Buying my first Wide Angle Lens.

[deviant085]

Hi all, I am new to Digital Photography and i was thinking about buying a wide angle lens. I brought the Canon EOS 1000D Twin IS Lens kit about 3 months ago. So i have the 'EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS' and the 'EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS '

I really like what you can do with a wide angle lens. So I have been looking around at a few different ones and i am leaning towards the "Canon EF 24mm f/2.8" But it sounds a bit pricey, $599... I know it is not that much compared to some of the other i have seen. but when you do this as a hobby it adds up...

So i just wanted to get some thoughts, would you recommend forking out the cash? or is there something else you would recommend? for about the same money, or well cheaper would be nice...

Thanks in advance.

[inkista]

What do you want the lens for? What do you plan to shoot with it, and why is it the 18-55 kit lens not ok for the job?

I was dead happy adapting a Contax-Yashica mount Zeiss Distagon T* 28mm f/2.8 for my XT. It cost me $230 + $40 for the adapter ring. It's not sharp wide open, and it exhibits barrel distortion, but stopped down to f/8 it becomes absolutely godlike. But I wouldn't recommend it to anybody who wanted to shoot action photography or available light with it.

[deviant085]

To be honest i really don't know what i want to do with it, i was just going to try to reproduce some cool photos i have seen on the net taken of people & landscapes with wide angle lens's

For example, i think one of the most common uses of a wide angle lens i have seen is the shot of someone looking up, and they have the out of proportion head compared to their body.

is there a way to achieve the same effect, well something similar with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS. I have herd somewhere that you can do somethings similar not sure how true that is tho...

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by deviant085

So I have been looking around at a few different ones and i am leaning towards the "Canon EF 24mm f/2.8"

Here's the fun bit: that's not wide on your 1000D. That's 38mm, which is actually closer to the long end of your 18-55.

Want wide? Want reeeeeally wide? You want Canon's EF-S 10-20mm. 10mm is WIDE.

[rediguana]

Also, a 24mm lens isn't really that wide on a 1.6x crop sensor. Your current EFS 18-55 would be wider than an EF 24mm prime. You'd really need to go to the EFS 10-22 to get the ultrawide style (e.g. the distortion and pretty unique perspectives) you refer to.

[deviant085]

Thanks for the reply's...

I think i am going to have to put the wide angle idea on the save up for list... Canon's EF-S 10-20mm is going for about $1200 a little out of my budget

Or i think i might start looking at some other lens manufactures see if i can find something similar that will do the job...

[dharmit]

I recently purchased Sigma 10-20 f2.8 and am really happy to see the results and it costs only AU$780.

Cheers

[rediguana]

The other option may be the 15mm fisheye, but its use is probably more spe******ed and limited than the 10-22.

[inkista]

You want superwide with distortion? Just get the Samyang/Bower/Opteka/Vivitar/Rokinon/Phoenix 6.5/7/8mm fisheye. (They're all actually the same lens) It's about $300-$350, depending on which label is slapped on it. It's manual focus, but hell, with a fisheye you're not going to have to worry much about things being out of focus.

I think (not sure), that the Opteka version is currently the lowest-priced on Amazon.

Or if you want really cheap, go Russian and pick up a 16mm Zenitar. It's got flare issues, but for a little less than $200 on eBay, do you really care?

Who needs autofocus or aperture control from the camera, anyway? Seriously, these cheap fisheyes are fun, but they can be a hassle to use, and may distort far more than you want. But worth knowing they're there as an option.

[ddr]

for a crop sensor, the most popular wide angle lenses are the tokina 11-16 and the canon 10-22

the 11-16 gets glowing reviews and is obviously faster, yet so many users still choose the 10-22

The two lenses have very different stengths and weaknesses.

The 11-16 is wonderful in low light. It's used it for primarily for indoor shooting with available light. Its weakness is CA and flare, both of which are exaggerated by bright outdoor light.

The 10-22 is not a fast lens and therefore only use it indoors flash is used, or on a tripod when shooting stuff like architecture. It has excellent control of CA and insane control of flare, which makes it the go-to lens for outdoor shooting.

they complement each other rather than compete