Wide Angle lens recommendation

eichert12

What wide angle lens would folks recommend for use on a full frame body (Canon)? I'd like to add a super wide angle lens (< 24mm) to my kit and would love some recommendations.

Thanks,
Steve

pathfinder

What is your budget?

16-35 f2.8 L II is pretty decent, but so is the 17-40 f4 L, but quite a bit cheaper.

Then you can get the Nikon and Zeiss lenses via adapters.......

Tee Why

I think a popular option is the Canon 17-40L.

rwells

I agree with pathfinder & tomyi

I've been extremely pleased with my 17-40 f/4L lens.


Wonder if it's not sharp due to it being a bargan price?

Check these pictures out that I just took with mine this evening.

Straight out of camera, no sharpening on anything!

Awais Yaqub

I am happy with picture quality of 17-40 f4L on my 400D amazingly sharp.

Check this and this

eichert12

Thanks for the recommendations. I wanted to see what folks recommended and then see if it aligned at all with my budget. Either way I'm going to have to take some time to save up for something, figuring out what option is best will determine how long I'll be saving

Does anyone have any fixed length wide angle's they recommend? Such as this 15mm?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/12069-USA/Canon_2535A003_Fisheye_EF_15mm_f_2_8.html

Cheers,
Steve

eichert12

Very impressive pictures by the way!

ziggy53

I saw a local pro up in Milwaukee last year using a Canon EF 14mm, f2.8L II USM. He was pretty happy with the lens but I never got a chance to see any finished full-sized images.

The lens gets good reviews:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-14mm-f-2.8-L-II-USM-Lens-Review.aspx

For myself I decided that a panoramic head was a much better idea. It does take longer to take and process the images but the level of detail possible is truly amazing. (Of course if you want to see "truly" amazing panoramas you might have to visit DGrin headquarters):

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=101529

kdog

pathfinder wrote:

What is your budget?

16-35 f2.8 L II is pretty decent, but so is the 17-40 f4 L, but quite a bit cheaper.

I would think the 16-35 would be better indoors and for star trails because it's a faster lens. True story?

DavidTO

I have the 17-40. It's a great lens, and if you don't need the extra stop, go for it. The other lens I really want is the Nikkor 16mm fisheye. Check out the reviews on fredmiranda. You can use it on a Canon camera with an adapter.

pathfinder

You can also use the Nikkor 12-24 with an adapter I believe.

I used a Zeiss 21mm f2.8 Distagon, with an adapter, on my 1DsMkII and it is quite sharp.

Does anyone have any experience with the Tokina 11-16mm lens? Is is only for crop sensor APS only, not full frame.

I agree with Ziggy, that for landscape work I frequently prefer to shoot panos, with a 24 or 50mm lens, and then merge the images. They will be much more detailed than a single frame wide angle shot, no matter how good the wide angle glass is.

Your budget will play a big role in your discussion, as wide angle lenses can vary quite a bit in price.

Ian had the EOS 15mm in Utah I believe.

I am still shopping for a fish eye too.

DavidTO

pathfinder wrote:

I am still shopping for a fish eye too.

That Nikkor 16 is the one Marc has.

pathfinder

B&H has the 16mm Nikkor for $749 - less than a lot of high grade wide angles.

Now I gotta ask David, which adapter and will it work on a 5DMkII?

kdog

Nobody answered my question on the 16-35 versus 17-40, but that's ok :cry


So do these adapters for attaching Nikon and Zeiss lenses to Canon bodies allow autofocusing?

DavidTO

pathfinder wrote:

B&H has the 16mm Nikkor for $749 - less than a lot of high grade wide angles.

Now I gotta ask David, which adapter and will it work on a 5DMkII?

This is the one that Marc recommended to me.

EDIT: BH Photo link.

Robinivich

kdog wrote:

Nobody answered my question on the 16-35 versus 17-40, but that's ok :cry


So do these adapters for attaching Nikon and Zeiss lenses to Canon bodies allow autofocusing?

For star trails you generally don't need a particularly fast lens (in my limited experience). Fast exposures don't yield terribly big trails... though under the right conditions f2.8 is still helpful with the stars. I can't find the thread now, it was probably 2+years ago on dpreview, but I saw someone post a shot taken with the 15mm fisheye on a 5d at f2.8, ISO 1600 for 30 seconds. He'd just set the camera on it's back on a mountain road in the andes, and he got the whole milky way sharp! Fantastic shot. Let's face it, f2.8 never hurt anyone (except in the bank account). Between reviews of the two lenses, I'd say they're both great for the money. 17-40 is a real bargain, and the 16-35 is worth the price premium for f2.8 and better sharpness.

