Help needed. Recommend a wide angle lens for Canon.

[MattSh]

I have the Canon Rebel XTi. Have lens beginning at 28mm and up. But with the 1.6 crop factor (28 * 1.6 = 45mm), my moderately wide angle lens becomes a normal lens. So I need to go wide again, and am looking at lenses that will take me down to around 10-12 mm. Any recommendations? Likely a zoom lens.

I know you won't go wrong with a Canon branded lens, though you will pay for it. Any experience with Sigma? Tamron? Tokina? Anything else I might have missed?

[JeffR]

1. The Tokina 12-24 has become my favorite lens for the XTi.

It's very solid, tack sharp, great color fidelity. Here's a link to a comparative review I read just before I bought the Tokina:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/digital-wide-zooms/comparison.htm

This article is comparing wide angles for Nikon, but there is a mention of the Canon 10-22 at the bottom, and a link to a full review of it.

[Blue_In_AK]

2. I have a Sigma 10-20 mm that I like for my 20D

Also the Canon 17-85 takes nice wide-angle shots and zooms up fairly close, too.

[regnaD kciN]

3. That Sigma is a very nice lens...

Built like a tank, too. I've been using my Alpha-mount version on my Sony and KM bodies and been quite impressed with the results. I'm sure that there are some Canon-brand wides that are worth recommending, but the Sigma is a great all-around choice at a decent price. (Not inexpensive, but I'll bet a lot cheaper than anything from Canon itself.)

[MattSh]

4. Thanks for the feedback, all.

About both the Tokina and Sigma.

I've been looking quite strongly at the Sigma, but have seen several stories about problems with those lenses. But you talk to people here, and read reviews from normal people who own them, and those reviews are usually quite good. So maybe it's only a vocal minority of top level professionals who have problems with it.