wide angle lenses

[tigger795]

I am considering a new wide angle zoom and would really appreciate any input from anyone. I widest I currently have have the EF-S 18-55mm kit lens that came with my 300D. I would really like to get into the L glass but would hate to sacrifice my upcoming trip to WDW in May just to buy a lens that I am getting specifically to take on that trip .

Thanks In Advance

 

[Chickysmom]

I have no advise, as I am a novice in the photography department but I did want to say one thing....welcome to the boards and GO DUCKS!!! lol

I see you are in Beaverton and are probably a Beavers fan....I'm in southern Oregon and my family are Ducks fans....we welcome you to the boards anyway...lol!

Welcome!

 

[Daisy57b]

You might want to check out my thread I started on Canon Lens...has a lot of good info! I'm with ya...trying to figure out what lens to get!

 

[Kelly Grannell]

Sigma 18-125 DC. Check out the other threads for my reasoning. (sorry, too lazy to retype everything)

 

[jann1033]

i bought the 50mmf1.8, buying the 28-135mm IS and now i would like something for the uncovered wider end....any suggestions but the cheaper (but not garbage) the better... i was considering the kit lens( probably around $50 on ebay) since i really wouldn't use it that much...or what would you suggest
thanks

 

[Kelly Grannell]

the kit lens is the absolute cheapest.

 

[Mellie0119]

I'm planning on using my kit lens for my wide angle lens until I get the $$ to buy a nicer one (I've been banned from spending more money on my camera this year ). I've got to earn what I call spending equity- it's when l DH spends gobs of money on something silly so I can spend the same without too much complaining.

I just got my 28-135 IS last month and had some really nice shots with the kit lens.

 

[Jrasca Rex]

Hey everyone!
A friend of mine wants to get her husband a wide angle lens for his camera for all those extra special shots of Disneyland! We have no idea how to go about finding the right one and would like some help.

He has a Canon Eos XT and we are looking for any recommendations from you photography experts on a good wide angle lens.
Thanks!

 

[boBQuincy]

I took a Canon 10-22 lens on it's first trip to WDW last week (couldn't find a place to pin on it's "1st Time" button) and it performed very well. 10mm is really wide and allows for some dramatic images of Cindy's Castle. The lens also gives some good wide images inside rides although the max aperture of f/3.5 isn't very fast.

The lens is quite sharp and distortions are minimal (as long as you hold it straight and level).

The downsides? Price. No lens hood provided (the hood from my 24-105 fits and doesn't cause any vignetting that I can see). It's an EF-S lens and won't fit full-frame cameras, if that is in your future.

Overall I think it is a good addition to my lens "collection", and one I plan to carry most of the time.

 

[ndelaware]

I too chose the Canon 10-22 for my wide angle lens. It runs about $600-$700. There are less expensive alternatives like the Sigma 10-20, the Tamron 11-18, the Tokina 10-17, and the Tokina 12-24. All run about $500-$600, possibly less depending on where you buy. Check this link: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...sgr=&shs=&ci=12039&ac=&Submit.x=12&Submit.y=5 B&H is cheaper than most brick and mortar stores but not the cheapest on the net.

 

[Jrasca Rex]

Thanks for the help! I will pass that information along.

 

[handicap18]

While I do not have one yet, I have read a bunch of reviews in anticipation of possibly getting one. The Tokina 12-24mm f/4 has gotten very good reviews and it is f/4 throughout the zoom range. Goes for a little under $500. The Sigma is a little bit wider (10-20mm) and a little bit less expensive, but is f/4-5.6. The Canon is also a very good lens at 10-22mm. The f/3.5-4.5 aperture range through the zoom isn't to bad, but the price is quite a bit more than the Tokina and Sigma.

Good luck.

 

[Groucho]

How wide is wide, and is fish-eye desired?

If you want something lowbuck but still capable of quality photos and don't mind manual settings, you can get a Zenitar 16mm fisheye from eBay - it doesn't normally come in a Canon mount but several sellers will sell you the Pentax M42 mount with an adapter to allow it to work on an EOS mount. Assuming that there are no issues with the adapter (I honestly don't know), the lens itself is a lot of fun and relatively very cheap, probably under $150 for everything. The fisheye effect isn't very pronounced on a DSLR which is good or bad depending on what you're after. If you don't want fisheye, the photos can be "straightened" fairly easily by a variety of software.

It is 100% manual so you'll need to meter by hand, to saw nothing of focusing, but it's wide enough that you can usually just leave it on infinity and it'll be in focus. The other lenses can probably produce slightly superior photos and certainly are much easier to use, but you'll probably have to pay 3-5x as much. It's a great bang-for-the-buck lens.

 

[boBQuincy]

I bought a Zenitar 16 a few years ago and liked the wide angle. As Groucho mentioned, the fisheye effect is not bad on a 1.6 crop camera and can usually be fixed with an image editor. It's a good lens for the price.

I used the Zenitar a lot at Yosemite National Park and that helped me decide to spring for the 10-22.

My Zenitar came from the Ukraine in a box, wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. A Ukrainian coworker translated some of the writing for me, no secret spy stuff though.

 

[Groucho]

Mine came straight from Moscow via the eBay seller "zenitar" - part of the fun is the communist-era packaging and the smell! I had to keep the whole package.

It even comes with a lens bag with a shoulder strap. Too bad it doesn't have a belt loop.

It's a good way to decide if you REALLY want a very wide fisheye before dropping the big bucks on one of the big-name ones. You can probably resell it on eBay for nearly what you paid for it, too.

 

[Groucho]

Here's how mine looked when it arrived:

Da, comrade!

 

[jann1033]

umm what did it smell like? trying to picture "common ex-soviet union smells" and can't think of any

 

[Groucho]

Some have compared it to '50s-era bakelite.

It's not like a strong smell or anything, but you can tell that it's a little more... "exotic"... than your everyday lens!

 

[DVC Jen]

I am interested in eventually getting a wide angle lens. I want to be able to take panorama? shots? Not sure if there is a lens that I can get to do this.

I have also noticed wide angle lenses that you attach to a regular lens. Does anyone have one of these and what is your opinion on them?

 

[MarkBarbieri]

We need to know what kind of camera you have before we can recommend a wide angle lens for it.

As for panoramas, you can do that with any lens. You almost certainly want a tripod though. To take a panoramic picture, you put the camera on a level tripod and take a series of pictures with the angle of the camera changed between each shot. The pictures should all overlap. Then you use some computer software to "stich" the pictures together. You can get special attachments to your tripod that help you level the camera and help you rotate it around exactly the right spot.

If you have a wide angle lens, you can also do a "panoramic" style picture by just chopping off the top and bottom of the picture leaving a long skinny part of the photo.