Fast Wide Angle Lenses

Phil1974

Phil1974

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Maybe I'm missing something as I don't really shoot with wide angle lenses, but why is there a need for f2.8 and even f1.4 wide angles?
I assume these will mostly be used for landscapes and therefore stopped down to f8 and beyond. What is the advantage of the larger apertures other than for shallow DOF or speed in low light?
 
Speed in low light - internal architecture and starscapes spring to mind.
 
You can take portraits with wide-angle lenses and landscapes with telephotos.

I use a 24/1.4 for portraits (environmental) and a fast lens can be handy as even at 24mm it can blur the background a little.
 
See, told I was missing something :)
I just assumed landscape work and tripods so no need for speed. I don't understand astrophotography at all so I'll just have to take your word for it :) why wouldn't you use a tripod?
 
Phil1974 said:
See, told you I was missing something :)
I just assumed landscape work and tripods so no need for speed. I don't understand astrophotography at all so I'll just have to take your word for it :) why wouldn't you use a tripod?
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Phil1974 said:
See, told I was missing something :)
I just assumed landscape work and tripods so no need for speed. I don't understand astrophotography at all so I'll just have to take your word for it :) why wouldn't you use a tripod?
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You do, but the point is that sometimes you need a faster lens to let in more light so you can have a faster shutter speed.
 
Phil1974 said:
I assume these will mostly be used for landscapes and therefore stopped down to f8 and beyond.
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Why does shooting landscapes require f8? With an UWA the Dof is always pretty huge. At 12mm and f8 the hyperfocal distance is less than 1m. At f2.8 it's 2.7m - not a huge difference.
 
hollis_f said:
Why does shooting landscapes require f8? With an UWA the Dof is always pretty huge. At 12mm and f8 the hyperfocal distance is less than 1m. At f2.8 it's 2.7m - not a huge difference.
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Obviously it doesn't! Like I said, I've never really shot anything with wide angles. The only "knowledge" I have of landscape photography is from magazines where they always advise f8 or above. Hyperfocal distances are not something I've learnt yet but your example is interesting.
 
travellingcello said:
You do, but the point is that sometimes you need a faster lens to let in more light so you can have a faster shutter speed.
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Ahhh, again I was assuming star trails and long exposures. I didn't realise you would need fast shutter speeds. What for, if you don't mind me asking?
 
Phil1974 said:
Ahhh, again I was assuming star trails and long exposures. I didn't realise you would need fast shutter speeds. What for, if you don't mind me asking?
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In the absence of a more informed answer, I'm guessing its to avoid star trails.
 
gad-westy said:
In the absence of a more informed answer, I'm guessing its to avoid star trails.
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That makes sense even to me :lol:
 
Phil1974 said:
See, told I was missing something :)
I just assumed landscape work and tripods so no need for speed. I don't understand astrophotography at all so I'll just have to take your word for it :) why wouldn't you use a tripod?
Click to expand...

Theres a limate to exposure times for astrophotography from both the movement of the stars in the sky and the noise on the sensor, a fast lens helps cut that down.

The wide angle of view can make for much more dymatic shots of a single subject aswell, the subject became larger relative to the background and more of the surroundings are visable. Plus of course if your very close to the subject an event it makes getting all of them in the frame easier, look at the camera Usian Bolt was shooting with at the Olympics, it has a Nikon 14-24mm on because the photographer knew he'd likely get very close.

Also of course alot of UWA zooms cover a decent range, alot of users might not use f2.8 at the wide end but they will at the long end so you get a 2 in 1 lens for landscape and action shots.
 
Phil1974 said:
Ahhh, again I was assuming star trails and long exposures. I didn't realise you would need fast shutter speeds. What for, if you don't mind me asking?
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In astrophotography with UWA lenses a fast shutter speed is 20s instead of 30s.
 
Moreorless said:
Theres a limate to exposure times for astrophotography from both the movement of the stars in the sky and the noise on the sensor, a fast lens helps cut that down.

The wide angle of view can make for much more dymatic shots of a single subject aswell, the subject became larger relative to the background and more of the surroundings are visable. Plus of course if your very close to the subject an event it makes getting all of them in the frame easier, look at the camera Usian Bolt was shooting with at the Olympics, it has a Nikon 14-24mm on because the photographer knew he'd likely get very close.

Also of course alot of UWA zooms cover a decent range, alot of users might not use f2.8 at the wide end but they will at the long end so you get a 2 in 1 lens for landscape and action shots.
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Damn, I'm beginning to want one now!
As for the zooms, I understood the attraction of speed but was more interested in the primes.
 
Phil1974 said:
Damn, I'm beginning to want one now!
As for the zooms, I understood the attraction of speed but was more interested in the primes.
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The thing is, with Nikon at least, the modern ultra wide zooms are better than the ultra wide primes (not that there are m/any for DX bodies) so unless size is a factor you are better off with the zoom.
 
I agree that wide angle portraits are always interesting. Here is a self portrait shot with a 15mm f2.8 lens.

7179573840_ec899b2553_z.jpg
 
When in New York just before Christmas, I really wished I had a 2.8 UWA lens. It would have been very useful for architecture/broad street shots at night. Not really practical to set down a tripod in such a busy city, one that really never sleeps! I could have done with one at a recent wedding I shot too, to grab some wide angle shots of the reception area. Widest I had was 24mm, and it just about done the job for large group shots. I almost bought a 14mm prime in B&H NYC, only to discover when going to pay that I'd lost my passport!! [got it back, but was too late on last day there to go back for the lens]
 
Phil1974 said:
Ahhh, again I was assuming star trails and long exposures. I didn't realise you would need fast shutter speeds. What for, if you don't mind me asking?
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Actually the faster lens letting in more light also means you get brighter stars for star trails.

As everything is at infinity you don't have to worry about DoF (even the foreground is going to be at essentially infinity at 11mm) but that extra stop (2.8 over 4) means you can reduce your ISO down, reducing noise, which can be more of a problem on long exposures.

If I'm doing a Starscape I will generally shoot wide open and try to reduce my ISO down to 200-400, then use my exposure length to get the sky/foreground brightness I want.*

Or shoot for the sky and then take a longer exposure at the end to get the foreground the way I want, then merge.
 
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