Cheapest and Best Wide Angle.

[awad]

im looking for a good wide angle lens to replace my kit lens. but im on a really tight budget (we're talking the sub-200 Dollar range). can anyone help? i've searched around, but its all so confusing. thanks.

[cactusclay]

I think you already have what you are looking for.

[awad]

would the so called "nifty fifty" be any better?

[cactusclay]

Yes better optically, but at 80mm with crop factor, it's a far cry from wide angle. The 18-55 is a decent wide angle lens and probably as good of an 18mm 3.5 lens you will find for the price.

[CRE@TE]

The nifty fifty is 50 mm ..that isn't wide at all....u said u wanted wide. I would think all wide angles would be much more than 200 dollars

[ron chappel]

Sigma make a 18-50mm similar to the kit lens,I've heard comments that it is abit better .
And that is about the extent of your options.Sorry but that's how it is at the moment.

I recall reading some glowing comments about a 17mm f3.5? Tokina? lens here on this forum.It may be worth looking up allthough i suspect the price may be higher than $200

[rdenney]

im looking for a good wide angle lens to replace my kit lens. but im on a really tight budget (we're talking the sub-200 Dollar range). can anyone help? i've searched around, but its all so confusing. thanks.

The only wide lens under $200 that I think is worth owning is the Zenitar 16/2.8 fisheye. Don't be put off by the fisheye--the distortion is easy to manage with a bit of clever composition. It's well under $200. More importantly, it's worth owning. Some lenses may be cheap but they are not worth owning at any price.

The Zenitar will be wider than your kit lens by a greater margin than you'd think considering the 16mm focal length. Because it's a fisheye, it actually has coverage that's more like a rectlinear 14mm lens on the APS sensor. It will be pretty sharp and it's also faster. You'll still use it long after you've replaced the kit lens. I still use mine, and I have a Sigma EX 12-24.

As much as I like this lens, though, it's no replacement for the kit lens. It's a supplement to it. If you want a replacement, save your money until you can afford the 17-40. But I could be happy with the Zenitar and a nifty fifty in lieu of the kit lens, and that would add up to about $250 of very effectively spent money.

http://www.rickdenney.com/images/st-helens-coldwater-ridge-l.jpg

Rick "who cannot imagine a complete kit without a full-frame fisheye" Denney