Mid-angle zooms

So, I'm contemplating my next new lens buy, and I knew you guys would be the best place to start. I can hemorrhage money like there's no tomorrow, but I don't want to spend $1200 - $1600 on comparable Nikon glass. Hell, thats more than my camera body is worth! I'm looking for a good mid angle zoom. There haven't been any recent discussions that I could find in the near past.

My immediate need for the lens is shooting kids/people in a pool and shooting dive classes in the ocean. My other hope is that this lens could be used for a shark cage dive if one came up in the near future?! I'm looking at these lenses as possibilities... or am I "all wet"?...

Tokina 16-50

Sigma 18-50

Tamron 17-50

I'm favoring the Tok because I already own the 10-17 and love it!

There was a lot discussion in the distant past about the Sigma 17-70. Is this still a favorite considering some of the newer lenses to have come out?

Thanks!

If macro capability is important to you the Sigma 17-70 is king with a maximum magnification of 1:2.3. The Tokina 16-50 is 1:4.88, Sigma 18-50 is either 1:3 or 1:3.5 (depending on which model you are looking at) and the Tamron 17-50 is 1:4.5

Sigma 17-70mm is a no brainer.

On the Sigma 17-70 you even have two options: the regular or the HSM version, which is supposed to be more accurate/fast in focus.

I am happy with this lens.

The Sigma 17-70 mm remains my most used underwater lens. It works equally fine as a good generl purpose land zoom lens.

Regards;

Thanks a lot guys! Do you know if the Sigma 17-70 will work with the S&S Optical Dome Port? ...with an extension ring of course.

I have the Tamron 17-50 and kinda like it for the fact that having a max aperture of f2.8 and a reasonably small focusing distance it doubles as a "macro" lens. It focuses quite fast as well and is very compact. It is a compromise since it is not wide enough for real WA shots and in a dome port does not go Tele enough to shot small critters. It gets a bit better when used in a flat port, but then the WA part gets really bad. It is my "new unknown dive site" lens. That said, I have a couple good shots of my dive buddy and small groups of divers, so for your intended use, it may be well suited.

I also use the Tokina 12-24 and am very happy with it, but it is a wide angle only. Never looked at the 16-50, but Tokina build and optical quality are typically very good.

As for Sigma, the 17-70 sounds good on paper (never used it), but I had all my Sigma lenses (2 WA zooms and a 400mm prime) fail prematurely (the aperture control actuator) and will not buy Sigma anymore. But that's just me.

I can hemorrhage money like there's no tomorrow, but I don't want to spend $1200 - $1600 on comparable Nikon glass. Hell, thats more than my camera body is worth!

lenses are far more valuable than cameras, especially when digital cameras go obsolete every 5 years. Personally I own the nik 17-55mm and its amazingly sharp. That being said, i think for UW the sigma 17-70mm is likely a great choice due to the close focusing (1:2.3 is excellent). cheers,

chris

agree with Chris on the Nikon 17-55. It's an expensive lens and I hesitated a long time before buying it, but I've found it's optical performance to be superb. Overall it's my most used lens by far as it lives on camera when topside and gets considerable use underwater as well. Optical quality underwater is excellent, but I need to use long extension tubes (70mm) with a large dome - which means it's slightly unwieldy. When I consider how much use some specialist lenses get compared with this, the economics add up - it's worth spending the extra cash on a heavily used lens.

That said it's a DX format, so it's lifespan is going to be limited as FX format cameras proliferate. If I was buying a lens in this range now, I would consider one of the alternates you mention and base that decision on how well your housing will support the lens in terms of extension tubes required and zoom gears....

Cheers

Steve

In Germany I am not aware of any housing manufacturer how offers a port for the Sigma 17-70 and if you have a look on the Ikelite webpage you find a prove that this lens is either wrongly positioned behind the dome or can not be used in its full zoom range [remark (18) in the port list].

The Sigma 18-50 is less extreme and offers the shortest focus distance of all lenses in consideration. And getting close is pretty important in under water photography .

Cheers,

Juergen

In Germany I am not aware of any housing manufacturer how offers a port for the Sigma 17-70 and if you have a look on the Ikelite webpage you find a prove that this lens is either wrongly positioned behind the dome or can not be used in its full zoom range [remark (18) in the port list].

The Sigma works flawlessly on many housings, including Ikelite (using the .24 dome body) and Sea&Sea. No vignetting on wide angle and no soft corners, even without diopters. The Sigma 17-70 HSM is a little bit more difficult, as it has a bigger diameter and regular zoom gears do not fit. But for me, it wasn't a great deal to adapt one of my gears.

The Sigma 18-50 is less extreme and offers the shortest focus distance of all lenses in consideration

Sigma 17-70mm is a no brainer.

I was going to buy a Nikon D300 with the Ikelite housing to replace my canon xsi which is somewhat inferior, but the fact that the Sigma 17-70 hsm is listed as not compatible on the ikelite website, it's kind of a showstopper for me...

But I keep reading everywhere that people can overcome that problem

Can somebody explain to me what's needed to make a Nikon D300 and Ikelite housing compatible with the sigma 17-70 hsm

I work in a dive resort in the maldives and take wide angle shots of customers, I'm using a 20mm now, but appreciate the versatility of having a little macro and zooming capability for taking general fish shots as well in between...

thanks a million

I don't use an Ike housing so I'm just guessing here, but the Sigma 17-70 mm lens requires about a 20mm port extension so the lens doesn't hit the back of the dome when the lens is zoomed out toward 70 mm. I do not know if Ike's domes can be fitted with extensions???

Regards;

So, I'm contemplating my next new lens buy, and I knew you guys would be the best place to start. I can hemorrhage money like there's no tomorrow, but I don't want to spend $1200 - $1600 on comparable Nikon glass. Hell, thats more than my camera body is worth! I'm looking for a good mid angle zoom. There haven't been any recent discussions that I could find in the near past.

 

My immediate need for the lens is shooting kids/people in a pool and shooting dive classes in the ocean. My other hope is that this lens could be used for a shark cage dive if one came up in the near future?! I'm looking at these lenses as possibilities... or am I "all wet"?...

 

Tokina 16-50

Sigma 18-50

Tamron 17-50

 

I'm favoring the Tok because I already own the 10-17 and love it!

 

There was a lot discussion in the distant past about the Sigma 17-70. Is this still a favorite considering some of the newer lenses to have come out?

 

Thanks!

Hi,

did you see already the new 18-105mm? it is not very expensive..

I don't use an Ike housing so I'm just guessing here, but the Sigma 17-70 mm lens requires about a 20mm port extension so the lens doesn't hit the back of the dome when the lens is zoomed out toward 70 mm. I do not know if Ike's domes can be fitted with extensions???

 

Regards;

It's not the port length that makes the 17-70mm HSM hard to fit, it's the diameter of the lens. I use the non-HSM version of this lens with an Ike housing and the 8" dome with no problems. If I remember correctly, there was a thread a month or so ago discussing the HSM and the problem was getting a gear arrangement that would fit inside the port when wrapped around the lens.

I do really like the 17-70mm for a sort of do-everything lens U/W.

Good luck,

JP