Help me choose one for interior shots: 11-24mm, TS-E 17mm, Sigma 12-24mm or EF 16-35 f/4 IS

Long story short, I recently sold my EF 17-40mm due to lack of interior / architectural job last year.
But now I started to receive potential interior shoots & I kinda regret selling my 17-40mm.

Now I'm planning to get a new UWA lens to replace my lost 17-40mm, preferably something wider than / at least as wide as 17mm.

I initially wanted to buy the new EF 11-24mm. But the Australian MSRP here is full retard.
I inquired one local shop about trading, basically I have to trade one of my 5D3 + 70-200mm f/2.8 IS v1 + 24-105mm + a 600EX-RT to be able to trade with EF 11-24mm. **** THAT.

I still want to buy EF 11-24mm in the future, but at the moment I'm looking for alternative lenses.

Second choice is TS-E 17mm. Perspective control will help a lot reducing the time needed on post. Sure if I want to shoot wider I can shift & stitch. But I seldom use narrower focal (which is where 17-40mm was excel at).
Third choice is Sigma 12-24mm. Far cheaper than EF 11-24mm with variable aperture. But I really concern with the corner sharpness when stopped down.
Final choice is EF 16-35mm F/4 IS. Review says excellent corner sharpness, plus same filter size 77mm. I can re-use my 77mm CPL from my 17-40mm. But there are times I want to go wider than 17-16mm, which can only be done by stitching with this kind on lens.

The thing is, three out of four lenses above does not accept conventional filter. If I ended up getting one of those three, I have to invest on the UWA filter system like Wonderpana.

Any suggestion on what should I get?

? Used 17-40L by now

After the jobs done and get paid, whatever you want then

Virsago.
Prices here in the US are so low now on new 17-40 L's, buying used may or may not be worth it.
Since you are familiar with it.
The new 16-35 f/4 L IS would be my choice. IS incorporated may lead to more versatility.
Having the TS-E 24 L II, you know it is more specialized and the work flow is a slower pace.
Tough choice, Yes
Wrong choice, No.

What body are you using for the job?

I use 2x 5D3.

samyang or bower or rokinon (etc) 14mm f2.8

it's a manual lens - so pre-focus using hyperfocus at f5.6 or f8.

it's arguably sharper than the 14mm Canon L - and its barrel distortion is cured easily in lightroom or ps.

one of the best optical bargains, imho, out there.

daleg wrote in post #17459267
samyang or bower or rokinon (etc) 14mm f2.8

it's a manual lens - so pre-focus using hyperfocus at f5.6 or f8.

it's arguably sharper than the 14mm Canon L - and its barrel distortion is cured easily in lightroom or ps.

one of the best optical bargains, imho, out there.

Nah that moustache distortion is what keeps me off Samyang 14mm.
Sure you can download the correction profile for ACR but it's not a 100% correction.

16-35 f/4 L IS makes the most sense to me. Same filter thread as you said. Cost is reasonable and FL is similar to what you had and are familiar with.

Heya,

16-35 F4L IS makes the most sense to me for this purpose.

Down the road, maybe the 11-24, or possibly the 15-30 depending on how wide you really think you need to go.

Very best,

You can't beat a tilt-shift for architecture, and the Sigmas can't match Canon's quality.

Still, unless you're shooting in uber cramped spaces, I'd go with a 24mm TS-E. The ultra wide angle will make the interior spaces look larger and more spacious than they really are and your clients might get complains from their own clients that the house wasn't as large as it looked in the photos.

Alveric wrote in post #17459493
I'd go with a 24mm TS-E.

This

Alveric wrote in post #17459493
The ultra wide angle will make the interior spaces look larger and more spacious than they really are and your clients might get complains from their own clients that the house wasn't as large as it looked in the photos.

Plus you get squatty looking doors and doorways.
TS-E17 with a TC1.4 would also work

my opinion would be to go with the 17tse as a first choice mainly because of the excellent IQ, the 16-35 f/4 also has very nice IQ but not as good as the 17tse and the perspective control really makes it more useful than you would think. i don't think the Sigma 12-24 is in the same league as far as IQ goes but i have never owned it. my photog buddy has the 16-35 f/4 and it is every bit as good as they say it is so if you have to settle for that you will still be very pleased I'm sure.

i know you have already ruled out the Rok 14 but i have to say that it is one of the funnest lenses i own and the IQ is remarkable at any cost.

bob

I am a full time real estate photographer and I shoot 5/6 homes a day, interior and exterior. I have shot 1000 buildings already, and I can give you two tips:

- Versatility
- Wider is not better (at all)

I shoot everything with just one lens. The 17-40L, and it is one of the best and most versatile lenses you can get for this job. I shoot that lens the whole day (except some 360 panoramas which are made with the Sigma 8mm.) And absolutely don't gain anything going to a better prime. It will reduce the workflow EXTREMELY much and no one is ever going to see any difference in quality. So I would pick the zoom over a nice TS-E anyday. If you don't tilt your camera you don't need a TS-E at all. And if you tilt it, software is just as good.

The second thing. For interiors you absolutely don't need to get the widest possible. My 17-40L is already too wide. Yes you can fit a lot in the frame in 17mm. but everything is looking too big. It will give the client a surrealistic big view on the building. The client is going to be disappointed when he visits the home in real life. For interiors 18-19-20mm. on the wide end is perfect, wider than that is just not good. So I would skip the new Canon 11-24 and Sigma as well. The 24-35/40 on the long end is way more versatile for my kind of work.

For me the 16-35L IS is the best lens you can get. It is better in everyday over the 17-40L and ads a extremely useful IS to the lens. I can now shoot all the exterior pictures handheld, even with a polariser on it in the worst climate conditions.

So my ranking with those lenses would be this for interior photography:

1. Canon 16-35/4.0L IS > Extremely versatile, IS and can hold a polariser
2. Canon 17-40/4.0L > Extremely versatile, and can hold a polariser. Could need a tripod if you do exteriors.
3. Tamron 15-30/2.8 VC > pretty versatile, don't really need the extra wideness, and don't need 2.8, and can't hold filters

4. The rest. All less versatile. Too big, too pricey or can't hold filters

Little late to the thread. I love the 17mm tse. I use it a lot for real estate. I also use the 24 tse, less for real estate and much more for architectural style. If I had only one lens it would be the 17-40. If I had only 3 then the 17/24/ 24-70.