Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 DG HSM II

mackguyver wrote in post #12880462
Alas, I don't have a 5DII. I have been waiting for the 5DIII for a long time and as my wife told me tonight, I just need to give up waiting and buy a 5DII. I'm sure I won't regret it.

I wish my wife would tell me to buy a 5DII......

Sure, I'll do that when I get home. I took a couple with the sun in the corner and as you'll see when I post them, you will get 2-3 small sun spots, but no whole-frame flare washing out the entire photo. I also took at least one looking right into the sun and it was a similar result but with a much larger flare in the sunlight itself but still very respectable. I also took some close ups to examine the bokeh which seems very smooth but I'll need to take some more shots to be sure.

Here are the two flare photos - one from the side and the other directly into the sun. I'll get out and do a proper shoot tomorrow morning and post the results.

^
Acceptable, thanks.
Now listen to your wife and buy a 5DII.

thanks for the posts. the corners are supposed to be pretty sharp on tokina, I am surprised if this is sharper. I think this is a lens which makes primary sense on a full frame, as the canon 10-22 is optically very good, a little cheaper, and takes filters. and of course the tokina is a 2.8. the weakness with the original was the corner sharpness on full frame, which was make worse by the field curvature. all that said, I had the version one, and got some good images out of it, just not sharp to the corners.

thanks Ian!! looks pretty good on a 7d. listen to your wife, i just picked up my 5d mk2 because i couldn't wait any longer for the mk3. sell it when the mk3 comes out.

i'm looking forward to a full-frame review of this lens.

The weather has not cooperated the last several days for a proper shoot, but here's another sample showing the Sigma vs. Tokina at f/11 and 12mm. The focal lengths aren't identical (the marks on the lens don't match the actual FL), but this photo shows much better performance on the Sigma vs. the Tokina. The Sigma has better resolution and contract, particularly in the leaves. 100% crop from the left side of the frame:

I am *really* looking into this lens... I can't wait to see some 5D2 samples with this lens. If the corner performance is better then the 17-40, I am sold... (which should not be hard to beat, but at 12mm I wonder!)

Someone on the DPreview forum in the 1D forum area posted comparison between the old and new lenses and the full frame corner performance seems much better

mackguyver wrote in post #12902987
Someone on the DPreview forum in the 1D forum area posted comparison between the old and new lenses and the full frame corner performance seems much better

Hand held shots, manual focusing, and then he backtracked and said he is not sure if the difference is as pronounced. but yes it looks promising.

Why oh why only 6 aperture blades I don't like the look of that star burst. I'm very much looking forward to FF sample pics though!

i have the cash ready for this lens but just want to see some FF shots from this lens to be sure..

The 10-22 only has 6 aperture blades I believe as well, which suprised me. I actually like the effect it gives on highlights, though...

I do wonder why they limit on aperture blades in UWA it seem.

Invertalon wrote in post #12916147
I do wonder why they limit on aperture blades in UWA it seem.

The Tokina has 9 blades and gives a nice sunstar.

Here are some overdue sample images. The lens performed superbly and had just the slightest CA on a couple of photos, which is great for my stuff in Florida where landscape photography always means the subject is too dark or the sky is too bright, and the CA torture test of leaves and sky occurs in most shots. The color, contrast, and sharpness are excellent, and it was a dripping wet morning (it rained during the night) but the lens had no issues with it.

Aucilla River Sinks Trail - Jefferson County, FL
All Photos © 2011 Ian Anderson, All Rights Reserved. Repost with Permission Only

they are great. would love to see them on full frame.