• After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

Canon Wide-Angle Showdown

Aaron Kennedy

EF5
Joined
Dec 8, 2003
Messages
1,526
Location
Grand Forks, ND
I had to chance to try out the EF-S 10-22 f/3.5-4.5 USM
ef_s10~22_35~45_usm.jpg

vs. my EF 17-40 f/4 L
ef_17~40_4l_usm.jpg

Unfortunately, no one has given me a EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L to try yet ;)

I tested both lenses on a tripod with mirror lockup at my aprt. complex for two different focal length: 17mm and 20mm.

The purpose of the test was to see how well the 10-22 would suit replacing my 17-40... since I still don't find the 17-40 wide enough!

17mm:
http://convectionconnection.com/17mm.jpg

20mm:
http://convectionconnection.com/20mm.jpg

Summary:
The 17-40mm has a slight advantage in contrast over the 10-22mm (sorry I didn't include the full shots). That said, the contrast difference is so small... it's nothing to write home about.

Sharpness wise, the L lens shows its stuff at the wide angle (17mm) compared to the 10-22 at the same focal length. The L is noticably sharper wide open, and even at stopped down aperatures, beats out the 10-22 *slightly*. That said, if you are shooting at f/11... you'll probably never notice the difference.

At 20mm, however, the lenses are so similar, I can't tell the difference. Note that I compared both wide open... at 20mm, this is f/4 on the 17-40 and f/4.5 on the 10-22.

What about distortion? I can't tell a difference, however, the frame I took wasn't very well suited for this observation. The 17-40 had *slightly* better handling of chromatic abberation near the corner of the frame.

Finally, a quick comparison of the field of view for 10 and 17mm...
17-10.jpg


In the end... it's a tough call.

17-40L advantages:
-Performs well wide open.
-Slightly better contrast
-cheaper than the 10-22mm
-constant aperature means you don't need to refocus when zooming.
-can be used on all canon EF bodies
-slightly better in the CA dept.
-built like a tank.

17-40 disadvantages:
-not 10mm!

10-22 advantages:
-Performance is similar to the 17-40 stopped down.
-Widest option for 1.6x bodies.
-built solid... not quite like the 17-40 though.

10-22 disadvantages:
-costs much more.
-not as hot wide open (where we'll shoot often chasing!)

So what am I going to do? Not sure yet. As a walk around lens, I'd keep the 17-40. My only reservation is the need for a wider solution for chasing. Ugh.... why can't they just make a 10 or 12 mm prime?

I may try and sell the 17-40, then pick up a 10-22 for extreme WA. For not quite as wide angle, I could pick up a 24-105 f/4 IS... which should suit me well for chasing. I don't have a zoom beyond 40mm as it stands right now, so a versatile wide-short telephoto lens would be handy. Supposedly the optics are pretty darn good on this new lens.

Aaron
 
Thanks for the test. As a chaser that shoots video and stills the wide open sharpness factor is a pretty big one for me. As much as I'd like to be able to stop a lens down and have it mounted that just never seems to work out. I refuse to bump the ISO up past 100 during any amount of daylight shooting(low detail cloud/sky scenes just love to show off noise). So I'm left with having to shoot something handheld(pushed up against a door window or something) and often having to leave it at F4 to have even just a 1/30 shutter. F8 in same lighting and that is going to have to be mounted. Try doing all that and video on a close tornado given the op..not happening. So, F4(or something pretty wide open) is really important to be sharp and the 17-40L shines there. Pretty big difference at 17mm on those test shots at F4. Looking at the vent stack on the roof makes me think back about my 18-55 pos. Though that is even noticeably better than the kit lens. Most softness can be sharpened enough to work, but that one is pushing it I think. Also if a chaser is thinking about going "all out" and getting the 16-35 instead, I'd look at the comparisons online at wide open aperatures. I don't know of a wide angle zoom that is sharper than the 17-40L at 17mm wide open. That is just a VERY useful combo to have available in a lens while chasing.
 
Cool tests Aaron - I love finding this stuff here as I rarely have time to track these down on the net. I agree with Mike's thoughts completely - the f4 sharpness is critical given the frequent low-light shots when storm chasing, or even taking action shots and hoping for some reasonable sharpness and contrast. I've been really happy with the 17-40L, and I'm willing to wait a few years for the full frame cmos sensors to get down to affordable prices, at most 5 years down the line I'd think. While Canon appears comitted to keeping a line of 1.6x sensors around for years to come - I have to think the noise performance on full frame sensors will make them must have once the next generation of processing comes along.

Glen
 
How about the Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6? I was just going to start a new thread about this lens. It seems perfect for storm structure shots, but now that I read this, the f/4 is probably too slow for shooting conditions under the base of a monster meso.

I really want to get this lens or the Tokina 12-24mm f/4, which is slightly faster but with seemingly more chromatic aberration at the edges. Both of these lenses are $500, which is less than half the price of the Nikkor equivalent, so I'm having trouble deciding between the two.

I'd love to have a wide angle lens that fits a Nikon for the chase tour I'm taking with Siler Lining Tours in the spring. Any thoughts? Reccomendations? Sample pics?
 
I picked up a Canon 10-22 in Tokyo back in August. I've been impressed with its performance on my Digital Rebel.

090705_large.jpg


092605_large.jpg


090905_large.jpg


It's a fun lens. Obviously, I'm itching to use it in a chase setting.

Having an EF-S mount, I was a little apprehensive about buying it, not knowing how much longer I'd be shooting with a cropped sensor camera. So, it was a bit of a toss-up between the 10-22 and the 17-40. In the end, wide won out. I don't see myself upgrading to a 5D anytime soon, and even if I do, I figure I can sell the 10-22 for a decent price.
 
Originally posted by Jeff Lawson
I picked up a Canon 10-22 in Tokyo back in August. I've been impressed with its performance on my Digital Rebel.

092605_large.jpg


It's a fun lens. Obviously, I'm itching to use it in a chase setting.

Having an EF-S mount, I was a little apprehensive about buying it, not knowing how much longer I'd be shooting with a cropped sensor camera. So, it was a bit of a toss-up between the 10-22 and the 17-40. In the end, wide won out. I don't see myself upgrading to a 5D anytime soon, and even if I do, I figure I can sell the 10-22 for a decent price.
Click to expand...

Wow, Jeff. This picture is amazing! The clarity is so good, and so smooth. Looks like a good wide angle lense.
 
I'd be happy to do a complete test on a full suite of lenses... if someone wants to let me borrow them ;)

In the past I had a Sigma 20mm f/1.8 prime. Very nice wide angle lens, although it did suffer from some severe flare problems. Other than that, it was very sharp and distortion free.


BTW: I've heard the Tokina beats out the sigma from a few online forums... i'll see if I can track down the posts about it.

Aaron
 
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