Sigma 10-20mm, Sigma 8mm or Canon EF-s 10-22mm

[VinkoCM]

Never mind. I now understand the whole business about many NPPs with fisheye lenses from the site Hugh mentioned. Thank you.

Now I am down to 2 choices: the Sigma 10-20mm or the Samyang 8mm. I like them both equally because they are both inexpensive and will help reduce the number of images I need to take. For me, the big thing going for the Samyang is the price. On the other hand I find the multiple NPPs confusing and I am a little scared I may never figure out how to work with it. The big thing going for the Sigma is that It can also be used for 'general photography' and I can buy it locally, here in Ottawa. I don't like shopping online (buying my Nodal Ninja MK3 from the estore was a big deal for me).

[Hugh]

On the other hand I find the multiple NPPs confusing and I am a little scared I may never figure out how to work with it.

Hello VinkoCM,

Don't worry about the questions - we all need to start somewhere and getting the experiences of others is what I think the forum is all about.

Also don't worry about the NNPs.
There is a lot written about this and lots of advice on how to determine it, but these are the values I and my colleague use and PTgui usually returns "very good" and sometimes "good" when the Optimizer is run.

With the Sigma 10-20mm, the NNP is 6mm back from the gold ring when set at 10mm and on the gold ring when set at 20mm.
With my Nikon D60 and NN3 I can just set the top bar to get this at the 10mm end of the zoom, but cannot accommodate it with the zoom set to 20mm as there is no room.

My colleague uses a Samyang 8mm on a Canon body (APS-C sensor) and the NNP is set up 3mm in front of the gold ring, which is approximately the back of the lens hood as shown on Michel Thoby's web site (http://michel.thoby.free.fr/SAMYANG/Samyang_shaved.jpg)
He takes 8 images @ 45° intervals.
As your Canon is also an APS-C sensor you can ignore the comments about shaving off the lens hood.
I usually use my fisheye for panos for the Internet, but use the sigma 10-20mm if I want a little better resolution. The Sigma does require more images and longer processing, but I don’t think you would be disappointed with whichever lens you decide on.

Best regards, Hugh

[DennisS]

On the other hand I find the multiple NPPs confusing and I am a little scared I may never figure out how to work with it.

A "floating" NPP in the fisheye lens is very easy to deal with. You figure out how many shots around you want to use, then calibrate your rig. The NPP will not move around, unless you start using a different number of shots around. If you want to start using a different number of shots around, then you MIGHT need to re calibrate. Once you get your set up dialed in for a given number of shots, you will not need to adjust your rig. For my Sigma 8mm, I use 4 around. For my Nikon 10.5, I use 6 around. Once my rig is calibrated, I leave it alone for each lens. If I ever get a full frame camera and decide to use my 10.5, I bet the camera position will need to change.

It is the same as shooting with the 10-20. Once you get it dialed in, you leave it alone. If you change the zoom setting, you might need to re calibrate.

[VinkoCM]

Ok, so after thinking and thinking even more, I keep changing my mind as to which lens I want. But I think that my final choice is the sigma 10-22mm. Here are my arguments: 1. it is inexpensive 2. can also be used for general photography 3. I can buy it locally and not worry about paying online 4. it will drastically reduce the images I need for a pano and still provide a high resolution final output 5. It has a fixed NPP at the 10mm focal length 6. it has autofocus 7. it is a zoom lens (for general photography).

Yep, I think I am going with the sigma. Now I just have to start saving up cash and going into town someday. Thanks to everybody for all the help. I appreciate it. I now feel a lot more certain and secure about the decision I took and I know it is the right one. Thanks.

[VinkoCM]

Sorry for opening this up again, but let me explain:

So my birthday is coming up and I am trying to get my family to buy me one of these lenses, but they want me to do a little more research. So I did and I still could not find the Samyang 8mm in my area. But I found an Opteka 6.5MM F3.5 Fisheye lens that I can purchase for about $400 in Ottawa (my city). I assume that Optika is the same as Samyang/Rokinon/Polar, right? How does this lens compare? Has anybody tried it out? Will it fit on the Nodal Ninja 3 with a canon 450D? I am really considering this or the Sigma 10-20mm. Here is a link to my local store: http://www.henrys.ca/61631-OPTEKA-6-...ENS-CANON.aspx. Tell me what you think.

Vinko

[nick fan]

Sorry for opening this up again, but let me explain:

So my birthday is coming up and I am trying to get my family to buy me one of these lenses, but they want me to do a little more research. So I did and I still could not find the Samyang 8mm in my area. But I found an Opteka 6.5MM F3.5 Fisheye lens that I can purchase for about $400 in Ottawa (my city). I assume that Optika is the same as Samyang/Rokinon/Polar, right? How does this lens compare? Has anybody tried it out? Will it fit on the Nodal Ninja 3 with a canon 450D? I am really considering this or the Sigma 10-20mm. Here is a link to my local store: http://www.henrys.ca/61631-OPTEKA-6-...ENS-CANON.aspx. Tell me what you think.

Vinko

Optika looks like a Samyang. Yes, it works on NN3 with 450D. It gives excellent result.

nick

[hindenhaag]

Vinko,
some links for you to et to know about it.

http://www.versacorp.com/vlink/jcreview/sy8rv9jc.pdf
www.360pano.de/en/tokina-sigma-nikon.html
www.360pano.de/en/samyang_5D_1D.html
www.autopano.net/forum/t7939-samyang
michel.thoby.free.fr/SAMYANG/Early%20test%20repor...

Regards

Heinz

[VinkoCM]

Hi Heinz,

Thank you for the great information. But I need to confirm whether or not I need to shave the petals. Like Hugh said before, I have a Canon 450D that contains an APS-C sized sensor (1.6 cropping factor) which means it is not full frame, which means the petals should not matter.

Thank you,
Vinko

[hindenhaag]

Vinko,

you only have to shave for full frame. But I just realized that it is 6.5mm mm fisheye by opekta. I send info about 8MM Samyang Browers etc. May be it is good to contact Rosauro the canadian reseller of NN, may be he can help you. http://www.amazon.com/Rokinon-Aspher.../dp/B002LTXQUE , have a look through Amazon, they sell samyang lenses, you have to look for canon mount. Before you buy the opekta, ask your dealer to test it.

I never heard of the 6.5 opekta, plus I did not see anybody having tested it. So be careful. A lot of guys are familiar with the samyang.

I just took off the lensring from my samyang 8mm. Your opekta lens looks very similar to it. The region of the lens hood, area of golden ring, focus rubber ring. I had to laugh, cause suddenly I thought about a wrong print, 6,5 instead of 8.5. Plus the focus ring is the other way round, it works from 0.5 to infinity from left to right. All my lenses have infinity at the left side.

Compare to the pics in the links.

Heinz