Wide angle lens

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pullylad50

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Just wondering if any one could give me any advice on buying a wide angle lens for my Canon 550d, and which one is a good buy.
Thanks people.
 
Depends on what you want to spend really... myself, I've owned the Canon 10-22mm for around 3-4 years now and really love this lens. Tack sharp great colour reproduction and distortion pretty well controlled for this type of lens. Build Q is no where near the tank like L series but if your not using it every day in harsh conditions it will be just fine. I know Sigma offer a simalar lens that is a popular choice as well as Tokina but never having used either I'll leave it to others to comment.
 
The best is the Canon 10-22. The Sigma 10-20 f4-f5.6 is nearly as good - if you get one that can focus both sides of the image at the same time. The Tokina is good if you never want to photograph outside when it's sunny.
 
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I've the Sigma 10-20mm on my Canon body and am very happy with it. For a few examples of photos taken with it, if you look at my Flickr signature - these were all taken with it...
 
i have the tokina and had the sigma but sold it due to crazy 82mm thread size
 
I have a super wide Samyang 8mm, which is great for the price but you're obviously limited focal length wise.
 
i done lots of research into lens recently as i was after a wide angled lens...

im more than happy with the 11-16mm tokina on my 650d... wider aperture opening in comparison to the canon competition, less zoom range- so effectively nearer a fixed focal/prime lens.... im not swapping my 11-16mm for anything lol
 
tezmed said:
i done lots of research into lens recently as i was after a wide angled lens...

im more than happy with the 11-16mm tokina on my 650d... wider aperture opening in comparison to the canon competition, less zoom range- so effectively nearer a fixed focal/prime lens.... im not swapping my 11-16mm for anything lol
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Tokina 11-16 is a great lens!
 
yeh also could look at a fisheye
 
pullylad50 said:
Just wondering if any one could give me any advice on buying a wide angle lens for my Canon 550d, and which one is a good buy.
Thanks people.
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Canon 10-22 f/3.5-4.5. Its sharp at all apertures and focal lengths, quick accurate focussing, very little CA, very good flare resistance and so on. A very nice lens.
 
itsme93 said:
yeh also could look at a fisheye
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I'd hesitate before splashing out on a fisheye, as it's a novelty lens. Sure, if used well it can create some great photos, however you're unlikely to want a whole collection of them - a conventional wide angle zoom is likely to be much more useful.

I don't have any experience with the Nikon and Canon lenses as I shoot Sony, but the Tokina 11-16 is generally regarded as a top class lens. Sigma make a few, the 8-16 (although I'm not sure whether this can take filters), two versions of a 10-20 (I have the f3.5 version, it's great but as others have mentioned the 82mm filters are expensive on this version), and Tamron make an 11-18 and 10-24. There's probably not a huge difference between any of the above, but consider if you want to shoot interiors using the lens (wide apertures are good there), or whether you want a good zoom range on the lens.
 
Pandster1981 said:
I'd hesitate before splashing out on a fisheye, as it's a novelty lens. Sure, if used well it can create some great photos, however you're unlikely to want a whole collection of them - a conventional wide angle zoom is likely to be much more useful.

I don't have any experience with the Nikon and Canon lenses as I shoot Sony, but the Tokina 11-16 is generally regarded as a top class lens. Sigma make a few, the 8-16 (although I'm not sure whether this can take filters), two versions of a 10-20 (I have the f3.5 version, it's great but as others have mentioned the 82mm filters are expensive on this version), and Tamron make an 11-18 and 10-24. There's probably not a huge difference between any of the above, but consider if you want to shoot interiors using the lens (wide apertures are good there), or whether you want a good zoom range on the lens.
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This has put it perfectly :thumbs:
 
Love my Tokina 11-16 always gives me great images. Really good build quality, the manual focus mechanism took a while to get used to but i kind of like it now.
 
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Have to agree about the Tamron I find it very good value and I have no complaints about it to be honest
 
If there's a chance that the OP (or anyone else wanting a super wide angle zoom) will be making the step to FF, I would strongly suggest the Sigma 12-24. As always with Sigmas, I would suggest trying the actual copy you'll be buying before forking out on it - personally, I've not had a problem with any of the several Sigmas I've got or had in the past but plenty of people on the forum have reported faults.

As for fisheyes, I also have one of those and use it a fair bit. A slight novelty lens but can also be used for relatively low resolution panoramas - get the horizon running along the diameter of the image and crop it down to the ratio/dimensions you want. I've even taken animal and people portraits with mine - certainly not flattering at close quarters but generally amusing to see people's reactions! Expect huge distortions near the outside of the image (a cube can look like a ball!) and beware of feet, tummies and tripod legs creeping into the bottom of the shot!
 
bensambrook said:
I have a super wide Samyang 8mm, which is great for the price but you're obviously limited focal length wise.
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strictly speaking that's a full frame fish eye* not a UWA. Still a nice lens though ;) ( * that is a fish eye that fills the whole frame - not one thats for full frame sensors)

in terms of actual wide angles on a budget i'd go with either the sigma 10-20 or the tamron 12-24 , with more wedge to spend i'd go for either the canon 10-20 or the tokina 11-16 f2.8
 
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pullylad50 said:
Just wondering if any one could give me any advice on buying a wide angle lens for my Canon 550d, and which one is a good buy.
Thanks people.
Click to expand...

As your only in Manchester im happy to meet up one evening and let you have a go with my Sigma 10-20 if that helps.
 
I'm more than happy with my Sigma 10-20mm, I've not got plans to go FF so it's a great lens for the money!
 
Theres no really a great deal between the Canon 10-22mm, the Sigma 10-20mm(variable appature version) and the Tamron 10-24mm in either price or performance.

Going from my own expereince and net reviews I'd say the Canon and Sigma are very similar over the same range with the Canon obviously having 2mm extra at the long end and around half a stop extra max appature thoughout the range. The Tamron has a longer range than both but needs to be stopped down to f/8 to get good boarder performance.

The Tokina 11-16mm sounds like its the sharpest of all with a fixed f2.8 but obviously has a limated range and seems a bit less resistant to flare.
 
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Moreorless said:
Theres no really a great deal between the Canon 10-22mm, the Sigma 10-20mm(variable appature version) and the Tamron 10-24mm in either price or performance......
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There is a price difference...

The Canon is approx £200 - £250 dearer than the Sigma and the Tamron lenses - obviously new prices, but still commands a higher price 2nd hand
 
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