Need help with wide angle lense selection

LXative · Mar 13, 2005

I am new to the DSLR world, still learning all the acronyms and everything. Since I am entry level, I chose a Canon 300D. I am not looking to be a professional photographer, just supporting a hobby that I acquired a year or 2 ago.

Along with my 300D, I also purchased a Sigma lense kit, with 70-300/1:4-5.6 macro, and a 28-70mm/1:2.8-4. I know these lenses arent the best, but they do good for me and the camera budget I am currently allowing myself. I need a wide angle lense now, and I will pretty much complete the kit I am looking to own. I just can't fathom paying $1300 for a lense for some reason. I know there has to be a decent wide angle comparable to the quality of lenses that I have already purchased, which would also be comparable price wise.

Long story short, I need a wide angle lense.......best bang for the buck at a reasonable price. To give you all an idea of what type of photography I enjoy, here are the links to some pictures. All of these pictures were taken with my Fuji A201, which has almost no manual controls. Also, if you can post sample pictures with your wide angle lense, and include the specs that would be great also.

Thanks.....

http://www.horsepowerjunkies.com/gallery/data/500/2andrea1.JPG
http://thewolfweb.com/photos/00242274.jpg
http://www.horsepowerjunkies.com/gallery/data/500/2DSCF0070.JPG
http://www.horsepowerjunkies.com/gallery/data/500/2DSCF0010aa.jpg
http://www.horsepowerjunkies.com/gallery/data/500/2postdusty2.jpg
http://www.horsepowerjunkies.com/gallery/data/500/2postchris3.jpg

walter23 · Mar 13, 2005

Best bang for the buck has got to be the zenitar 16mm fisheye. It's all manual, but it's very very easy to use. The depth of field is so huge that you really don't have to worry too much about focus (you can use the markings on the lens to guide you, and anything further than 1m will almost always be in focus if focused on infinity or hyperfocal distance) and metering is easy on your body even though you have to set the aperture on the lens instead of with the camera. It costs about $130 on ebay (search for zenitar) or you can buy it direct from kievcamera.com although he sells them on ebay cheaper. Get an EOS mount one, like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=40970&item=7140162162

This guy (kievcamera) is excellent. I paid for my lens with paypal on a wednesday and received it (in Canada, cross borders) exactly 7 days later.

Here are some examples of photos taken with the lens:

http://www.pbase.com/cameras/zenitar/16_28_mc_fisheye

If you don't like the fisheye effect (which I really like, and which gives you a much wider angle of view than the equivalent rectilinear lens) you can correct it with software, for example "defish" or "panotools" (plugin for photoshop).

walter23 · Mar 13, 2005

Also, if you prefer rectilinear lenses, the Tokina 17mm f/3.5 AT-X PRO is supposed to be an excellent lens and you can buy it for about $300. Get it used from www.keh.com if you can.

Digital Matt · Mar 13, 2005

Well, the 18-55 EFS kit lens that normally comes with the 300D would be equivalent to those two lenses you mentioned. You might find one on Ebay very cheap. They only add $100 to the 300D price when purchased new. If you want something that will give you better results you'll of course have to pay more. You can check out the Tamron 17-35 4-5.6, or for a bit more, the Canon 17-40 f/4 L.

DocFrankenstein · Mar 13, 2005

And if you want to go really wide, there's the russian 8mm. Forgot the name, but kievcamera has the name for it.

LXative · Mar 13, 2005

Digital Matt said:
Well, the 18-55 EFS kit lens that normally comes with the 300D would be equivalent to those two lenses you mentioned. You might find one on Ebay very cheap. They only add $100 to the 300D price when purchased new.

Yup, I got that lense with my camera. Definately need a wider angle than that.

What I am looking for is the ability to be just 4-5 feet from a car and fit the entire car in the picture. With the kit lense or my 28-70mm Sigma, I still need to be a good 10-15 feet from the car to fit it in the frame.

I will check out this fisheye, thanks for the link. Keep the suggestions coming, they are appreciated.

Digital Matt · Mar 13, 2005

Sigma makes a 10-22mm. I can't vouche for the quality. You can check www.fredmiranda.com for reviews. I think Tamron has also made an extreme wide angle.

Why do you need to be so close to the car?

walter23 · Mar 13, 2005

LXative said:
I will check out this fisheye, thanks for the link. Keep the suggestions coming, they are appreciated.

The fisheye will definitely let you do that, but of course you also have to deal with fisheye distortion which might not be the best thing for photographing cars. The 8mm fisheye someone mentioned is branded "Peleng".

LXative · Mar 13, 2005

Digital Matt said:
Why do you need to be so close to the car?

Most of the rolling highway shots are taken on 2 lane highways........so I have to be in the lane next to the car I am shooting.

kfoster · Mar 13, 2005

Tamron has a new 11-18MM F/4.5-5.6 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) lens out. List price is $950, street price will probably be somewhere around $500.

Sigma also has a new lens 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM lens. No price yet.

Tokina has a 12-24mm f/4 AT-X 124AF Pro DX for $500.

These lenses are both designed for digital so using your 300D will be no problem. The thing you have to remember is that the 300D has a 1.6x focal length factor which makes getting wide angle difficult.

K