I've been hired long term to shoot for a local cyclist blog/newspaper/community and have figured that a wide zoom would be an important thing to have in the kit. It's a good excuse to get a new lens of course.
I've got a $700 Canadian budget to work with right now for this new lens, which is a bit limiting, especially with the options available. The biggest issue is the first shoot is this Saturday (I was hired yesterday).
I think I got it down to two options:
Nikon 18-35mm 3.5-4.5 G
Tokina 16-28mm f2.8
I've been having a heck of a time deciding on which lens to go with, both are in stock, and I have two specific samples on hold that I've test shot with already. The lens are both sharp across the frame once stopped down to f4-f8 but both have serious diffraction issues around f11. I will probably live around f8 most of the time anyways so that's not an issue.
I plan on doing both video and stills.
Here are my theories:
Nikon: lighter, smaller, able to fit a filter. inconsistent aperture, and slower than the Tokina. This will allow me to do low angle rollers easier, fit a filter that will protect the front element against anything the bikes may spit up. The longer reach could also be more useful.
Tokina: heavier, but sharper at 3.5 than the Nikon. Constant faster aperture could make it a useful tool for low light photography or for shooting live music (another common job for me). the big thing that shies me away from this lens is the fact I can't fit a filter to it.
Any other opinions or options I should look at? I'm in Edmonton Alberta Canada and I only deal local, I don't deal online...that alone could hurt my odds of finding "the lens".