Which wide angle lens??

SJD2011

SJD2011

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Sam
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I am planning to purchase a wide angle lens in the near future, my budget being around the £300-£400 mark. I dont really know that much about lenses as I am fairly new to photography so please forgive my ignorance!!

I was considering the sigma 10-20mm 4.5, but I dont think this comes with IS....as I have very unsteady hands, I feel I need something which will help with this.

I then looked at the EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Autofocus Lens, which is also in budget, but I already have the 18-55mm kit lens so am unsure if this will really bring anything to the table??

I have a Canon 600d, so I was wondering what people think is the best wide angle lens to get? Is it either of the above, or are there other alternatives within my budget? What wide angle lens do people own and how would they rate them?

I plan on using it mainly for landscape work, but also for MMA work with a large group? I also will be buying polarising filters especially for the landscape work, until I get some ND grads....

Any advice will be much appreciated!
 
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Canon EF-S 10-22 is the obvious choice I think. No IS but at the wide end you won't need one...
 
Canon 10-22mm or if you're sure you don't need the upper range (18mm+) then the Tokina 11-17mm is a very sharp lens.
 
sigma 10-20mm you cant beat it for results or value
just put your iso up a bit and it will speed up shutter speed easy peasey !!!
 
I've the sigma 10-20mm and really like it, get very good results and am very pleased with it.

The shots in the Flickr below, were taken with it for my mate's joinery work.
 
17mm isn't really very wide on a crop-sensor camera.

The Tokina 11-16 is a stunner, and f2.8 for low light. A little outside your price range but you may be able to pick one up second hand. Either way, cheaper than the Canon 10-22.

I don't think there are any very wide lenses with IS. You just don't need it.

What lenses do you have now?
 
canon 10-22 USM but then im biased as im going to sell mine soon. For landscapes u dont need IS you will usually use f8- f16 and above for better depth of field. A decent tripod is more important
 
As I can't see anyone else mentioning it...

Forget the 17-85mm, it's only 1mm wider than the 18-55mm and although it does have IS for your money you also get pretty average performance, CA and above average distortion at the wide end.

For landscape people often recommend lenses in the 10-20mm type range and apertures from f8 to smaller but personally I disagree with this as IMVHO any focal length can be used for landscape and so can any aperture and at least getting away from 10mm @f8 gives some variety.

I think that wide angle lenses are perhaps the most challenging to get the best from but if you are willing to think about your shots they can be very rewarding.

I have no idea what MMA is but if you are shooting large groups of people with a wide angle lens you should try and avoid those at the edges looking deformed and you should also note that polorisers may give uneven results at the widest angles.
 
Have a look at the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 prime lens, it's manual focus but excellent build quality and glass, cost for Canon EOS fit is £259 + post.

UK Digital stock/sell them. I bought mine two weeks ago, fabulous results!
 
Slightly unusual option - Canon 15-85mm IS. Pushing the budget slightly but you can sell the 18-55 (as it'll be streets ahead quality wise). It won't give you the ultra-wide angle that the 10-20 will though - if you need it.

If you decide to go ultra-wide, my money would be on the Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 + 430EX flash and bounce it. The extra ££ of the f/3.5 won't benefit you much and IMO the 10-20 is a better option for the money than the Canon 10-22.
 
Hi folks,

Thanks for the replies - I can see thoughts vary greatly, which in some ways is good as it means competition among the manufacturers to keep prices reasonable.

MMA is martial arts - sorry I forgot to explain that. Thanks to all for the advice about distortion at the edges & polarisers.

I will check out tokina & samyang as well. Thanks for the input. Its good to have a good debate about this sort of thing!!
 
Yep, Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM. Very good image quality, decent flare resistance, good, fast focus. It hasn't got IS but you wont need it. For landscapes its bright and sunny and/or you're on a tripod. For MMA the subject is moving so IS is useless anyway (plus you'll need to be within 1-2m of them!

You'll get some vignetting at the wide end with the thick type polarisers along with "patchy" skies but you'll get that on any wide lens.
 
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