17-40L or 20 Prime?

[Xtrema]

Took a walk today in downtown Richmond and loved shooting the architecture. In the future, I'd like to avoid being a human zoom lens but don't want to spend millions of dollars on an expensive lens unless absolutely necessary. For general architectural shooting, statues, parks, etc., would the 20mm prime do OK? Or, must I go a bit shorter and get the wide angle zoom?

I shot today with the 28-135 IS and it worked quite well, except for the large buildings up close.

[lancea]

Depends very much on the multiplication factor of your digital camera. I recently got the 17-40L for my 20D and (as expected) it's not particularly wide-angle due to the 1.6x factor. But it's fine as a general wide-angle. If you're serious about architectural photography you will almost certainly want less than 17. Have a look at some of the comments and samples for 10 or 12mm lenses. They look pretty neat!

[Xtrema]

D60 with 1.6 factor is a delight to shoot, and yet a bit of a compositional burden. I'll look at those super short lens--had no idea they existed.

I'm hoping a 20mm prime would work but 32mm is not that wide for large beautiful buildings.

[roanjohn]

17-40 MOST DEFINITELY!!!

Ro1

[Todd Jacobsen]

Took a walk today in downtown Richmond and loved shooting the architecture. In the future, I'd like to avoid being a human zoom lens but don't want to spend millions of dollars on an expensive lens unless absolutely necessary. For general architectural shooting, statues, parks, etc., would the 20mm prime do OK? Or, must I go a bit shorter and get the wide angle zoom?

I shot today with the 28-135 IS and it worked quite well, except for the large buildings up close.

If you're into architecture, use what the architect photographers use: Tilt/Shift lenses. Tilt/Shift 24, 45, 90 by Canon.

[mgash]

If you dont need the extra speed with the 20 prime, go for the 17-40L

[Citizensmith]

The Canon 20 is supposed to be one of their weakest primes. The Sigma 20 is supposedly a lot better and the best choice for a 20mm lens.

Either way, I think the 17-40 is a better choice. I love mine.