Which Wide angle lens do you prefer?

[rideforever]

Dear all,

I'm tossing up buying a new wide angle lens for my Olympus OM10 and am not sure which one to go for. I already have a 70-210 Series 1 Vivatar lens and 50mm standard Zuico lens that came with the camera. Now, I need a lens for wider landscape and outdoor shots mainly as I'm trekking across the Gobi desert for the next 9 months and thus I'd like your opinions. My choices are buying either a:

a) 28mm or similar Zuico lens,
b) Third party (likely Tamron) 28-70mm lens.

Though weight is a priority, will I lose quality by going with the Tamron? Is there one preferred wide angle lens for general use? If I go for B I'll likely sell my 50mm lens. This is new territory for me and I'd really appreciate your experiences.

Best Regards,
Stephen

 

[Dylan]

I have a 20mm prime f1.8 Sigma that I really like a lot. It has just the right amount of distorsion. I don't know if they make it in an Olympus mount though. It would be worth looking into though.

 

[selmerdave]

A 20mm 1.8?!?! Wow.

My question would be, why get the zoom when you already have the 50mm? It's probably fair to say that the 28-70 will not do 28mm as well as a 28mm Zuiko, and will be quite a bit bigger and have a smaller maximum aperature at the same time. Nor will the zoom do 50mm better than your 50mm. I'd say get a Zuiko 28/2.8.

Dave

 

[rideforever]

Thanks for your advice. Interesting... how does a 28mm compare to a 20mm, Sigma?

Regarding the zoom, I suspected that it would lessen the picture quality somewhat, but do you think that 28mm is enough to cover most wide angle situations that the 28-70mm could handle. Incidently I willl sell the Zuiko 50mm lens if I bought the zoom. It's kind of either or.

 

[rideforever]

After looking at Sigma 20mm on ebay, they're auctioning for $450+. Must be a nice lens then! I'm probably going to keep an eye out for a 24mm Zuiko or 28mm if I can spot one. A Tamron fixed lens is also an option if plan A doesn't work out.

 

[selmerdave]

If you were to consider the Sigma I would want to make sure that it would give coverage for 35mm, it appeared at first glance to be a "digital only" lens but I could be wrong there. For what it's worth, a 20mm typically has a maximum aperature of f4, occasionally f2.8, so 1.8 is very unusual and I'm sure if one of the major companies ever offered such a lens it would cost a whole heck of a lot more than $500.

I think you'd be nuts to ditch a Zuiko 50mm prime for a Tamron zoom. Really, the quality difference of the two aside, whether you want a zoom or not you really need at least one fast lens and a 50mm is going to be it. Any zoom that is remotely fast is going to cost the equivalent of a few primes, and it will still be slower and not quite as good. Here is an example:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...491&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

and that's still a 2.8, two stops slower than your 50/1.4. Now compare that to this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Olympus-OM-28-f...oryZ3344QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And you have something that will not likely be beat at 28mm for $60, no need to sell the 50mm and it's small enough that you can carry both with relative ease.

Dave

 

[JamesD]

I shoot Canon products, but I'm pretty happy with the 24mm 2.8. It's wider than the 28mm, which comes in handy oftener than not, and I can easily crop to 28mm if I want. It also makes it easier to do long, skinny landscapes, which I find have a pleasing panoramic look to them.

Incidentally, I no longer own a zoom lens, and don't plan to acquire one soon. The 24mm, 50mm, and 100mm (not quite in hand yet) cover pretty much all the shots I need. It's a small matter to zoom in by cropping under the enlarger--or better yet, use foot-zoom. It's a timeless technique.

Go fixed and fast!

 

[rideforever]

Yeah, am currently looking at a few lenses on ebay and will probably end up with two fixed at 24/28 and my 70-210 Vivitar Zoom. Incidently, how do Tamron lenses shape up?