Taking wide photos?

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Tom
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Whats the best kind of lens for taking photos of mountains, scenery etc?

I take it, it would be something like a 10mm lens? Do they do any cheap or reasonable lenses for the canon 550d? Considering I am a newbie?

I currently have the EFS 18-55 lens and a 70-300 tamaron. I have seen fixed 58mm wide angled lenses? What are these for?
 
Sellers said:
I have seen fixed 58mm wide angled lenses? What are these for?
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Large format cameras? :lol:

Seriously, I think those 58mm wide angle lenses are adapters that screw into a 58mm filter thread on the front of a (standard) lens. I don't know what they're like (FOV or IQ) but at the price I just saw them at on Amazon, I wouldn't expect much from them.

Whats the best kind of lens for taking photos of mountains, scenery etc?

I take it, it would be something like a 10mm lens? Do they do any cheap or reasonable lenses for the canon 550d?
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You don't have to go wide for landscapes - take a look at the Landscape and Scenery forum - but if you want to go wider than your 18mm with a 'proper' lens instead of an adapter, then the Sigma 10-20mm and Tamron 10-24mm are probably the cheapest options (even cheaper if you can find a decent one second hand).

Another option is stitching images to make panoramas.
 
The 18mm end of your standard zoom is quite wide; Why not experiment with that lens, and if you find you need something wider than that, have a look at a 10-22mm Canon or a 10-22 Sigma.
 
What Simon says about your 18mm is very true - I've seen 'portrait format' landscapes (if that's possible :thinking:) by a photographer in the Lake District who used a 100-400mm lens! There are quite a few pictures in the landscape & scenery forum that are taken at around 24mm on crop-bodies.
 
Wide angle lenses of 18mm, or less, are often thought of as the ones to use for landscapes and they can produce excellent images.

Unfortunately what every camera, from the cheapest point and shoot to the most expensive, lacks is a human brain. When looking at a landscape we can take in the scale of it and also concentrate on individual elements. What to us looks like an imposing mountain peak often appears as a small speck in the photo fronted by a huge empty foreground.

Wide angles certainly have their place and probably most landscape shots taken with a wide angle lens but they need a bit of care.

Any lens can be used and "Landscape" is the name of a format, not how all landscape photos should be taken, it depends on the subject.

Dave
 
Many thanks for your replies.

I think I may look into buying a sigma 10-20mm. Ive been looking at so many amazing photos taken with them.

Can anyone explain the difference between these? Especially the four thirds version?

Sigma EX 10-20mm f/3.5 HSM DC
SIGMA 10-20MM F4-5.6 EX DC HSM LENS (FOUR THIRDS)
Sigma EX 10-20mm f/4.0-5.6 HSM DC
 
Four thirds is a format/camera system (not compatible with your 550D): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Thirds_system

A full list of the Sigma abbreviations can be found here and you can read all about the lenses here (for f/4-5.6 version) and here (for the f/3.5 version).

Basically, EX means 'quality range', HSM means ultrasonic AF motor (quick and quiet) and DC means for crop-body only (which your 550D is - but if you ever decide to upgrade to a 5D, it won't work on it). The f/3.5 lens will give you f/3.5 all the way from 10mm to 20mm - the f/4-5.6 version will give you f/4 at 10mm but this will reduce to f/5.6 at the 20mm end.
 
Most of my landscape shots are taken on my 17-55 Nikkor.
I have a Sigma 10-20 but only use it when the foreground is really good,(nice rock formation.)
As Dave says, you have to look CLOSELY at the foreground with a wide angle lens.
 
Thanks for the info guys,

I am heading out to tour around the alps in 2 weeks so may pic up a sigma 10-20mm. It may have to be the f4-5.6 as they are a bit cheaper. At least then I have it in my bag with my other lenses.

towershot - I am actually in blackpool myself. Well thornton.
 
Sellers said:
Thanks for the info guys,

I am heading out to tour around the alps in 2 weeks so may pic up a sigma 10-20mm. It may have to be the f4-5.6 as they are a bit cheaper. At least then I have it in my bag with my other lenses.

towershot - I am actually in blackpool myself. Well thornton.
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Tom, if you want to try before you buy,just PM me .:thumbs:
If a Nikon user,I should say.
 
Have you any plans/ideas as to the sort of shots you want with the 10-20mm? That range could make mountains look like molehills or even pimples on the horizon in a panorama style landscape. The lens makes thing look so far away that I have on more than one occasion bumped into my subject with mine!
 
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