Piggy-backing on this thread....
I just needed to put some thoughts down and seek some balance perspectives on a UWA lens (and other) for my Canon 550D (T2i).
By way of background, I currently have all Canon lenses - the two kit lenses (18 - 55 and 55 - 250), the 17 - 55 f/2.8 and the 50 f/1.8.
A friend of mine loaned me a Tamron 10 - 24 mm UWA and I played with it over the Christmas break. So, I've figured this is going to be a range that I could work with and would want to take pictures of.
Until 2 days ago, I was definitely purchasing the Tokina 11 - 16 mm f/2.8. The decision was based on the constant aperture and the seemingly rave reviews for this lens.
(The alternative lens to this was the Canon 10 - 22 mm f/3.5 - 4.6; wider range and also seemingly rave reviews.)
I was planning on purchasing the Tokina lens as I am heading to California in a couple of days. I started to contact a number of specialty camera shops and it turns out it is a difficult lens to source. I know it is silly but I have a preference to buy over the counter cf on-line. I also know that I can buy the Tokina on-line from B&H or
Amazon.
Problem is - I have to factor warranty into the decision. I'm seeing a few reviews on-line where a
few individuals have had issues with the lens. Not a lot of reviews like this; but enough for me to re-think my decision. I'm only going to be in the US for 10 days; so I don't have the luxury of sending back a lens if it is faulty out of the box. If it is faulty down the track, then I've been looking at the international warranty side of things. Tokina warranty is based in the US and there is an Australian dealer that I would need to go through....but there is no guarantees that they would honour the warranty and from what I can figure out, they would send the lens back to the US for fixing and the shipping cost would be on me. If I have to buy a Mack International Warranty for the lens, it would defeat the purpose of buying the lens in the US.
Canon warranty on lenses is international; and the Canon regional office is in Melbourne. As I would have purchased the lens from a reputable Canon dealer in the US, the warranty would be honoured.
I also thought about what I would use the UWA for - and I would love to say that I was using it at night in Disney parks; but after this trip, I'm starting to think that I might need to head back towards Europe or Asia. So, chances are - I'd be using it around Oz and in Europe; predominantly daytime shots and if I were going to be doing night shots; I'd probably be setting up the tripod and using f-stops of > 11 anyway. I'm also not sure how much I'd be using the lens for indoor low-light shooting and have the 17 - 55 f/2.8 as an alternative; not UWA...but I can live with it.
I don't see myself or DH getting a full-frame camera in the medium term; so the EF-S rating of the Canon doesn't fuss me.
I also know that I can get the Canon lens from Samy's Camera shop in LA almost immediately on arrival. The alternative is to get the Canon at Keeble and Shuchat in Palo Alto when I get there at the weekend.
Price really isn't an issue - both lenses are currently retailing around the AU$1000 mark and even with the seemingly extra $$ on the Canon in the US, there is a savings there. The Canon does normally retail around AU$1200 but is currently on special for $1000. I believe that the Canon has a better second hand price in Australia (About $850) but that is hard to tell as I haven't yet seen the Tokina on the market second hand.
So, I'm starting to lean towards the Canon....but it is a hard thought to give up the constant aperture.
Here's my other dilemma....I had pretty much given up all thoughts on getting the Canon 70 - 200 mm f/2.8 IS (Mark II) based on price. This baby retails for at least $600 to $1000 more in Australia than in the US and the Mark II is already pricey in the US. Well, my lovely husband told me yesterday that if I really wanted this lens that I should probably think about getting it whilst in the US.
AARGH! He's NOT supposed to say that!
But I outgrew the 18 - 55 mm kit lens really, really quickly. I haven't yet outgrown the 55 - 250 mm kit lens but I reckon it will only be about 6 - 12 months before I'll want a faster lens in this range too. I'm thinking that I should wait on the telezoom and see if the price does fall?? Any thoughts on whether I'm dreaming or not?
What would you do? And are there any other options that I should consider?
Shooting with a manual lens should be a challenge, but like Code said almost everything appears to be in focus once you get up to around f/8 so that's one less thing to worry about!
