What's your veiw on the Tamron 11-18mm

[Teralee98]

Hi all, I am thinking of getting a Tamron 11-18mm lens for my Canon eos 350d. I am yet to do research before I buy, but am wondering if anyone has first off views about it? I want to use it for real estate and architectural purposes.......any thoughts will be fantastic......Thanks!

[William W]

Within one group of characters where I hang out (Wedding Photographers) the Tokina 11 to 16 F/2.8 and the Tokina 12 to 24 F/4 are more often used / sort after, than either the Tamron (or Sigma) - both Tokina Zooms mentioned are faster than the Tamron.

FWIW that's second hand information because I have not used the Tamron: but the 11 - 16 Tokina I had a play with was pretty slick, even at F/2.8.

But I think you need to consider firstly the FL range you might need (what other lenses do you have?), and secondly the speed you might need (max aperture).

Thirdly: I am not keen on varying maximum aperture zoom lenses, which may or may not be relevant for architectural type work, but if the real estate stuff you mention requires you moving quickly through an house: then there are times when a varying max. aperture can be a pain in the rear - and if the real estate stuff you want to do is without Flash and a Tripod, then the extra speed might be nice - even if you need to crop a little of the vignette, in post production.

I suggest you think carefully of what your needs are and then the best tool is (re specs) for those needs and then prioritize the list of what is available in the marketplace.

WW

[Mossy]

I have the Tokina 12-24 and have played with copies of the Sigma 10-20, and Tamron 11-18. Personally I went for the Tokina because it was sharp as heck and the distortion was easy to correct in Post. If I'd wanted to go wider I'd have gone for the Sigma. The Tamron seemed like it was neither one nor the other, not wuite wide enough, not quite long enough in focal lengths and not quite fast enough.

For real estate stuff you probably want the 11-16 Tokina for the f2.8, shooting inside with my f4 Tokina is pretty difficult even with higher ISOs unless you have very good lighting, ie. lots of windows and lots of sunlight.

Architectural... the tilt shift lenses get mentioned a lot since they don't give as much distortion as the wide angles, but I don't have any experience in this so google/rest of the forum would be mroe helpful there.

[William W]

Architectural... the tilt shift lenses get mentioned a lot since they don't give as much distortion as the wide angles, but I don't have any experience in this so google/rest of the forum would be mroe helpful there.

There are these factors I think you need to consider with TS-E lenses:

1. Cost.

2. Prime.

3. The 24 will likely not be wide enough (on a 350D) - neither will the new 17 when it is available.

4. Time to set the shot.

It depends what your outputs are and how much money and time you have and what degree of precision you want.

WW

[Felipe]

And why not the Canon 10-22mm?

I own a Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 and it's a winner. Sharp, fast enough, excellent built, easy to handle.

I would of course recommend it, but I don't know how the Tamron is. I understand it is f/4.5-5.6. I may be wrong, but I think it's waaaay too dark for indoor photography.