Maybe I'm just expecting too much out of it as a wide angle lens? I really, really wish there was some where around here to try out other lenses in comparison. I don't have money to rent them...

kcui

If you don't mind the limited focal range, I would check out Tokina's 11-16mm f/2.8

It has excellent reviews (some say one of the best UWA lenses, arguably better than the Canon 10-22mm). I believe it goes for around $600. I got mine on Adorama after being put on a waiting list for a week (it is backordered everywhere).

esc2476

I have been very happy with my Sigma 10-20 which I have owned for about 3 years.

Here is an example with it:

Icebear

Hmmm . . . for what it's worth, my Tokina 12-24 is sharp as a ginsu.

davev

Your samples that you put up sure have a weird color to them.
Iso 1000, 1/30, and wide open may not be the best shots to tell if the lens is working right.

Have you tried it in good light?
Stop it down some, see it that helps.

Some post work was done to it, but this was taken with a Tokina 12-24 on a 30D.