Photoclubalpha

My friend just call me today telling me that I need to pass by his home Wednesday because he want me to show a real true wide angle (the word he used).
I have asked him what lens ??? et he told me the Canon 14mm L II , yes my friend is a Canon lover. We have that long discussion every time we met (to the bad of our Girlfriend asking to change subject) about Canon and Minolta system ... oups Sony. I'm always on the budget side and he is on the spending side . He is one of the reason why I love my system, because for the same angle of view, most of the time I'm twice and more the price he paid for , I think the same quality.

I have on my bag a Tamron 14mm F/2.8 got on ebay 2 years ago for 450$ (Canadian) like new, since I have made two small scratches on the front element trying to catch my 28mm 2.0 falling on the floor the first night I got my A900 taking picture in Montreal city.

I know the Tamron 14mm 2.8 lacks of sharpness in the corner (that review told on Internet ... but I have not strongly see that with mine) and vignetting but I'm interest to make a small photo session outside with my friend this weekend in same condition to look if the 2000$ (Canadien) on the Canon 5D Mark II will make justify this difference of price compare to the A900 +Tamron 2.8.

Hope to bring you example soon as I can. (YES I will clean my sensor before ! ).

Picture taken the first day with the A900 (thanks to the SSS, and the sensor was clean this day ):
0.60s f/4.0 at 14.0mm iso200:

http://www.pbase.com/nadeauf/image/104281523/original

0.60s f/8.0 at 14.0mm iso800:

http://www.pbase.com/nadeauf/image/104281496/original

Regards,

Frank

Frank, for night shots the medium and high DRO levels are useful to cover the sceneries' wide dynamic ranges. But for test shots, better switch DRO off because in comparison it will make your lens look as if it was delivering poor contrast.

-- Olaf

Thank you , I will be sure to shoot in RAW and only convert picture in JPEG without adding to much sharpness.

Regards,

Frank

I saw one of those Tamrons for a nice price recently; very tempting to get me below 18mm, but mighty large and heavy. I'm thinking a Sigma 15 semi-fisheye (on aps-c) might do me for about half the weight -- but I don't see a similar price break on that one anywhere. I'd be using for landscapes far more than interiors or structures, but a lens like this would make some interesting shots in many circumstances. Thanks for the images!

alphaPDX wrote:I saw one of those Tamrons for a nice price recently; very tempting to get me below 18mm, but mighty large and heavy. I'm thinking a Sigma 15 semi-fisheye (on aps-c) might do me for about half the weight -- but I don't see a similar price break on that one anywhere. I'd be using for landscapes far more than interiors or structures, but a lens like this would make some interesting shots in many circumstances. Thanks for the images!

I'm agree with you, the Tamron is huge compare to those little fisheye lenses. And smaller alternative (but not so smaller) is the old and good Sigma 14mm F/3.5. This lens was my wide angle lens before the Tamron. I have went to the Tamron because of low light concert pictures I'm doing love the more light into the sensor.

Actually, I went in Germany last week, and to save space and weight I wanted to have the best image on my A900 and my choice was to bring : 100mm 2.0, 50mm 1.4, 28mm 2.0, and a wide angle ... the Tamron itself was about the size of the 28mm and 50mm combine. So, I choose to bought the small 16mm F/2.8 Zenith fisheye (215 US shipped at home in Canada). This fisheye is so small that you can have the chance to lost it in your pocket (I'm kidding, but it is small).

Compare to the Tamron, the Zenith is not able to challenge the detail, but it is usable at F/8.0 on the 24mp Sensor. I have tried some shot at F/4.0 and was not too bad too. Because I didn't have time to do test in travel, I have not take picture under this level. I will take time to do some test later. But I have seen some good reviews on the lens.

The sigma 14mm 3.5 usually will sold in the range of 250 $ (probably more now because it is rare ... , but you need to keep eye on ebay ).
The Tamron and Sigma 2.8 are almost at the same range of price in the 450-550$ on ebay.

This is why the Zenith is the best take for the price, but you have counterpart.

Regards,

Frank