what's the consensus "best" wide angle (sub 18mm) lens?

thinking of picking up a Tokina 11-16mm f2.8, but a few friend Pro photographers are recommending a few others as well.

any input is appreciated.

ps- camera is a Canon 7D

I like the Canon 10-22. Pick the one you like, keep in mind photography is an individual exercise and regardless of what others like, if you don't like it you won't be happy.

Depends on what you will be shooting with it. If light isnt an issue I had the Sigma 10-20 4-5.6 and LOVED it. Was super sharp and just an all around great lens for a decent price (+ or - $400 used). There is a 3.5 version, but I have no experience with it.

I have read wonderful things about the Canon 10-22, but just didnt have the budget for it as it is a specialty lens for my use.

My advice, if light is not an issue and it will be something you will use a lot, go with the Canon 10-22. If you are just looking to play with an UWA and get a feel for it and again, have plenty of light go with the variable aperture Sigma. There is about a $200 price difference between the 2 used, so knowing your budget might help too.

You really can not got wring with the Tokina, Canon or Sigma's. They all are very good. It mostly boils down to what price/features you are looking for.

I was looking at the canon 10-22mm, but I wish it had a slightly better f stop... I'm too used to 2.8's and such

BucketMan wrote in post #12616173
Depends on what you will be shooting with it. If light isnt an issue I had the Sigma 10-20 4-5.6 and LOVED it. Was super sharp and just an all around great lens for a decent price (+ or - $400 used). There is a 3.5 version, but I have no experience with it.

I have read wonderful things about the Canon 10-22, but just didnt have the budget for it as it is a specialty lens for my use.

My advice, if light is not an issue and it will be something you will use a lot, go with the Canon 10-22. If you are just looking to play with an UWA and get a feel for it and again, have plenty of light go with the variable aperture Sigma. There is about a $200 price difference between the 2 used, so knowing your budget might help too.

excellent info Bucketman...thank you!

ssabripo wrote in post #12616182
I was looking at the canon 10-22mm, but I wish it had a slightly better f stop... I'm too used to 2.8's and such

I know the feeling, my original lens line up consisted of the 17-55 and 70-200, both 2.8's.

But lets be real here, 2.8 is really not fast enough for indoor shots, although the 7D can do great things at higher ISO's, it is my opinion is still not fast enough.

What will you be using the lens for? This question along with your budget will narrow your choices down considerably.

I got over the variable aperture issue and bought the lens and absolutely loved it. It wasnt my most used lens, but it did a great job and did come in handy a few times where my 17-55 was not wide enough.

Bucketman says f2.8 isn't fast enough for indoor usage. Remember, you can handhold a wide angle considerably longer than a tele lens. I like my Tokina 12-24 F4. Works fine indoors. As a bonus the 12mm exhibits a lot less distortion than the 18-55 canon kit lens at 18mm! Some of the other uwa zooms have complex distortion that is hard to correct. Here's a picture on my living and dining room from my computer desk.

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I own both the Tokina 11-16 and the Canon 10-22. The Canon's advantages are the extra focal length range and its stunning resistance to flare. The latter makes it excellent for shooting outside. The Tokina's advantage is f2.8 - which helps when shooting dim interiors where flash isn't an option.

i was in a similar situation not long ago. i decided on the canon 10-22. my reasons: 1.) good sharpness 2.) flare resistance 3.) i didn't see the constant 2.8 aperture as being fast enough inside so as to take the negatives of the tokina (all lenses have pro and cons - one of which for me was that tokina doesn't have a service center in my whole country)

with that said - i am quite pleased. I can't say that the sharpness rivals my 100 macro or the 24-105, but I am more than pleased with it. The colors are really nice and the functioning (AF, size, weight) is great. Granted, this is a review of 1 vs 1...so it is less important for your comparison...so i apologize....but I wanted to throw in my 2c

good luck!

Dont dismiss the sigma 10-20 4-5.6. Its an excellent lens!

Reasons to buy each one:

Tokina
-If you want a 2.8 UWA. Some might argue that a UWA doesn't need fast aperture since you want more DoF but the 2.8 has come in handy for me so many times. And this lens is sharp even at 2.8.
-If you plan to use it as a dedicated UWA. Sometimes I like to walk around with just 1 lens mounted, and the range of this lens is really limited and hard to use as a walk around vs canon or sigma.
-Build is fantastic and price is very reasonable (if you can find one)

Canon
-Best range for a walk around and the variable aperture is decent.
-Very flare resistant. My tokina flares a lot but doesn't really bother me.
-The most expensive one out of the bunch but if range is more important than the 2.8 of tokina and money isn't of concern then buy this.

Sigma 4-5.6
-If you don't want to spend too much