Sigma 8mm/canon 10-20mm

[Calvin19 0]

So, i have a 400D digital, (XTI) and i am useing a canon 17-85mm and i love it, but i am greedy and want something a bit, wider. I am also thinking about getting, eventualy a full frame body. so, the glass needs to be able to fit both.

body will def be Canon. 25D?

what do you think of the new sigma 8mm? anyone have it? im not a huge fan of circular, but i can get a useful shot out of the 170 degree viewplane.

I LOVE the 10-20, its beautiful. but spendy.

maybe i just posted this cause im bored. but i do want other peoples opinions of the two lenses.

[LouDiamond 1]

If your goal is to move to a 5D then save your money on going to a 10-22mm or an 8mm Sigma. For crop cameras they can work but they look like shit on the 5D. I have a 5D and I can tell you the Sigma 10-22mm (and other WA lenses designed for crop cameras)vingnette so badly that you'd be insane to put it on a 5D. It would be like putting Z rated tires on a pinto. If the 5D or full frame is the direction you want to go, and you want WA, start looking at prime lenses in the 24-50mm range as they are wide enough for skydiving. Anything smaller than that will require you to be so close to your subject that it will be impractical for skydiving. When it comes to picking out lenses for the 5D (or other high end camera) don't think you can scrimp on a lens and still get a quality shot. Glass quality is even more relevant on high end cameras. Personally, I have found the Canon 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 II USM and the Canon 50mm f1.8 mk I to be ideal for skydiving on the 5D.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[Calvin19 0]

ok,

so how about if i just want a better wide angle for my 400D? is the canon 10-20 good in your opinion?

I looked at it at the shop the other day, but have not seen shots that come with it.

for BASE and skydive, the 17-85 i have works pretty well. will that glass be good for a 5D?

[LouDiamond 1]

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is the canon 10-20 good in your opinion?

If you can afford it, yes it is a good lens. If it is more than you care to spend the Sigma 10-20mm is pretty sharp as well.

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the 17-85 i have works pretty well. will that glass be good for a 5D?

My guess is that you will use that lens from about 28mm and up as 24 and lower is so wide that you will need to be very close to your subject to get a good picture. If you're shooting nothing but landscapes or architecture 24mm and lower may be what you find works for you on the 5D.

A good review on lenses can be found on Fred Miranda

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[Calvin19 0]

so... on the full frame sensor, below 24mm would be to wide?

even for skydiveing helmet?

180 degree viewplane is the goal here.

i forget, will canon's 10-20 even be accepted on the 5D body?

my goal is to have wide WIDE stuff.

[LouDiamond 1]

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will canon's 10-20 even be accepted on the 5D body?

I am not positive as I have not tried it but I believe it will as my Sigma 10-20mm fits both my 5D and my 300 rebel.

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my goal is to have wide WIDE stuff.

I think you are setting yourself up for a let down if you want to have a 180 shot in skydiving using the 5D as you will have to be about a foot away from your subject to even be able to see them in the frame to consider it a useable picture.

Here are shots using the 50mm prime, and the Sigma at 10mm and 20mm. TV is a 60inch approximately 4ft 6 inches side to side. Distance from the camera to the tv is 10 feet 9 inches. Notice the vignetting on the 20 and 10mm shots

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[Calvin19 0]

thanks for the examples!!!

your right, i dont want 180 degree viewplane for skydive shots, but i want to shoot stuff super close on the ground, like say a paraglider launching from the top of a mountain, so the subject would be about 20' away, and i could still get the whole mountain scene in the shot.

i have gotten some really nice shots with my 17mm/400D, so i guess the 10mm would be fine and i dont know if i would want a 5D on a skydive.

[FrancoR 0]

Have you considered the 8mm Peleng lens?

Franco

If it does not cost anything you are the product.

[BrianM 1]

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i forget, will canon's 10-20 even be accepted on the 5D body?

Canon doesn't make a 10-20. I suspect you are thinking of the EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5. As an EF-S lens, no, you will not be able to mount it on the 5D. The EF-S lenses will only mount on bodies with APS-C sized sensors (i.e. the 1.6 crop factor cameras), and only on bodies newer than the 10D. In other words: the Rebel, Rebel XT, Rebel XTi, 20D and 30D.

"It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

[Calvin19 0]

thank you, i had a feeling it was a different peice for the older.

and i was talking about the 10-22 sorry about that.

[vdschoor 0]

Unless you want to do something really extremely wide, the 8mm is out.

