Wide angle lens question

[bkrownd]

I want to take wide-angle close-in photos of crowded forestscapes, which give the same view I'm seeing as I stand there. The purpose of these is to describe wilderness areas. I'm gravitating towards the Sigma 10-20mm for my Nikon D80.

I'm wondering if there's any reason to believe the constant f/4 of the Tokina 12-24mm would be much preferable? Would there be any great reason to try to wait for the f/2.8 of the new 11-16mm? Would I encounter depth-of-field or edge sharpness problems trying to use those wide-open anyway? Conditions will often be dark and often foggy, with lots of backlighting from bright sky. You can see some of the the unsatisfyingly narrow views of forest interiors from my current 18mm lens here:
http://www.pbase.com/bkrownd/powerline_road
http://www.pbase.com/bkrownd/north_kohala

[pduxon]

I want to take wide-angle close-in photos of crowded forestscapes, which give the same view I'm seeing as I stand there. The purpose of these is to describe wilderness areas. I'm gravitating towards the Sigma 10-20mm for my Nikon D80.

I'm wondering if there's any reason to believe the constant f/4 of the Tokina 12-24mm would be much preferable? Would there be any great reason to try to wait for the f/2.8 of the new 11-16mm? Would I encounter depth-of-field or edge sharpness problems trying to use those wide-open anyway? Conditions will often be dark and often foggy, with lots of backlighting from bright sky. You can see some of the the unsatisfyingly narrow views of forest interiors from my current 18mm lens here:
http://www.pbase.com/bkrownd/powerline_road
http://www.pbase.com/bkrownd/north_kohala

http://thequacksoflife.blogspot.com/2007/10/this-birdspotting-lark.html

landscapes were with a sigma 10-20 buildings with a tamron 17-50. on a nikon d80

http://bythom.com/sigma10to20.htm review of the Sigma

[bkrownd]

I ordered the Sigma 10-20mm. The more I thought about it while I was standing in the wilderness, the more I wanted to get photos of what I was seeing, and the less the numbers in my bank account mattered to me. I got to wanting it so much I forked over an extra $15 for next-day air so I wouldn't miss an extra day or two of possible photos. (probably more like 4-day air by the time it flys here across the Pacific on a holiday week.)

That makes a nicely spaced trio that should cover all my needs - Sigma 10-20mm, Nikkor 18-135mm, Nikkor 80-400mm. The only lens desire I have left is to replace the 80-400 with a fixed 300mm VR and 1.7x teleconverter.

[pduxon]

I ordered the Sigma 10-20mm. The more I thought about it while I was standing in the wilderness, the more I wanted to get photos of what I was seeing, and the less the numbers in my bank account mattered to me. I got to wanting it so much I forked over an extra $15 for next-day air so I wouldn't miss an extra day or two of possible photos. (probably more like 4-day air by the time it flys here across the Pacific on a holiday week.)

That makes a nicely spaced trio that should cover all my needs - Sigma 10-20mm, Nikkor 18-135mm, Nikkor 80-400mm. The only lens desire I have left is to replace the 80-400 with a fixed 300mm VR and 1.7x teleconverter.

I'm still thinking about the 80-400 v 300 + 1.4 thing. If the 300 had VR and the 80-400 afs..... wonder what PMA will bring....

the sigma is a lovely lens

[bkrownd]

Oh wow...wow...I can't believe how wide this thing is! OMG it's HUUUUGE! ;)

[Markulous]

Oh wow...wow...I can't believe how wide this thing is! OMG it's HUUUUGE! ;)

LOL! I use the Sigma 10-20mm a lot! Love it!