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Canon 15mm or 17-40 L?

gtuckergtucker Registered Users Posts: 30 Big grins
edited October 18, 2010 in Accessories
I am saving up for a new lens and it's between the Canon 15mm and the Canon 17-40mm L...they are around the same price range and I really would like to get a lens that is fast and has a pretty wide angle since my camera has a 1.6x crop. Which one do you think is better overall?

I mainly use the lens to shoot events inside (without a flash if I can) so the f/2.8 would be great on the 15mm lens but I have heard there are sharpness issues.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
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    craig_dcraig_d Registered Users Posts: 911 Major grins
    edited October 14, 2010
    The 15mm is a fisheye lens, so I wouldn't even consider it in any real sense equivalent to the 17-40mm. The fisheye effect is great when you want it, but most of the time you probably don't.

    Also, if you don't have a full-frame camera (5D or 1Ds), don't bother with the 15mm. The fisheye effect, by its nature, is at its most interesting around the edges, and that's exactly what you lose on a crop-frame camera.

    I wouldn't say sharpness is a problem, though. I have both the 15mm fisheye and the 17-40mm. They're both great lenses. Here are a couple of samples:

    Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40mm f/4L:
    667968011_xfM3s-L-3.jpg

    Canon 5D Mark II, 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye:
    723146277_MceKm-L-3.jpg
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    kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited October 14, 2010
    The 17-40L is F4, so that's out for indoor use without a flash. For a fast mid-range zoom, what you really should be looking at is the EF-S 17-55 F2.8 IS. If you want to go super-wide, the EF-S 10-22 is your guy.
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    rainbowrainbow Registered Users Posts: 2,765 Major grins
    edited October 14, 2010
    For crop, consider the 10-22mm EF-S from Canon.
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    SamirDSamirD Registered Users Posts: 3,474 Major grins
    edited October 18, 2010
    But how sharp is the 10-22? Will it complete with these two L-series lenses?
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    gtuckergtucker Registered Users Posts: 30 Big grins
    edited October 18, 2010
    I was really trying to stay around the sub-700 price point here, that's the issue.
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    John MuellerJohn Mueller Registered Users Posts: 2,555 Major grins
    edited October 18, 2010
    SamirD wrote: »
    But how sharp is the 10-22? Will it complete with these two L-series lenses?
    It all depends if you get a good copy.
    The one I had back in the day was extremely sharp and could compete with an L.

    If your going to stay with the 1.6 crop camera, this would be my choice.
    The 17-40 is also very good and if you upgrade to a 1.3 or FF it will be all goodthumb.gif
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    SamirDSamirD Registered Users Posts: 3,474 Major grins
    edited October 18, 2010
    John Mueller wrote: »
    It all depends if you get a good copy.
    The one I had back in the day was extremely sharp and could compete with an L.
    Good to know. thumb.gif
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