Beginner Wide Angle Lens Help for a total beginner

Pinkie

Pinkie

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Fiona
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Hi everyone, I'm after a bit of advice. I’ve got an old (ish) DSLR that was my dad, It’s a Canon 400D and I was thinking about getting a wide angle lens for it. Nothing fancy, and even a second hand one, but I don’t know where to start looking.

I asked a photographer friend and he said this: With a wide angle lens if it’s a prime fixed focal length i.e. 24mm as opposed to a zoom lens the image quality is usually a little better but you’ll get more flexibility out of a shorter zoom range say 24mm-50mm for example.

Only problem is that I'm not too sure what this means, or where to start looking. Does anyone have any recommendations on specific lenses, or even brands.

I'm hopeful that a lens will make my photos look better but the worry is that it's me and not the camera that's the problem!
 
Welcome to the forum.

Pinkie said:
I was thinking about getting a wide angle lens for it
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Why? - for the sake of a purchase? or for specific type of shot? - don't worry, we all occasionally want to buy something just for the sake of buying something..

Pinkie said:
I'm hopeful that a lens will make my photos look better but the worry is that it's me and not the camera that's the problem!
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Most of the time it's the user. But let's see some examples of your photography, and why don't you explain the type of shot you want to take with a wide-angle...
 
It's because I had taken some shots, then a friend gave me a loan of a wide angle lens and they seemed much better and much more what I was looking for, so I thought if I could get a decent lens that didn't cost the earth it would be worth investing in
 
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Pinkie said:
It's because I had taken some shots, then a friend gave me a loan of a wide angle lens and they seemed much better and much more what I was looking for, so I thought if I could get a decent lens that didn't cost the earth it would be worth investing in
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So what was the lens you borrowed? and what is your usual lens that you were comparing it to?

.. .. pretend we know nothing about you, your gear and style of photography other than what you tell us... ;)
 
What lens was it that your friend loaned you?
 
I'm waiting on him getting back to me, I think that's probably the most sensible solution to find out what that is and see if it's in my price range.
 
In the mean time, any photos to share @Pinkie or thoughts on the types of photography you're interested in?

And what sort of budget did you have in mind? up to £100, or £250, or £500?
 
Just as something of an aside, you will find differences of opinion regarding zooms vs primes. Given where you would seem to be at experience wise, I would suggest you get a zoom and find what sort of focal lengths you tend towards. If you then feel you want to go down the prime route you can sell the zoom and buy primes at the focal lengths you want.
 
Unfortunately don't have any images with me at work to share. I'm prepared to spend up to £250. I'm a graphic s=designer so just trying to expand my skill set by hopefully being able to take some nice shots of a variety of thing. Not so much portraiture, but still life, such as photographing design work, and potentially landscapes. But if there was something that allows me to cover as many bases as possible that's the kind of thing i'd be after. Don't want much do I?!
 
Hi Fiona

I'd agree with Chris's (and your friend's) suggestion - get a zoom that gives you more flexibility, rather than a fixed focal length "prime". The other thing I'd say is that shooting with a wide angle is harder - in terms of composition and getting the right things in frame in the right way - than shooting with a more conventional length lens. By this, I mean wide angle lenses allow you to get a LOT of an image in the frame and also bring in perspective distortion - things close to the camera look REALLY BIG and things just a bit away start to look quite small quickly. This allows for some great images, but also an awful lot of middling "meh" images unless you exploit that sense of scale and ability to distort.

I'd recommend beginners to start with a walk-around zoom for flexibility, or a single prime if they want to develop their composition skills. For me, a walkaround zoom is something like a 24-70 on full format or 18-50 on a crop sensor camera such as yours. The downside to this flexibility, though, is that you have yet another thing to think about - how much do I want to zoom in/out? The flip of this is that you're likely to zoom in/out rather than actually move your feet (because it's easier) to change your composition. Knowing when to zoom with the lens versus move your feet to preserve the perspective distortion you want is important, but perhaps one for another day?
 
Pinkie said:
Hi everyone, I'm after a bit of advice. I’ve got an old (ish) DSLR that was my dad, It’s a Canon 400D and I was thinking about getting a wide angle lens for it. Nothing fancy, and even a second hand one, but I don’t know where to start looking.
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Hi Fiona

I've the Sigma 10-20mm UWA lens and it works a treat for what I want and I'd certainly recommend one if you fancy trying out the UWA lenses...
 
The cheap options would be a Sigma 10-20 or a Canon 10-18, they're both optically decent and great vfm.

Just a word on the advice from your 'friend' a 24mm prime would smash those zooms, but it's not really a 'wide' lens in your camera. It's more a wide/std lens on a crop camera like yours.
 
the canon 10-18 is about £180 new , and is a decent little lens (although its obviously built to a price).

If you want a prime the samyang 14mm is worth a look, but be aware that its manual focus only
 
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