View Full Version : Canon wide angle lenses?
I'm after a decent wide angle lense for my 400D.
Have looked at the EF 20mm f/2.8 USM, seems to be about £270.
Is it a good lense? is that a good price?
Going to be used for Landscapes as and when th emoment arises rather than for anything specific. Is there the same lense without the USM? For what I will use it for, fast focussing isn't a major issue. I jsut want lots of width and good optics for my money.
By far the main one used is the 10-22mm, Scott, which is nice and wide on our crop factor bodies, whereas the 20mm (which I have never heard anything of TBH) is less wide than our 18-55 kit lenses.
There are a few non-Canon alternatives, including a Sigma which is something like 10-20 I think, and a Tokina 12-24mm.
The one that everyone is getting excited is a new one from Tokina; the 11-16 f/2.8, from the MFT graphs I have seen, this thing is an utter beast and knocks the socks off almost every other lens, it also has a nice constant aperture (unlike the 10-22) but the main drawback compared to the Canon is that 1mm loss at the wide angle. Doesnt sound like much at all and for longer lenses you would laugh at a 1mm difference but for the wide end it makes a big difference:
Canon:
http://k53.pbase.com/o2/62/470562/1/98155960.q0wI2NYV.FOV10mm.jpg
Tokina:
http://i.pbase.com/o2/62/470562/1/98155963.GsQePFKX.FOV11mm.jpg
Images from here. (http://www.pbase.com/lightrules/1022v1116) (also gives some other nice comparisons so worth a look)
The tokina also has a longer minimum focussing distance which is annoying when trying to get crazy wide angle distorted closeups but besides this and the 1mm, IMO it owns the Canon and its cheaper too IIRC.
Jeff.
cheers jeff, Can't see your extrernally hosted pics and my works server jsut booted that link as if i had googled 'the paris tape'.
is this the Tokina you are talking about? http://www.onestop-digital.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=24_43&products_id=462
Will now search out the Canon one too :)
cheers for your help.
the canon 10-22? http://www.onestop-digital.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=24_26&products_id=32
the sigma is much much cheaper... http://www.onestop-digital.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=24_28&products_id=130
cheers jeff, Can't see your extrernally hosted pics and my works server jsut booted that link as if i had googled 'the paris tape'.
is this the Tokina you are talking about? http://www.onestop-digital.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=24_43&products_id=462
Will now search out the Canon one too :)
cheers for your help.
Yeah thats the one. Yes have a look at the Canon, both very good lenses. There are a few other comparisons on POTN IIRC.
the canon 10-22? http://www.onestop-digital.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=24_26&products_id=32
Yes thats the one.
the sigma is much much cheaper... http://www.onestop-digital.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=24_28&products_id=130
Yeah thats quite a difference. TBH I havnt looked into the Sigma at all so couldnt say how good/bad it is, I do know that the Canon has been the standard for a while though.
Jeff.
the Tokina, the original, comes in cheapest at £250.
Spent a fair while on POTN yesterday but couldn't find any really meaty threads on the subject.
Now I have better parameters for their search engine, I should have better luck.
Cheers Jeff :)
Reef bloke
23-08-08, 22:21
Yep you definately need someting wider than 20mm if you take into account the 1.6 crop factor making a 20mm lens effectively 32mm.
Theres a chap that lives up the road from me thats a Tokina dealer Scott if you want me to get a qoute.
I spent several months looking at this and took both the Sigma and Canon out into the field. IMO Sigma have always been slightly behind the Canons like for like in the ranges. However the Sigma Wide is very good. I have one!
Scott
What body are you using ? Maybe you should consider a full-frame version to get rid of the factoring ?
Could be better in the long run ...........
