Wide Angle Lenses for Canon...

LeeLeeMelis · Apr 2, 2007

Hey there, I'm looking to purchase a wide angle lens for my Cannon EOS 30D. I will be using it for portraiture in natural light situations. I am really new to lenses, can someone give me a suggestion? Thanks!

Big Mike · Apr 2, 2007

Wide angle lenses are not usually the best choices for portraiture because wide lenses cause distortion.

Check out the Canon EF-S 10-22mm. There are similar lenses made by Tamron, Sigma & Tokina.

Don Simon · Apr 3, 2007

Do you have an idea of how wide you want to go? I recently heard someone refer to 24mm as "very" wide angle which I would strongly disagree with, but obviously people have different ideas of what constitutes a wide angle. As Mike points out distortion tends to be an issue, but needless to say it's more of an issue the wider you go, so a moderate wide-angle might be better for your purposes. Maybe a 16-35mm zoom? Also when you say 'natural light', could this also mean low available light? If so you may want something with a larger max aperture than most zooms allow; I would possibly consider a 24mm or 28mm f/2.8 (or f/1.8 if your budget will stretch); Canon and Sigma offer both. Of course I don't know what your budget is or what lenses you already have; that might help narrow your choices down a bit.

Iron Flatline · Apr 3, 2007

I have the 16-35mm L, and have found it to be too wide for portraits at 16mm. The crop factor makes it less apparent, but I really noticed it after I got the full-frame 5D. The distortion is the same (it's just that on a 30D the edges are cropped off).

You can get some good results anyway:

In the image on this page of my blo g you can see a sample, but the lens was no more than a few inches from his head, definitely less than a foot:

Alex_B · Apr 3, 2007

The last person I took a portrait of at 17mm on a 35mm sensor wants to kill me for doing so

And I only took this image to annoy him

wide is not really a good choice for classical portraiture as it exaggerates depth and features ("huge-nose-effect").

LeeLeeMelis · Apr 4, 2007

What I want to use a wide angle lens for is for a large group of people. I have an opportunity to photograph a large number of pilots and their families surrounding an aircraft. I just assumed that this would be the lens to get. I'm also purchasing a 50mm, would that work just fine?

Big Mike · Apr 4, 2007

That is a different story...when you say portraiture, I think about one person or maybe a small group.

If you are shooting a large group, a wide angle lens may be required...however, there will still be distortion, especially at the sides.

If you have space to stand back far enough, the 50mm should work just fine.