Help! Which Wide Angle Prime Lens?!

foodpoison

foodpoison

Messages
6,253
Name
Sean
Edit My Images
Yes
I'm loving my FD 50mm lens on my AE-1, and I've always wanted a really decent prime for my 40d.

I got the nifty fifty but found it far too restrictive for anything resembling street, so I wanted to get something around 30mm so at least I'd have a field of view of around 50mm.

I'd love the Canon 24mm f/1.4 L, but alas I don't have £1000 sitting around.

I was hoping to get one of the cheaper lenses, but get as wide a maximum aperture as possible.

I really only have a budget of around £200 as it's going to be for my birthday.

So far the runners up are:

Canon EF 35mm f/2 - just under £200 (spot on, but not heard much about this lens)
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 - around £260 (too expensive, but would love the f/1.4)
Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 - around £170 (great price, but is f/2.8 really enough)

Has anyone used any of these lenses? What are your thoughts?
 
Reading Ken Rockwell he says the Canon 28mm f/1.8 USM is better and cheaper, but all the reviews of the Sigma are good.

The Sigma is available for around the £250 mark on ebay, so I think I'll go for that as the cheapest the 28mm Canon is available for is £350.
 
Before I got my Canon 24mm f1.4 I used a Sigma 24mm f1.8 and I have to say there is not SUCH a HUGE difference, obviously there is some difference but the Sigma prime is EXCELLENT and does macro too. grab it, or even the 20mm (I have only owned and tried the 24mm)

I think they retail new for about £265 but don't quote me on it.
 
I don't want to go less than 24mm, I'm happy with my 10-20, and I kind of want the field of view to be around 50mm on my crop sensor 40d. Thanks for the advice though :) 2 of 3 of my lenses are Sigma - I'm more than happy with them :)
 
30mm 1.4, its my most used lens:) for the money, truely amazing, love it. sharp, and great brokeh,
 
On the 5D, I loved the Canon EF 35mm f/2 even though I didn't have it for very long, but it quickly became a favourite and much preferred over the 50mm f/1.4 I owned previously.

Below is a sample pic I took with the 35mm. As you can see it offers a wide angle (on full frame) with shallow depth of field.

In fact, I liked the 35mm focal length so much I bought the Nikon version (also f/2) when I got my D700!

And if you're in the market for a used EF 35mm, I'll be putting mine up for sale. I was holding it back for a friend, but he's decided he can't really afford it right now. So, it'll be on the for sale forum soon.

 
Have you tried the Sigma 20mm f2.8 ? I have been having a look at lenses of around this size and this lens gets some good reviews. I am buying a Nikon version of it as soon as the seller returns to the UK!

EDIT: Woops missed the "don't want to go lower than 24" post. What about the Sigma 24mm then :)
 
foodpoison said:
I wouldn't use it wide open, I'd stop it down to get it super sharp :)
Click to expand...

Isn't the whole point of a prime to use it wide open for the shallow depth of field? If you stop it down, it won't be any sharper than a zoom.

Only two weeks ago you turned down Chillimonster's Sigma 30mm f/1.4 for £200 from the For Sale section (the one I sold to him) but they come up quite often at around that price.
 
HoppyUK said:
Isn't the whole point of a prime to use it wide open for the shallow depth of field? If you stop it down, it won't be any sharper than a zoom.

Only two weeks ago you turned down Chillimonster's Sigma 30mm f/1.4 for £200 from the For Sale section (the one I sold to him) but they come up quite often at around that price.
Click to expand...

For me, the whole point of a prime is to have maximum image quality in all the areas a zoom lacks. I would use the 30mm f/1.4 at probably around f/2 but put it back up to f/1.4 when I needed it.

I did turn down the Sigma 30mm, simply because I couldn't afford it. But this will be for my birthday so I won't be paying for all of it :p
 
DigitalRelish said:
On the 5D, I loved the Canon EF 35mm f/2 even though I didn't have it for very long, but it quickly became a favourite and much preferred over the 50mm f/1.4 I owned previously.

Below is a sample pic I took with the 35mm. As you can see it offers a wide angle (on full frame) with shallow depth of field.

In fact, I liked the 35mm focal length so much I bought the Nikon version (also f/2) when I got my D700!

And if you're in the market for a used EF 35mm, I'll be putting mine up for sale. I was holding it back for a friend, but he's decided he can't really afford it right now. So, it'll be on the for sale forum soon.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input/advice DR but I think I'm going to wait for a Sigma 30mm to come around at a nice price :)

Thanks again :thumbs:
 
IF speed isn't an issue, then i'd whole hartedly recommend the canon 24mm f2.8. It's a pretty old lens, it feels it when in use, but i must say, it's a joy to use, real light, quite small, and fast enough at f2.8.

You can probably pick one up for about £140ish second hand.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top