I have one for my 20D, and i have used it maybe 10 times.. and only for real specialty shots..
I think the 10-22 will do the trick for you on a 400D, the 8mm is so wide you have to be on top of your subject and distortion is HUGE

Iwan

[RossDagley 0]

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If you can afford it, yes it is a good lens. If it is more than you care to spend the Sigma 10-20mm is pretty sharp as well.

Thats an interesting statement.

I've used both, and had different results. The 10-22 canon is a (reasonably) sharp lens - the sigma is not. It's dire - at best. Generally speaking, I've found sigma lenses to be less than perfect from a sharpness point of view. Especially at the fringes of a shot.

A good comparison can be found here:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/lenses/Canon-10-22mm-test.shtml

[LouDiamond 1]

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I've used both, and had different results.

I knew that was coming. You can't help but hear the same thing for just about any lens on camera sites(it's always the "soft at the edges", "not very sharp" comment,even for L lenses). Some people get bad copies and some people I think are just over critical sometimes. However, a bad lens will produce a bad picture no matter how good the camera body. I think cameramen sometimes, like skydivers, have favorite brands that they rally behind be it for good bad or just to be stubborn. All one has to do is read a few reviews over at Fred Miranda to see that even if a lens has an overall rating of a 9 out of 10 (like the canon 10-22mm), there will be a handful of guys who think its the worst lens bar the kit lens out there and they swear it to be the truth. Personally, the Canon 10-22mm feels too plastic to me for such an expensive lens. Conversely, the Sigma 10-20mm has a heftier build feel to it and score of 8.4 out of 10. Given the price difference between the 2 lenses, the Sigma for the average guy is not a bad option if the Canon is too expensive. Again, just my opinion.

I will say that the Canon is the opticaly better lens of the 2 IMO but guess what, I own a Sigma 10-22mm as do others who skydive with it. The only reason I choose it over the canon is for the reason given in the luminous landscape article you linked to. I couldn't justify putting a lens that expensive on a 300D when I knew I would be moving to a full frame camera later on and I didn't think the lens would survive in a skydiving environment based on its build.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[RossDagley 0]

Oh don't get me wrong - I'm not bashing Sigma in general - I own a couple of Sigma lenses myself. I would just say that (as a whole) canon build quality is higher and more consistant. With Sigma, certainly in my experience, it can be a bit hit and miss. You'll probably get a good lens - but you *might* get a bad one...

For the record, I've got a Sigma 24-70 on my 20d and I'm very happy with it for day-to-day shots. I've also got a 16-35L on a 1dn. Obviously, there's no comparison.

I guess you've hit the point tho - money. If I was jumping and wanted the best price/performace, I'd probably go Sigma if push came to shove - I haven't jumped it but I guess I'd rather have a 300XT with a sigma on board than a 1d with L glass for day-to-day jumping.

As you say - if full-frame is going to be part of your photography future, the sigma 10-20 is the *only* choice - the EF-S mount 10-22 canon simply wont fit a full-frame DSLR.

[ptwob267 0]

The 15mm fisheye is amazing and comes with built in hood making for some really nice crystal clear images even when looking at the sun

[Laszloimage 0]

Some pictures to compare...
Here's one picture with the Canon 14mm L ($1700) and Canon Rebel XT camera, another with the same camera and the Sigma 15mm fish eye ($370 at the time when I bought it), and one ore with the Sigma but combined with the 5D.
We tested out some lenses and we had to conclude that the quality difference is pretty much the same between Sigma and Canon lenses. The advantage of the Canon is when you using full auto setting (AE and AF) in a low light or in a diffcult light condition it will perform slightly faster and more accuratelly.
I've been using AF for the attached pictures but everything else was manual. As the images are showing the light is "pretty difficult" but since the exposure was set manually which means the apeture (affects on focusing) never changed made AF lot easier for the lenses.
...of course I use lot of manual focus too set based on the Depht of Field Calculator.
-Laszlo- www.laszloimage.com

[theskydiveguy 0]

Thanks Lazlo..

Can anyone post a picture taken with a 1.6 crop camera (300 - 400d) comparing the 10-22 (@ 10mm) and the Sigma 15mm fisheye?

I am on the fence trying to figure out what to do? I have the 10-22 but I am thinking of the fisheye for eventual upgrade to full frame?

Thanks

~Jeff

[Stumpy 256]

FYI everything below the 5d is a crop in the canon range. I have a 15mm but not the 10-22. I will ask a round see if anyone here has one so i can do acomparison for you

Never try to eat more than you can lift

[theskydiveguy 0]

Thanks!

~Jeff