Panny 7-14 or Tokina 11-16

J

james thorpe

Active member
This might be a stretch but have any of you guys compared the 7-14 to a 11-16 and even Canon 14L?
I probably will have to borrow before purchase. I'm leaning towards the 7-14.
 
Well, it really depends on if you want mildly wide, or insanely wide. The Canon 14L is mildly wide on a GH2. The 7-14 is insanely wide. The Tokina is in-between.
 
I also have Canon and was thinking 2 birds/stone with the other lenses. But the Panny is my main cam.
I have the 14-140 so i know i should get the 7-14. Just double-checking with you experts here.
 
I have both (not the 14L) and they are different beasts. The Tokina will work on Canons and the Panasonic and is a mildly fast f2.8. The Panasonic will only work on the Panasonic and is slower at F4.

The Panasonic is wider and lighter and very sharp.

The Tokina (IMHO) seems to be a better investment (as it works on multiple cameras) and is slightly faster, but if you don't need the speed, maybe the 7-14 will fulfill your wide-ness dreams!

.02
 
The Tokina would work on both, which might be a big advantage for you, and it's also less expensive. Problem is using the aperture on the panasonic body -- the only electronic adapter that gives you full control is the Redrock LiveLens. If you got that, you could use the Tokina on both cameras...
 
greeches said:
I have both (not the 14L) and they are different beasts. The Tokina will work on Canons and the Panasonic and is a mildly fast f2.8. The Panasonic will only work on the Panasonic and is slower at F4.

The Panasonic is wider and lighter and very sharp.

The Tokina (IMHO) seems to be a better investment (as it works on multiple cameras) and is slightly faster, but if you don't need the speed, maybe the 7-14 will fulfill your wide-ness dreams!

.02
Click to expand...

I actually had the Tokina to test with. I'm thinking maybe the 7-14 has better IQ. I know it is equal or maybe better then 16-35L. The price of the Tokina keeps going up while the 7-14 is going down.
I mainly am into Landscapes so the speed isn't a major issue. But I wanted to ask you guys in case i've overlooked something. I keep wanting to sell my
Canon but i am finding that i need to keep it as a B-cam. Panny has been my A-cam for video and B-cam for stills. But i am getting some great stills from the GH2.
 
The Tokina on a Canon APS-C is almost too wide. I rarely use it below 16mm. I would think that on the m4/3rds mounts of the GH2/AF-100, it would be just right.
 
Barry, you can get the nikon version of the tokina and get a nikon g adapter with aperture control also.
 
Just remember, with the Tokina lens on the Gh2 - No Autofocus....
You would have to always check focus using the zoom-focus feature, which
only works when not recording.

I have the 7-14 and have used the 11-16. If you don't have a Nikon or Canon
and would not be using the 11-16 on either or both, then I would go for the 7-14.
I have 2-GH2 bodies and the 7-14 is always attached to one of the bodies.
 
Yeah, i'm sold on the 7-14. So, there's no possible way to use a mattebox or other alternatives to filter light w/o the threads??
 
iunknown said:
Barry, you can get the nikon version of the tokina and get a nikon g adapter with aperture control also.
Click to expand...

Do people do this?

I see the Fotodiox Nikon to m4/3s adapter with aperture control is only $2 more than the one without it. I'm wondering why anyone would choose the one without, since I would think in theory that's a great way to put decent glass on it and still have aperture control.
 
Thats the problem with the 7-14, no filter threads and a permanent attached lens shade. In about 60% of the situations I would use the 7-14 I would probably want to use a grad ND, good luck rigging that. A-B tests that I have seen lean towards the Tokina in image quality, the Tokina has worse CA but the Panasonic is probably just as bad-its just corrected by the Panasonic camera body. I've seen great still work with the 7-14, when I tried one I found it almost too wide for anything but a static shot or maybe a molasses-slow pan or dolly.
 
Barry_Green said:
How can it be "too wide"? You just zoom it in a bit...
Click to expand...

My point being that in the pro-con argument; is the wide end (7mm which I find of limited usefulness) worth the tradeoff in being able to use either screw-in filters or even taping a 3X3 or 4X4 to the front of the lens? The ability to potentially use the Nikon mount Tokina on future cameras that may not be MFT mount seems prudent to consider as well.
 
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Anyone mention how slow the Panny is? Pretty much unusable indoors. I'm looking forward to giving the Noktor 12mm a shot. I'm using the Tokina right now, but it's not quite sharp enough for me.
 
Everyone has mentioned how slow it is. It is one stop slower than the Tokina. To so
E that is a deal breaker. To me, it means boosting the gain by 6dB, not a big deal and well worth it for the way wider FOV. But yeah, it is max f4.
 
joe1946 said:
I agree, here is a GH2 video with 7-14mm @10mm with Steadicam Merlin by darwinfish105 :
Click to expand...

At first I was like "Wow, that is pretty nice on the GH2. ANd that's 10mm? Very contained bowing for such a wide mm..."

And then I was like.

"Wtf? Why is no one looking at this guys camera? It's like he doesn't exist, or it's all staged."

If that was NY or LA, everyone would be staring right into your lens.
 
Kholi said:
At first I was like "Wow, that is pretty nice on the GH2. ANd that's 10mm? Very contained bowing for such a wide mm..."

And then I was like.

"Wtf? Why is no one looking at this guys camera? It's like he doesn't exist, or it's all staged."

If that was NY or LA, everyone would be staring right into your lens.
Click to expand...

Well, too many people with a DSLR over here. Also, if you are standing somewhere and try to take a picture, EVERYBODY stops so they don't walk into your frame. Pretty awesome :D

Now I want to go to Akihabara again...hmm
 
Simon Höfer said:
Well, too many people with a DSLR over here. Also, if you are standing somewhere and try to take a picture, EVERYBODY stops so they don't walk into your frame. Pretty awesome :D

Now I want to go to Akihabara again...hmm
Click to expand...

I like the quality of the Tokyo vid. If you want to get attention with a cam in japan, go to Harajuku and start taking shots at some of
the unique fancy street boutiques. You will be noticed. Guaranteed. :) I think its more common that people compare the Oly 9-18 then the Tokina 11-16.
 
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