What are the effects of cheap lenses? And how do you take widescreen pictures?

[Treymac]

Hey guys. My XTi came with two kit lenses. The one that I'm mostly using is the 18 - 55mm. I love being able to go down to 18mm, but almost all the pictures I took had just slight blur, the edges weren't completely sharp. Would this be a result of a cheap lens? Should I buy a better lens?

Also, how are widescreen - 16x9, pictures taken? Are they just done with cropping, or is there a type of lens that you would use?

 

[Mike_E]

Yes, some cheap lenses will be soft. They also wear out much faster due to the quality of the materials from which they are made. And you will generally get a lot more distortion.

As far as I know the only dedicated panoramic cameras were film cameras. You can take a wide angle shot and crop it or get a special attachment for a tripod which will allow you to rotate your camera with the sensor plane at the exact center of the circle. You then stich the shots together in PS. You don't have to have this if your subject matter is far enough away. If you are a hands on type there are plans on the net for the attachment.

mike