Tokina & Sigma "Pro" Lens opinions

[snapple]

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Sorry Bill, I did not see anywhere that the original poster said he was on any type of budget. Nor did I see economics, professors or rate of return mentioned. If these are factors that YOU use in buying a lens, then I fully understand.

But I learned a long time ago not to ask "If any off brand Lens is any good", because you will always find dozens of people to say "YES they work fine for me" and well, that has really no basis of determining if I would be pleased with it... So my advise (and I follow it as well) is to ALWAYS buy the best possible Lens made by the company that made my Camera.

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Although that might be your philosophy, it doesnt hold much weight. The camera manufacturer designs its lenses specifically for it's camera BUT that doesnt mean the other companies dont spend equal or more on R & D to develop the highest quality as a matter of fact they have to work harder because they dont have the luxury of slapping the "Logo" on it and offering it with their camera line-up.

I think the return on investment is VERY important in this matter. If you shoot as a hobby and are looking for quality glass, the off brand may meet your defintion of quality and therefore give you the return you are seeking.

The fact the original poster didnt mention a budget but asks about the other brands implies he doesnt follow your OPINION of ONLY buying OEM. He is wise enough to ask and do his own research and not just buy it because it has the OEM logo on it. There are some awful lens manufacturers out there but the ones in question may give him the desired return on his investment, I dont belive he will end up with blurry images that would be considered "sub par".

[stevenD]

good points, the fact is I am glad people continue to buy the off-brands as it keeps the OEM's honest.

I'm not sure why this is always such a touchy subject, I am not trying to put anyone doown who can't afford the best, all I am saying is if you really want the best, go with a OEM Lens.

Personally, I want to put my self in the best possible situation to get the best shot possible. As for "Return on Investment", you can lose a lot of money buying cheap Glass and then reselling it and upgrading, I did this myself early on and now I save/wait until I can afford the best.

[Mark_Thomas]

This is a touchy subject. Image quality is in the eye of the beholder. What may be good enough or sharp enough for one may not for another. As a pro I need the best quality I can afford. I don't go with zooms, I stick to prime lenses 90% of the time because they are in general much better. I have used Tamron and Sigma and the samples I used were not good. That said I used two samples of the Canon 28-135 IS and they were just useless. My 70-200 2.8L is a lot softer than my 85 1.8.

It's a personal thing. Test the lenses and see if you are happy with the image quality. Don't buy if you can't afford it.

[wgiles]

The point about primes vs zooms is well taken. Zooms are handy, but not always the best choice. I tend not to change lenses on digital cameras for fear of getting dirt on the sensor. When using film, I wasn't as concerned about that and used to use fixed focus lenses more often.

Bill

[Mark_Thomas]

Changing lenses isn't that bad if you box clever. Turn the camera upside down and out of the wind. If you are careful you shouldn't have too much trouble with dust. Cleaning the sensor is also not too difficult.

[JonScott]

I see no appreciable difference in quality between my Nikkor glass and my Sigma glass (on an S2, a D2H, an N80 and an F1) to justify the difference in price. I'm secure in the size of my penis without having to have the status of the name on the side of the lens.

Additionally, I've sent Nikkor glass back to be serviced and waited forever. I've sent Sigma glass back to be tested and serviced (on suspicion of a problem), and the glass was returned within a month.

Those that are inferring that Sigma is not an OEM seem to have forgotten that Sigma does make damn good cameras as well (and if I didn't have Nikon hands, I'd likely have one).

I've no experience with Tokina.

No. Stay with Nikon lenses if you are buying a Nikon camera.

My business partner who deos events with me, he used to have Sigma & Tokina lenses.. He owned the 70-200mm f2.8 HSM lens....and had to have it "rechipped" by Sigma, which took about a half a year for them to do it.. The reason why he had to have it rechipped, is because he bought a new camera and it didn't work very well with it.

He also owned the Tokina 300mm f2.8 lens...and it was not bad... but it lacked several features found on professional lenses of the type.. and made for some difficult photography.....in addition to not being nearly as sharp, not colour saturated as my 300mm f2.8 L lens..

Bottom line,...you get what you pay for..and sometimes, you may get a really crappy problem that can only be fixed by the off brand guys.. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

JP

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Haven't shot Nikon in years, but if you want the best possibly shots, go with Nikon Glass.

The problem with a question like this, is that you will undoubtly find people who say they are happy with the off-brand Lenses. You want to believe them or do you want the best possible Glass?

It's hard to ask someone if they think you will be happy with sub-par equipmeent, maybe you will and maybe you won't...





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Outstanding comments! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

BTW, I am really enjoying my 1DMk2 bodies! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

JP

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[ QUOTE ]


Sorry Bill, I did not see anywhere that the original poster said he was on any type of budget. Nor did I see economics, professors or rate of return mentioned. If these are factors that YOU use in buying a lens, then I fully understand.

But I learned a long time ago not to ask "If any off brand Lens is any good", because you will always find dozens of people to say "YES they work fine for me" and well, that has really no basis of determining if I would be pleased with it... So my advise (and I follow it as well) is to ALWAYS buy the best possible Lens made by the company that made my Camera.

[/ QUOTE ]

Although that might be your philosophy, it doesnt hold much weight. The camera manufacturer designs its lenses specifically for it's camera BUT that doesnt mean the other companies dont spend equal or more on R & D to develop the highest quality as a matter of fact they have to work harder because they dont have the luxury of slapping the "Logo" on it and offering it with their camera line-up.

I think the return on investment is VERY important in this matter. If you shoot as a hobby and are looking for quality glass, the off brand may meet your defintion of quality and therefore give you the return you are seeking.

The fact the original poster didnt mention a budget but asks about the other brands implies he doesnt follow your OPINION of ONLY buying OEM. He is wise enough to ask and do his own research and not just buy it because it has the OEM logo on it. There are some awful lens manufacturers out there but the ones in question may give him the desired return on his investment, I dont belive he will end up with blurry images that would be considered "sub par".

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StevenD,......we ought to take a little poll here to see what lenses these guys use on their cameras, who try so hard to deny the brand name equipment, to their off brand immitations.. LOL.....sure,.....all they have to do is simply slap on the name of Nikon, or Canon..etc.. to their lenses and then jack up the price?? LOL...that is just silly!! Oh, so they research R&D even harder, so they can sell the lenses for a whole lot less? Come on people.....have you ever heard the expression.."You get what you pay for"..?

I believe the rational for this is simply envy turned jealousy.. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

To the OP.. Put a Nikon on your Nikon.

JP

[stevenD]

lol, I think in the future, i will just stick to something you said in your other post: "You get what you pay for...."

and leave it at that

Glad to hear about your dual 1D MKII's, I have a shoot tonight where I will be using mine, with my EX580 Flash, it is at this Girl's B-Day party: