Near future UWA switch from the best Canon/Tamron lenses to manual alternative brands :-)

It's been a while since I bought/sold lenses as I almost had my perfect setup.
When Canon released the 16-35 f4L IS I felt the UWA shortage was only temporary solved.

But this was the well known 'commercial Canon trap', releasing first a perfect f4 and later only a f2.8 III to sell more lenses.
Some (like me) couldn't keep waiting and bought the f4 temporary, awaiting an affordable sharp f2.8 uwa.
F2.8 is always better (I shoot a lot in dark circumstances, startrails,...)

Now I'm starting to appreciate more and more speciality lenses, the cheaper alternative brands are helping to solve the uwa (affordable) shortage.
Some collect a bit dust, but when you screw them on it's directly 'wow'.

On the wide i'm considering selling my 16-35f4L IS + Tamron 24-70 2.8VC and replacing them with :
-Venus Optics 12 f2.8 Zero D (out this summer)
-Samyang/Rokinon 12 f2.8 fisheye
-Sigma 35 1.4 Art (back again)

The FOV / fastness seems a lot more exciting than my mainstream standardzooms.
I won't buy the Samyang/Rokinon 14 2.8 with moustache distortion as the Venus optics will kill this one soon.

The Venus Optics 12 2.8 on FF will be a lot wider (crops possible if necessary) and I prefer compact lighter primes.
This will be my future base lens, as I use a UWA 80% for dark urban locations.
I would use the fisheye for partyphotograpy or some wow shots of special architecture.
I could also buy the Samyang/Rokinon and defish, but that would be extra work again and probably not the same.

So unexpectedly i'm waiting for Venus Optics to change my wide setup.
Probably after the summer when it hits the market in Europe...
Not much people know this brand (I didn't know it either at first), just like the "Irix" brand which also has some uwa's.

I never thought I would switch to manual focus lenses, but time has come after seeing those samples
https://www.flickr.com …2/sets/72157664​200113000/

I'm interested in seeing what the Venus 12/2.8 offers and at what price. Also the rumored 16-35/2.8 III: what will it deliver in the coma department and again at what price.

Just noticed the cheap manual brands also start with AF now
http://petapixel.com …50mm-f1-4-14mm-f2-8-sony/

i am also considering the VO 12 f/2.8 but i will wait for some reviews to come out first, i don't think previous VO lenses lived up to the hype and right now the rokinon/samyang 14 is still the best UWA (bang for the buck) lens out there mustache distortion or not. but with that said the canon 16-35 f/4 is also a fantastic lens that is hard to beat with the one caveat that it is f/4.

bob

For me wider than the 16-35 f4L IS would be great like that 12 2.8 Venus Optics.

I do urban photography inside dark buildings and each extra mm (and 2.8 instead of f4) is welcome.
As the Venus Optics will be manual it will probably be a lot cheaper than my current Canon, so i'll have some cash left maybe to buy a fisheye on top of it.

My friend has the Samyang 14 and he's glad there's a correction profile for each picture in LR for that moustache distortion
He says AF is not necessary on a UWA, except if the subject is closer than 3meters.

CanonYouCan wrote in post #18046283
My friend has the Samyang 14 and he's glad there's a correction profile for each picture in LR for that moustache distortion
He says AF is not necessary on a UWA, except if the subject is closer than 3meters.

• On a FF body, 12mm f/2.8 has DOF zone of 2.2m - 23.0m when focused at 4m,
  
• but only from 1.8m - 7.9m when focused at 2m.
  
• and DOF zone from 1.1m - 2.2m when focused at 1.5m
  
• Hyperfocus is at 4.8m, with DOF zone of 2.4m - 605m.
  

Your thread [OP] giving me the reason why i went with Tamron 15-30 f2.8 instead of Canon 16-35 f4IS, i know that i need f2.8 more than IS, and this Tamron itself has VC which is equivalent to IS, i don't care how bad it is compared to Canon IS, but to have 2.8 and IS and nearly 15mm is no brainier, i couldn't resist, in fact i was going to buy 16-35 f2.8L II but this Tamron won the reviews besides Canon f4 over Canon mkII and Nikon 14-24, what else to ask for then?

But the VO 12 f/2.8 has vanished, even from their website

that caveat is necessary for some people believe me

bulbous front element does not work for me because I use filters most of the time. so I chose 16-35L f4 IS (best) + 14L II

This lens has never been on their website yet...
Would be launched via Kickstarter this month (don't know what this actually is, a website or something).

Guru_rb wrote in post #18058331
But the VO 12 f/2.8 has vanished, even from their website