Real value for money

Brought this lens for my Nikon D300 after extensive comparison and study with Nikon 12-24 and other similar third party lenses. This lens is truly value for money and it stretches 2 mm before on the wide side. Went to the shop and found 2 models. Tested the first one and found some softness at the left corners. The second one was perfect. Have already taken many shots with this lens in shopping centres, etc., wide open at f4 at the 10 mm end. Some distortion visible at the corners but everything captured is sharp. Another reason for buying this lens: do not wish to invest too heavily for a DX format lens as FX is around the corner!