Reef bloke
23-08-08, 22:36
He has my old 400d LTD,mmm full frame yum,hows about a nice 1ds mark III:worship:
Reef bloke
23-08-08, 22:50
Lol why scrimp,yeh coming back down to earth the 5d is a cracking camera,its definately due for a make over any time soon though so might be worth hanging on a while.
i'd love a 5d, probably over a 1dIII, either way, I have all kinds of stuff I need to get long before that :laugh:
Tony, if you speak to the Tokina guy, sure, I'd appreciate a price. Read a review of the sigma in Digital Photo today, they liked it very much.
i have had the tokina 12-24mm F4 and currently own the sigma 10-20mm both are good lenses but i would say the sigma is a bit better overall. It's autofocus is faster due to HSM and the lens is a bit smaller and lighter the downside of the sigma is the F5.6 apature at 20mm. i did briefly consider the tokina 11-16 or 10-17 but there both more expensive than the sigma and as i use it on my underwater camera cost is a real issue. It depends how much use you think you will get from it. to me large apatures are less of an issue with wide angle as 99% of the time you are going to step down for DOF/sharpness anyway.
check out
http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/index.php
most of them have been tested already and you get a nice jave applet that shows you how sharpness varies with zoom/apature.
one last thing if a 20mm was an option how wide do you need to go? theres a really nice tokina 16-50mm F2.8 that you would geta lot more use out of if your only an occasional landscape photographer and would replace the crappy kit lens.
HTH
Roddy
good post Roddy, cheers :)
This is it, I haven't had need to use one yet, but it would come in really handy. I know I would use it occassionally if I had one. I see a fair few large tanks crammed into small rooms, I can never get the whole thing in, thus a much wider lense would be ideal. I drive past scenic shots that every season offer up a great shot that I never take, I would if i had a proper WA lense. (Anyone in kent, head for the A251, Sheldwich church is currently surrounded by a field of bright orange flowers and a field of almost actinic purple flowers, they look incredible).
There's a Turkish photographer who's name escapes me, his site is in my 'favourites' list but i'm not on the right pc. Most of his work is Wide Angle stuff that has then had severe levels adjustment. I'd like to learn how to do that, hang on, i'll find a link, googling a picture title will bring it up :)
that was easy enough, though googling 'young men in Istanbul' leaves an odd search history in google.
If you've not seen this guy's work, take your time and look at every picture.
a few of my favourites....
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q3/goldenhorn.jpg
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q3/boyinwinter.jpg
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q3/motheranddoughters.jpg
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q3/streetinbirgi.jpg
To me, these are the epitome of cool wide angle (and fish eye) shots.
If I could even get close I'd be laughing, and I appreciate that with a 10mm lense and a full frame sensor, well I'd get close. Just need to learn how to use Photoshop and take photographs now :laugh:
Interestingly, in Digital Photo this month is quite a nice pull out section on improving your post production skills. It's the second in a 3 parter but for noobs like me it gives some valuable tips.
Yeah i see what you mean his work has a black and white feel to it with the range of contrast in it . 2nd and third shots are my favs.
in that case i would go for the sigma as it's small and light and easy to carry and not much more expensive than the Tokina. i got mine for £300 of amazon.
Roddy
Stevie Lee
26-08-08, 19:35
Just bought the Tokina 12-24 from onestop £245. And so far I`am more than impressed. Like you Scoob I didn`t think get would get used that much so went for the cheapest option, But after sticking it on the front of the camera am just itching to use it.
The differance with 18mm on the kit and 12mm on the Tokina is unreal.
But if your thinking of upgrading to the 5D dont get this lens as it`s just for cropped bodies
Just bought the Tokina 12-24 from onestop £245. And so far I`am more than impressed. Like you Scoob I didn`t think get would get used that much so went for the cheapest option, But after sticking it on the front of the camera am just itching to use it.
The differance with 18mm on the kit and 12mm on the Tokina is unreal.
But if your thinking of upgrading to the 5D dont get this lens as it`s just for cropped bodies
actually no, because its the tokina mount and not a crappy canon EF-s mount you can attach it to a full frame camera. Obviously it starts to vignette below 15mm but that's still really wide and you could still crop a nice wide angle out of it at 12mm. Obviously quality would suffer a bit as your using the whole lens not just the sweet spot but it would be worth a go. If you have an old film body kicking about try it it will give you vertigo.
Roddy
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