Excuse me I am a photographer...

The cartoon by Gary Varvel is so apt that it can be applied to almost any scenario today. Being a wedding photographer I come across these situations all so often. Wow, everyone wants that picture of the bride and the groom ... they want it on their phone even when I promise I will give them a better picture for FREEEE. Probably they don't trust me. Or is it that they can't instragram or facebook it if I send them the pictures... they have to turn their computer on, log on to their account, upload a picture ... aah thats a hassle!!  

Ultra Wide Angle lens

Ultra Wide Angle lens: Researching for almost a month on which ultra wide angle lens to get I finally bought Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 for APS-C size cameras from Canon. Why did I choose this lens is what I will be writing about.

There were several lenses I was considering, mainly made by Canon. These were:
- Canon 10-22 mm f/3.5-4.5   $599    APS-C (full frame equivalent: 16-35mm)
- Canon 17-40 mm f/4            $839    Full frame
- Canon 16-35 mm f/2.8         $1699  Full Frame

I was almost about to order the 17-40 mm refurbished from Canon directly for $550, but for some reason stopped. I am glad I did!

Then came the Tokina lenses:
- Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 PRO     $449     APS-C (Ful frame equivalent: 17.6-25.6mm). It does fit
                                                                 full frame cameras though!
- Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 PRO II  $525     Same as above just newer version with nothing new in it,
                                                                 which I understood after calling Tokina.
- Tokina 12-28mm f/4           $489
- Tokina 12-24mm f/4           $399
- Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8        $629     (Compare with Canon 16-35 f2.8 @ $1699)
- Tokina 17-35mm f/4           $499     (Compare with Canon 17-40 f4 @ $839)

Now as you can see there were several lenses I had to compare and decided which one to buy. I went for Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @$449.
REASONS:
- With this lens I can use my old and still wonderful APS-C sensor size Canon 30D giving me a wide 17mm view.
- The lens fitted to my Full Frame Canon 5Ds (any mark really) gives 11-16 mm. Now, at 11 mm there is an ugly vignetting, but at 16mm there is none!! Absolutely none and now I get an ultra wide lens for my full frame camera too at 16mm!! Bingo
- Then it is a very fast lens @ f/2.8 for low light shooting or for that bokeh you always want when shooting pictures or for videos.
- Finally look at the price @$449 and one day free shipping from B&H.
- About the picture quality. I will post them soon! I like the pictures. They are comparable to Canon 17-40mm which I rented from Canon (being a CPS member always helps to try things out before you buy them) 

Here are some pictures. These are all color corrected but not edited with any lens corrections! It clearly shows bending at the edges, but that's what all ultra wide glasses would do ...

 

Sheetal and Rajesh

Sheetal and Rajesh's wedding was an elaborate Bollywood style wedding with lots of dance and music. Friends and Family members flying from as far as Australia to attend this 3 day extravaganza. Wedding, Mehendi and Reception all on three different days ...

Wish you all the best Sheetal and Rajesh...