Which Third-party lens is good?

[iamthatman]

Dear All,

i've heard of Sigma, Tamron, Tokina etc lens for nikon and canon mount.

Personally im using a nikon cam, any idea which third party lens is the best? let's just assume nikon lenses dun exist in the world now haha ;p

 

[spree86]

Dear All,

i've heard of Sigma, Tamron, Tokina etc lens for nikon and canon mount.

Personally im using a nikon cam, any idea which third party lens is the best? let's just assume nikon lenses dun exist in the world now haha ;p

Different brands have different lenses, cannot say which brand is the best. Tokina 11-16 is one of the best for cropped uwa but you can't compare with sigma 50 f1.4 which is one of the best 50mm primes.

 

[SkyStrike]

imo, all brands have own "best" lens.

E.g.

Tokina 11-16 for UWA
Tamron 90 for Macro
Sigma 50-500 for super tele
...
..

 

[rhino123]

There are no such things as which third party lens is best. The thing is... what are you looking for? All the lenses had their good and bad... some is very sharp, but focus noisily or slowly, others are are as sharp, but had fast and accurate focus. So what are you looking for, was it CA control, flare control, sharpness, best colour (contrasty), fast autofocus, good accuracy, etc, etc.

 

[catchlights]

Dear All,

i've heard of Sigma, Tamron, Tokina etc lens for nikon and canon mount.

Personally im using a nikon cam, any idea which third party lens is the best? let's just assume nikon lenses dun exist in the world now haha ;p

If there is not Nikon lenses, buy Nikon camera for what?

 

[spree86]

If there is not Nikon lenses, buy Nikon camera for what?

Haha TS said "assume", I guess he just wants to ask about 3rd party lenses without considering Nikon ones.

 

[catchlights]

Haha TS said "assume", I guess he just wants to ask about 3rd party lenses without considering Nikon ones.

Nikon lenses are special design for Nikon cameras, third party lens makers just make lenses for many cameras.

Will consider third party lenses only when Nikon don't make the lenses I want.

 

[Sing Liang]

Tokin 11-16 is good caus4e nikon uwa is very ex!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[spree86]

Nikon lenses are special design for Nikon cameras, third party lens makers just make lenses for many cameras.

Will consider third party lenses only when Nikon don't make the lenses I want.

True but there are cases where one might choose 3rd party lenses even when Nikon makes the same lens. Take for example the Sigma 50 f1.4. It outperforms the Nikon version.

 

[cichlid]

Good 3rd party lenses that I can think of:

Tamron 17-50mm f2.8, 90mm macro, 180mm macro

Sigma 30mm f1.4 , 50mm f1.4, 150mm macro, 150-500 and 50-500mm, 500mm f4.5

Samyang 35mm f1.4, 85mm f1.4, 14mm f2.8

Zeiss 50mm f2 , 100mm f2, 35mm f2 & f1.4

 

[gundamseed84]

to add on I find sigma 85 f1.4 good too, value for money compared to Canon's f1.2 version (but you are talking about nikon not sure of its 1.4G price).

If is manual lens then you can get other mainstream brands and mount on nikon too!

 

[iamthatman]

haha thnx guys, got a good idea of how it goes

 

[coolthought]

If there is not Nikon lenses, buy Nikon camera for what?

I started off with a super tight budget and for a while, I was exclusively using just third party lenses.
To many of us, especially the newbies, budget is the first in criteria in considering what lens(es) to get.
As we progress, we started to look for lenses that are value for money.
Then once a while, we splurge on lens(es) that we really wanted all the while...

TS,
basically, 3 things to consider when we select lenses. Budget>value for money<performance
some might add good resale value as well.....

just adding on the what others have already mentioned good third party lenses.
sigma 10-20/4-5.6
sigma 17-50/2.8 os
tamron 17-50/2.8

not all the third party lenses are good and some nikkor lenses are really more value for money than the third party lens. You just have to go read the review and shootout to know.

 

[Csboi]

Different brands have different lenses, cannot say which brand is the best. Tokina 11-16 is one of the best for cropped uwa but you can't compare with sigma 50 f1.4 which is one of the best 50mm primes.

Tokina 11-16 very expensive

 

[edutilos-]

Dear All,

i've heard of Sigma, Tamron, Tokina etc lens for nikon and canon mount.

Personally im using a nikon cam, any idea which third party lens is the best? let's just assume nikon lenses dun exist in the world now haha ;p

Define good.

The Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 I have is sharp wide open, has a great build, has nice bokeh. It doesn't have AF. Some people hate it.

The Tamron 70-300mm Macro I have needs to be stopped down considerably, is noisy as hell for AF, isn't quite sharp from 200-300mm. It's light, and it cost me $160 when I got it brand new a while ago. I love it.

 

[edutilos-]

Tokina 11-16 very expensive

Compared to the Canon/Nikon alternatives, I'd say it's a good price considering its performance.

 

[Csboi]

Compared to the Canon/Nikon alternatives, I'd say it's a good price considering its performance.

Hahah like more expensive than canon 10-22mm.

 

[rhino123]

Hahah like more expensive than canon 10-22mm.

Please check the price again before making that claim. Tokina 11-16mm is not even S$1k while Canon's 10-22mm is more than 1k.

Plus when it came to lenses, 1k is not that expensive.

 

[edutilos-]

Hahah like more expensive than canon 10-22mm.

Is that so?? I was under the impression that the Canon 10-22mm was still more expensive.

But I'm not a Canon user, could be out of touch..

Price Guide lists it as $1.1K or so: http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/price-guides/931506-canon-price-lists-singapore-2011-a.html

This thread lists it as below $1K, $940: http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/sigma-tamron-tokina/776104-tokina-11-16mm-f-2-8-user-group-22.html

 

[rhino123]

Is that so?? I was under the impression that the Canon 10-22mm was still more expensive.

But I'm not a Canon user, could be out of touch..

Price Guide lists it as $1.1K or so: http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/price-guides/931506-canon-price-lists-singapore-2011-a.html

This thread lists it as below $1K, $940: http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/sigma-tamron-tokina/776104-tokina-11-16mm-f-2-8-user-group-22.html

That is correct. I am hoping that no one would mislead TS into it...

Plus... I mean, not everything (especially in photography) is to be measured solely by cost only. If a lens is good, but TS cannot afford it right now, it would be good for him/her to save up for the lens. I know a friend of mine, who saved up for many years before he got his 600mm lens... and he is happy with it because it was worth it (according to him).