And for adapters, I've only ever heard of autofocus confirmation chips for most major systems (so the manual focus assist beep and light works). It's just too complicated to rewrite AF algorithms. The exception being some mod work with contax (Ziess) lenses for EOS, http://en.conurus.com/ has figured out electronic aperture control and AF, but these are major mods for discontinued lenses.

eichert12

I'd be very interested to hear more details about the adapters. I'm particularly interested in what sacrifices have to be made (if any). I've been reading about a lot of great Nikon glass recently and this adapter talk has me intrigued!

David, have you used the adapter you linked to or was it just something that was recommended?

DavidTO

eichert12 wrote:

I'd be very interested to hear more details about the adapters. I'm particularly interested in what sacrifices have to be made (if any). I've been reading about a lot of great Nikon glass recently and this adapter talk has me intrigued!

David, have you used the adapter you linked to or was it just something that was recommended?

It's recommended by Marc Muench, one of our Artists in Residence here on dgrin. He only has the one Nikkor, and keeps the adapter on it all the time. Except for that one time he was going to let me shoot with the lens, and then he "remembered that he had loaned the adapter to a friend."

eichert12

Wow, he has some amazing photographs on his site! Did he mention whether a Nikon lense works just like a Canon lens with the adapter? I suppose working with the camera's auto focus system would be the main thing?

DavidTO

eichert12 wrote:

Wow, he has some amazing photographs on his site! Did he mention whether a Nikon lense works just like a Canon lens with the adapter? I suppose working with the camera's auto focus system would be the main thing?

There is no auto focus. He uses it for landscapes, so it's not an issue. If you're looking to use this for much else, I'd think twice.

On another note, I've not heard of anyone really happy with the Canon 14mm.

ChatKat

Look at the Sigma 12-24
I have the Sigma 12-24 that I bought to use on My 5d. Very sharp although at 12mm you get vignetting. I know a few pros that shoot high end commercial with that - the version I have is made for full frame. I can't use it for wedding work but for landscape and travel...that said I have the 24-70 for wedding work but want something wider and will probably get the 16-35 since I need the extra stop.

kdog

Robinivich wrote:

For star trails you generally don't need a particularly fast lens (in my limited experience). Fast exposures don't yield terribly big trails... though under the right conditions f2.8 is still helpful with the stars.

Thanks for the input. By "fast", I was talking about large apertures, not short shutter speeds. I should have mentioned that I have the EF-S 17-55 IS today that I use on a 40D, but I'm thinking of moving to full frame for landscape stuff. I've done a bit of star trails and astro stuff, and have used F2.8 quite a bit for that purpose. Sounds like I answered my own question. I think the 16-35 would probably be the way to go. Too bad it doesn't have IS.

-joel

ziggy53

eichert12 wrote:

Wow, he has some amazing photographs on his site! Did he mention whether a Nikon lense works just like a Canon lens with the adapter? I suppose working with the camera's auto focus system would be the main thing?

Like David said, no autofocus and no auto aperture. You focus manually wide open and, if the adapter has a "focus confirmation chip" the camera will indicate when it senses prime focus the same as if you used a conventional AF Canon lens in manual mode.

After you focus you can stop down with the aperture ring on the lens. The process is a lot like the old preset lenses (in the olden days.) The camera will calculate the exposure properly in aperture priority mode. The Nikon "G" series lenses are not very suited for adapting to Canon because they lack the aperture ring.

pathfinder

Like Ziggy says, the Zeiss lenses with the adapter, you focus by hand - look through the finder and focus on the ground glass. This can be challenging in the dark. That is one reason that Live View is so interesting - you can focus with a 10x view with your illuminated LCD screen; that is what Marc does with his Nikkor lens or his EOS 24 T&S also.

Once you have focus with the lens aperture wide open, you stop the lens down to take the picture, and then open the aperture back up afterward. My 1DsMkii would meter fine through the lens when the lens aperture was stopped down.

It sounds slow and clumsy, but a 21mm lens really has a lot of DOF, and the light usually does not change that fast when shooting landscapes, so once I had the lens mounted and focused, I could shoot a number of frames without making any major changes since I would shoot with the camera in Manual Mode. This is true for most extreme wide angles, if I were trying to do this with short telelphotos I would have to be much more concerned about being in precise focus due to the shallower DOF.

The adapter just stays mounted to the lens all the time, I do not take the adapter off the lens at all.

There have been some complaints that the mirror of the 5D does not have the clearance of the 1DsMkII and can hit the optic of some lenses, so one has to know precisely what one is doing.

eichert12

I think I'll leave that process to the pro's and get something that involves a little less work Thanks for all the information!

Cheers,
Steve

Manfr3d

If you run across a Sigma 15-30mm give it a try, some samples are superb.