Super wide choices

[pcasciola]

I need to get a super wide lens soon, like this week. It has to be 14mm or less. 17mm is super wide on a film camera, but on a 10D/20D/300D it is 28mm, which is not wide enough for my needs. I held out for Canon's 10-22mm, but it does not seem to be living up to expectations. I've seen some reviews of the Sigma 12-24mm that were ok but also not great, and there are a couple of others that were announced (Tamron 11-18mm, and Tokina 12-24mm).

In primes, it looks like there are a variety of 14mm's available, but the Canon is too expensive for the occasional use I will give this lens.

Are these all the choices right now in 14mm and under? And, aside from the Canon 14mm L, does anyone have an experience with the 14mm primes by Sigma, Tokina or Tamron?

[CoolToolGuy]

I have the Tamron 14mm f2.8 SP Aspherical, and I like it. I am not a pixel peeper, so I can't tell you about CA or mild distortions, but we are talking about a 14mm lens here.

KEH.com usually has them used in the $700 range. I think it's worth that much at least.

Have Fun,

[Hellashot]

14mm on a 1.6x magnification is hardly a superwide, just a hair under wide angle. You need something 10-12mm for superwide

[pcasciola]

14mm on a 1.6x magnification is hardly a superwide, just a hair under wide angle. You need something 10-12mm for superwide

Do we really need to be arguing semantics? Canon calls 20mm ultra wide, and 24mm wide, so it's safe to say a 14mm on a 1.6 camera (22mm effective) can be considered ultra wide, whether it be under the wide range by 2mm or 4mm. 14mm is about as low as the primes go today (not counting Sigma's 8mm circular fisheye) which is why I threw that number out there.

[Murph7355]

I have a Sigma 12-24 HSM.

Couple (only) of images here:

http://www.c7photography.com/Resources/Galleries/Japan/source/japan01.html

The main pic' and the link to the right (of the wishboards).

Light conditions were very, very poor and these were literally the first two I took with the lens (and I'd not taken too many with the camera either - a 1DmkII). Japan01 is at 12mm (f9.9, 1/166) and Japan02 at 17mm (f6.4, 1/49).

Processed using iViewMediaPro to get them into a gallery, so they lose a little in translation. Also, I was only shooting jpeg whilst playing, so better quality would be achievable here. I have the originals if you'd like to look more closely, but they are hefty in size (6Mb+).

I also have some others taken with this lens camera combo and, I think, some taken with a 10D.

My experience having played with the lens a bit:

The sheer field of view gives images a strange look at 12mm, but the quality of the image is very good considering the price of the lens and what it achieves. The strange look can also add to the image if used in images I suspect (have yet to have a really good go!).

I'm not sure how often you'd ever need the 12mm end though. I bought mine as I wanted a lens that would allow me to shoot cars etc close up at shows, and of architecture. I have some samples that show that a 16mm or 17mm lens would probably have been sufficient for the car purpose - though it's interesting to be able to almost stand on the bumper of a car and still be able to get the whole thing in shot! Buildings I'll try anon.

Note that filters are a pain on this lens owing to the front element design.

All that said, it's a good lens. Just take your laptop and camera to the store, take some sample images and download them to check you have a good one...I read reports that some were terrible. Mine seems OK - which of course could be that my standards are lower :)

[DeeplyDigital]

I need to get a super wide lens soon

Me, too. I need wide AND fast.

Haven't found the solution yet unless investing in a different
camera with a smaller crop factor becomes an option.

I just spotted a Sigma 8/4,0 fisheye (in my online store).

J.
-

[pcasciola]

I just spotted a Sigma 8/4,0 fisheye (in my online store).


The Sigma 8mm is a circular fisheye, with 180 degree view at all angles, and therefore tons of distortion. It can produce some pretty interesting shots, but not what I'm looking for. There are a bunch of examples on pbase, here's a link to a bunch of them (http://www.pbase.com/uli1/sigma), taken with a 1.5x crop Fuji.

Murph, It's really tough to tell anything about the 12-24mm from those underexposed shots, but thanks. I've seen other shots with that lens, and it is a decent lens, but I don't see myself using the zoom at all. Luckily with your 1DmkII you only have a 1.3x crop factor so the ultra wide problem is not as apparant to you.

CoolToolGuy, I did check out keh and they have a few used Tamron 14mm's. I may just pick one up used to hold me over until a wider prime comes out for us 1.6x camera users. It's looking like either that, the Sigma 14mm, or maybe a 15mm fisheye for me at this point.

[Alexandre Gabriel]

I need to get a super wide lens soon, like this week. It has to be 14mm or less.
(...)
but the Canon is too expensive for the occasional use I will give this lens.


Well, if you don't want to be limited on EF-s mount, I think there's only one choice: Sigma 12-24. I will buy one of these as soon as I can afford it.

[Kenski]

I don't know if you consider a 15mm a superwide but I sure so love the canon 15mm fisheye... then if you don't want the distortion at all, you can use PTLens and it will correct the picture for you... WHAT A COMBO!

[pcasciola]

I don't know if you consider a 15mm a superwide but I sure so love the canon 15mm fisheye... then if you don't want the distortion at all, you can use PTLens and it will correct the picture for you... WHAT A COMBO!

Yes, I think a 15mm fisheye can be considered superwide, because they actually have the same angle of view as an 11-12mm (~90 degrees on a 1.6x camera). I was afraid there would be too much distortion with a fisheye, though. Do you have any before and after examples with PTLens?

