Former Film SLR users: What wide angle lens did you have?

20mm Nikkor. I loved that lens, & still use it.

I had some cheap aftermarket 28mm lens for my Olympus OM-1. Was good for me at the time.

I do think the demand for ultra-wide (my definition, fl 24mm or wider on a full frame) has gone up since the film days. I would have never contemplated getting a 20mm or, much less, a 16mm lens for my film SLR. I almost bought a FD 24mm but settled for the 28mm because it was much cheaper. But, now, you can easily get 16mm full-frame equivalent with an EF 10-22mm on a 20D. It's amazing.

For me it was used to control the perspective, as opposed to trying to cover a landscape (which it sucked at since everything in the distance would be SO small.) Here's an example:
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=66358

Well, 35mm is no farther from the 43mm true normal for 35mm format than is 50, and especially not 55, which came as "normal" on many 35mm cameras.

But I think the real reason is that as better and better extreme wide-angle designs became available (made possible--as with hyperzooms--by computer design, low-dispersion glass, and better coatings), photographers have explored their artistic potential. That has broadened the perspective, so to speak, of photographers, giving them a bigger box of tools.

My FD Canon system includes a 35, a 24, a 20, and an 18-28 zoom. My EF-mount film system included a 28-70, an 18-35, and a 14. (My medium-format system includes a 45--equivalent to a 24--and a 30mm full-frame fisheye, and I'm lusting for the Pentax 35 on my 645; also I use a 47 Super Angulon on 6x9, which is equivalent to a 21). The 14 was the departure in this crowd--I found it too extreme and quite difficult to control (though later I found it useful for the 10D). Thus, I think my normal desired widest lens is about .42 times normal (18mm in 35mm).

My widest since getting the 10D is the 12-24 Sigma EX zoom. At 12, I'm not complaining about not having anything wide enough. I also added the Zenitar 16mm fisheye, having learned the value of full-frame fisheyes from my medium-format 30mm lens. And I still have the 14.

Rick "who likes it wide" Denney

I had a 24mm wide end on my film camera.

Canon FD mount Sigma 16 mm fisheye, 18 mm f/3.2 and 24 mm f/2.8 from a Ritz warehouse sale. They're all YS mounts, so I need to hack an EOS T adapter to get the fisheye on the EOS (or not, maybe).

Before switching to autofocus cameras, my most heavily used lenses were the Nikkor 24/2.8 and the 35/2. I used the 35 as my normal lens and the 24 as a wide. and there were time when I wished for a
20mm. When I switched over to autofocus I went with the 28-80 F/2.8-4 L Canon and the Tamron 20-40 SP zoom for wide angle. I still use both on my 10D, but the 20-40 isn't wide enough. I will just have to save enough lunch money for a 1Ds Mk II