I'm going to break up this review into a few posts. Lots of pictures and I used large images for many so you would get the feel of what this lens can do when used correctly and what happens when not used correctly. ;D Be patient please. First, as I have an 18-200 VR lens, I really only wanted to use this lens as it's widest for the most part. Here are three images taken from the same distance to give you an idea of the lens' range. These are all hand held so forgive any softness. It's not the fault of the lens. The lens is very sharp as you'll see. At 12mm At 18mm At 24mm At 12mm, the hyperfocal distance is incredibly small. Less than 3 feet (2.7) at f/11. Allowing you to get sweeping scenes with sharp focus from a few feet to infinity. This was taken at f/6.3.
When used correctly, this lens really gave me some new ways to photograph. The correct way is to always, and I mean always, try to keep the lens level with your subject. Pointing it up or down will create distortions. Sometimes very large ones. Something to keep in mind when using a super wide angle is trying to get something of interest in the foreground, middleground and background as I have tried to show in these images. At 12mm, a truck on the 1000 Islands Bridge. At 12mm, a pond reflection behind the New York State 1000 Islands Visitor Center near the 1000 Islands Bridge entrance. At 12mm, a tourist telescope on top of the Hill Island Skydeck with the Canadian span of the 1000 Islands Bridge in the background.
Now, you can have some fun with the distortions. This was taken again on top of the Skydeck with the 12mm focal length allowing me to include one of the tourist telescopes along with the flag pole when shooting at an angle. They were about 10 feet apart. Then there's the tilting building effect when doing the same thing. Not good and a bit comical. These are old buildings (circa 1870's) but they are well maintained and stand up very straight. So, by using the stairs of the one building and keeping the lens level, I got this much better shot of the lighthouse. By the way, this is Tibbit's Point Lighthouse near Cape Vincent, New York where Lake Ontario meets the St. Lawrence River.
Interior shots you say you want? Here's a couple from Boldt Castle in the 1000 Islands. These are completely restored to their 1890's finery. The Reception Room The Grand Staircase (remind you of anything? A movie maybe.)
In closing, if I only had a zoom which started at 28mm, I would invest in this lens. At less than $500, the build quality is excellent, the workings of the zoom solid and the focus was fast. It's not a silent wave mechanism so there is some noise but nothing to worry about. I enjoyed using it for the week I had it. But, for my money, will probably invest in longer VR lens from Nikon only because the 18-200 I do have is plenty wide enough for my needs. A short note about Lens Rentals. They were great and I will be using them again in the future for testing out something I may want to invest in or to get a lens for a special project. Communication with them either via email or phone was excellent and they did what they said they would do. I highly recommend them.
You are most welcome, Tim. I know there were a few people interested in this lens when I mentioned I was renting it. The pictures did come out great at times. I learned when to use the distortion and how to avoid it when needed.
distortion... the curse of wide angle lenses. there is a photoshop filter under distortion called lens correction that fixed this but it is best to begin with a quality photo rather than fixing it later.
You're welcome, Craig! Hope it helped you. Tim, getting it right in the camera so little post processing is needed is what I try for. I did learn a lot from using the extreme wide angle of the Tokina which will make my wide angle focal length photos from the 18-200VR better. It was well worth the rental fees to find out. Now, I think I'll save the money for either another lens or towards the D300. Decisions, decisions.
Scott these are all beautiful photos, but I absolutely LOVE the pond reflection photo. The colors are brilliant, and the red building just explodes right out of that shot. Thanks for the review also, it was very well written, and the lens rentals review was much appreciated, as I plan on using them in the future.
Thanks, PM! This was the last weekend in September and the colors were about 30 to 40%. I was about a week too soon, however, fall colors in upstate NY this year have been very disappointing. I think the dry summer had a lot to do with that. It should be close to peak where I live, near Syracuse, right now and it's very drab. Here's a couple more for you taken with the Tokina lens but at it's maximum focal length of 24mm... A Freight Laker just before going under the 1000 Islands Bridge. This ship is similar to the famous SS Edmund Fitzgerald which sank on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. The mishap which is chronicled in Gordon Lightfoot's hit song, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", helped make the incident the most famous disaster in the history of Great Lakes shipping. Another view from the Skydeck towards the Canadian span of the 1000 Islands Bridge system.
Nice review and shots. Thanks. As for Lens Rentals, I've never actually rented anything from them, but I emailed them late last night with some questions as I was thinking about renting a 17-40 for a trip next week. I got an email back within 5 minutes and after a brief and very friendly exchange, the guy told me that honestly, he thought I'd be better off buying since the resale value of the 17-40 would basically be the purchase price less a 2 week rental fee. He was very honest, very friendly, and very quick to respond. I can't speak for how the rentals go, but as far as a businessman, I was impressed that he was willing to sacrifice a sale in order to give me his honest advice. That's a company I'll do business with in the future.