[Kenski]

Yup, here you go... These pics have not had any POST processing besides the PTLens conversion. Whats nice about PTLens, its FREEWARE!!! Just look at the building in the left background, that should do it for you right there! :) This is why I love my 15mm so much!!! It gives me the best of BOTH worlds! When I'm feeling ARTISTIC, I can have the fisheye effect, when I'm not, I use PTLens... The only downfall is, I'm ALWAYS using the fisheye :) PTLens is a photoshop plugin or you can DOWNLOAD it as a standalone and it runs pretty quick. so its not that bad... They also have about 30 some lens calibrations in the software and you can adjust the vignetting of the image before you adjust it.

BEFORE
http://www.pbase.com/kenski/image/36051150.jpg


AFTER
http://www.pbase.com/kenski/image/36051149.jpg

[DeeplyDigital]

I want that lens -

can you post a link for PTLens?


Julia
-

[Kenski]

I want that lens -

can you post a link for PTLens?


Julia
-


Sure, No Prob! DANG! there up to 5.3 already!!! I have to keep up with them!! :)

http://www.epaperpress.com/ptlens/

[Kenski]

BTW, here is a list of all cameras and lenses it is CAL'd for..... It is NOT just for SLR's... it is also for point and shoots too.... You can check out there page....

Canon 1Ds
EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM
EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM + EF 1.4x extender
EF 70-200mm f/4L USM
EF 70-200mm f/4L USM + EF 1.4x extender
EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye
EF 20mm f/2.8 USM
EF 24mm f/1.4L USM
EF 24mm f/2.8
EF 35mm f/1.4L USM
EF 35mm f/2.0
TS-E 24mm f/3.5L
TS-E 45mm f/2.8
Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DG
Sigma 20mm f/1.8 EX


Canon 1D Mark II
Canon 1D
EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM
EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM + EF 1.4x extender
EF 70-200mm f/4L USM
EF 70-200mm f/4L USM + EF 1.4x extender
EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye
EF 20mm f/2.8 USM
EF 24mm f/1.4L USM
EF 24mm f/2.8
EF 35mm f/1.4L USM
EF 35mm f/2.0
EF 50mm f/1.8 II
TS-E 24mm f/3.5L
TS-E 45mm f/2.8
Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DG
Sigma 20mm f/1.8 EX


Canon Digital Rebel
Canon 300D
Canon Digital Kiss
Canon 20D
Canon 10D
Canon D60
Canon D30
EF 16-35mm f/2.8L
EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
EF 17-35mm f/2.8L USM
EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
EF 24-70mm f/2.8L
EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
EF 28-70mm f/2.8L
EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM
EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
EF 35-80mm f/4-5.6 III
EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6
EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM + EF 1.4x extender
EF 70-200mm f/4L USM
EF 70-200mm f/4L USM + EF 1.4x extender
EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye
EF 20mm f/2.8 USM
EF 24mm f/1.4L USM
EF 24mm f/2.8
EF 35mm f/1.4L USM
EF 35mm f/2.0
EF 50mm f/1.4
EF 50mm f/1.8 II
EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM
TS-E 24mm f/3.5L
TS-E 45mm f/2.8
Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DG
Sigma 15-30mm f/3.5-4.5 EX DG
Sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC
Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 EX DC
Sigma 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Macro ASP IF
Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO Macro Super II
Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX Diagonal Fisheye
Sigma 20mm f/1.8 EX
Tamron 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 SP AD
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di Aspherical
Tokina 19-35mm f/3.5-4.5 AF193 Autofocus
Tokina 17mm f/3.5 AT-X 17AF Pro
Zenitar 16mm f/2.8 MC Fisheye

[pcasciola]

Kenski, that is VERY cool. The only question I have is, notice how much field of view and resolution you lose after running that program? I wouldn't be surprised if the adjusted field of view is the same as a 14 or 15mm prime, because the 180 fisheye is measured diagonal (~112 degrees on a 1.6x camera), and it looks like PTLens is throwing away all the extra info in the corners by straightening it out.

What's really cool about it though is you kind of have two lenses in one there, because PTLens can adjust out the fisheye aspect, although you are giving up a lot of resolution in that case. Still a great option though.

Interesting that the 8mm Sigma circular fisheye is not on there. I guess that lens is just too wacky to work with.

If Canon is listening, WE NEED A 10MM OR 12MM PRIME, NOW!!! L would be nice, too :)

[pcasciola]

Actually, I just did some measuring and calculations, and it looks the field of view after running PTLens is about the same as a 12mm prime, so that may be a decent way to get straight ultra wide out of a fisheye if you can live with the loss of resolution in the corners. With a 20D, it will probably still be plenty of resolution for a small print.

Thanks for pointing it out.

[DeeplyDigital]

If Canon is listening, WE NEED A 10MM OR 12MM PRIME, NOW!!! L would be nice, too :)

10mm f1,4 L please!

J.
-

[Kenski]

Actually, I just did some measuring and calculations, and it looks the field of view after running PTLens is about the same as a 12mm prime, so that may be a decent way to get straight ultra wide out of a fisheye if you can live with the loss of resolution in the corners. With a 20D, it will probably still be plenty of resolution for a small print.

Thanks for pointing it out.


I blew up a 16x20 using PTLens and my 15mm of the rock and roll hall of fame and that picture came out amazing... I too thought it would lose resolution in the corners but it really didn't... grab the picture of the beracuda and take a look for yourself...