Review of Wide Angle Lenses for Canon DSLRs
By Charlinex
Most photographers love the dramatic effects created by the wide angle lenses. I am of no exception.
I have personally tried out the wide angle lenses made by Canon, Sigma and Tamron on my Canon DSLR camera.
The results are just my personal experience and observations and not from lab tests.
My personal experience has taught me that even for the same lens, the quality control for each manufacturer is not uniform. You may get a good copy of a lens which everyone hate, and vise versa.
The most important lesson is that you try it out and make sure that the seller will let you return the lens if you are not happy with it.
 | Amazon Price: $799.00 List Price: $1,400.00 |
 | Amazon Price: $479.00 |
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Lens
Most owner of this lens brag about its sharpness, it is a good lens, but it is also the most expensive among the three. If you are happy with the price tag, go for it.
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Lens is only for the cropped framed cameras and not for full frame. However, it has been applauded as a very good lens of its class.
Strength
Sharp focus, accurate colors, fast focus, better border sharpness than Sigma and Tamron equivalents, though not perfect. Some chromatic aberrations can be correct in Canon's Digital Photo Professional (DPP) software.
Weakness
- Severe chromatic aberartion not only at borders, but also at near central locations, though better than Tamron. Canon's DPP software can correct some of the CAs, but not all of them. Sometimes it corrects one color but causes more CAs in different colors.
- Heavier than Sigma and Tamron lenses.
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM
I had heard great things about Sigma 10-20mm lens, so it was my first choice when I decided to buy an ultra wide angle lens.
But my first purchase was a great disappointment. It was the softest and unsharp lens I had ever used. As a result, I returned it to the seller which was from the US. The seller graciously accepted the returned lens.
Then I read that I might have ended with a bad copy.
So the second time, I decided to try a local seller. I went to the store, with my camera and memory card, took a few shots and came home to analyse the results.
It was very interesting that the focal point was not very sharp but the borders were very sharp. The contrast and colors were good.
The next day, I went back to the store, asking to try a different copy. This time, I was lucky, the lens was sharp at the centre. The borders were not sharp as it happens with most ultra wide angle lens. The colors were good, a bit warmer than those of Canon and Tamron lenses in the same league, I actually prefer it that way because it adds the "moodiness" to my eyes.
I have taken landscape and portrait images with this lens and am happy with it.
.
Strength
Very sharp centre focus, vivid colors, light weight, 10-year Sigma warranty.
I must add a note to say I have been impressed by the warranty. I sent the original lens back for repair because I was not happy with the softness at the top left corner. Initially the repair was not successful. I contacted Gentec Toronto. The lens was sent back by courier at Gentec's expense. They sent a brand new lens to me! The new lens seems to be better than the previous one according to my initial tests. I am glad that Sigma shows accountability!
Weakness
Chromatic abberations at borders, poorer border quality comparing to Canon, vignetting. My original copy had very soft border at left side of the image. CAs are pretty heavy but often correctable in Photoshop, if you know how. My second copy was sharp but with heavy vignetting at the corners.
| Amazon Price: $479.00 |
| Amazon Price: $479.00 |
Tamron SP AF 10-24mm F3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical (IF)
Strength
Center sharpness is not bad. Neutral and accurate colors, light weight, longer focal range.
Weakness
Softer images comparing to Canon and Sigma. Very severe chromatic abbrations at borders and center. I am not happy with it.
Comments
Hi Timorous, thanks for your comments. All three lenses were used on the same Canon DSLR, the CCD was not a factor.
CCD (Charge-coupled device) refers to digital camera's sensor size, by the way. This hub is a review of the lenses only.
Yes I know. My suggestion was that the CCD may accentuate the minor flaws in various lenses, whereas the same lenses used in a standard SLR may not show the same effects when exposed onto film.
Perhaps I was actually asking whether you tried the lenses in a standard SLR as well, with appropriate film stock, to see if you got the same achromatic aberrations. It wasn't meant as any criticism at all. Cheers.
Chromatic aberration(CA) is a common issue related to the optics of wide angle lenses. But some are worse than others. I have not used a film DSLR for decades so cannot comment on that and it is beyond the scope of this article. If you are interested, perhaps you can give it a try.
Here is a bit more info which you may find more convincing than my opinion. According to YourDictionary.com, the definition for chromatic aberration is: "Color distortion in an image produced by a lens, caused by the inability of the lens to bring the various colors of light to focus at a single point."
In addition to wide angle lenses, fisheye lenses also produce a lot of CAs, especially at the edges.
thanks for the info, I'm in desperate need of a decent camera and lenses having picked up my hobby again. years ago completed a two year commercial photography course at Ivy Tech in Indiana, but never used it. sometimes life gets in the way of things. i've put some of my photos on red bubble and am very proud of them. how did you become a stock photographer? your profile is interesting ps the dog adorable
Make sure you do your research on buying good lenses. Good lenses are more important than the camera body. It's like, for instance, if your vision is blurred, it doesn't matter how good your brain is, the pictures will not be sharp and may have many technical flaws which will prevent your from becoming a professional.
Wow,Thanks for explaining that, perfect!
Thank you again. Good luck with your camera and lens hunting.
Best Lence
timorous 17 months ago
Hi Charlinex. Very interesting. You obviously have a keen eye for fine details. It's surprising that the quality control seems so substandard for such pricy lenses.
Or perhaps the CCD's in some digital SLR's react differently to small imperfections in the lenses, where a standard SLR camera would not.