Wider angle lens for 5D. Which one?

mickledore

mickledore

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I'm thinking of getting a wider angle lens for my 5DII that the 24-105 that I normally use. I was thinking of the 10 - 20 range. I've tried the 17 -40 and don't feel that it gives sufficient increase for my purposes.

Which is best for a full frame camera?

Canon or Sigma, doesn't matter, but I assume that Sigma will have to be a DG variety - am I right? Doesn't have to be L glass! I'd prefer 77mm for use with existing filters etc.

Some of you must use one, so which one?
 
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Quite a few of the 10-20mm lenses are APS-C only. DG is for full frame.

I have a Sigma 12-24mm and it's a full frame lens. I was using it on my APS-C 20D but now have a 5D and the 12-24mm is.... amazingly wide.

I also have a Canon 20-35mm which I was using on my film body. I picked it up used and it was only something like £150 and it seems to perform very well on the 5D.

The 20-35 might not be for you but I don't think you'll be wanting more width if you go for a Siggy 12-24mm :)
 
You won't get any FF lens wider than 16mm that you can use filters on, well Canon anyway I think the NIkon 12-24 has some kind of speical Lee system.

If you want something wider than that then the Samyang 14mm 2.8 looks like the best value to me(around £300), its manual focus and has a fair bit of distortion but the image quality looks great from reviews I'v seen.
 
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You can use filters with a 12-24mm... but only at the longer end.
 
Thanks guys. I've just had a look at the reviews for the 12-24. They all seem a bit dated but they say that there is no screw in on the front. It might be that a later model has screw in features, can anyone confirm this?
 
There are very few options for Canon ff wider than 17mm.

Siggy 12-24: not as sharp as the 17-40, or as accurate colour rendition, so stays off my camera unless I want to go wider than 17mm. It does do wide very very well though but needs to be stopped down to get the best out of it (so not ideal for indoor shots unless you use a tripod).
Samyang 14mm: Supposedly very sharp, but as mentioned does suffer distortions (you should be able to remove these in post if you create a lens profile and use Photoshop/Lightroom). Manual focus only
Canon 14mm: Do you want to spend £1700 on a 14mm lens?
 
mickledore said:
Thanks guys. I've just had a look at the reviews for the 12-24. They all seem a bit dated but they say that there is no screw in on the front. It might be that a later model has screw in features, can anyone confirm this?
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Putting anything on the front of the 12-24 at 12mm causes vignetting. The thread is part of the fixed lens hood though and you can screw a filter to that. You can use filters at the back of the lens (there is a special insert that you cut filters to size with).
 
It's not a major point, but I'd like to be able to use either welding glass or a 10 stop with it. Not regularly, but often enough for me to think about it when buying a lens.
 
mickledore said:
It's not a major point, but I'd like to be able to use either welding glass or a 10 stop with it. Not regularly, but often enough for me to think about it when buying a lens.
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You could always crop the extreme edges away (at 12mm, you have to be careful not to get your feet in the picture it is that wide)... Something Heath Robinson-esqe might also work....
 
mickledore said:
You mean a bodge job. I'm good at bodge jobs!!
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You'd have to try it to know if it works. The petal hood is fixed, and the end lens element is as raised as the shorter petals.

The dust cap fits over the petals and provides a filter thread (82mm). It will vignette at wider focal lengths though
 
Think I really to see one somewhere. Filters are not the deciding factor - performance is more important. Apart from the big filters I can add most others in PP.
 
I normally use my 12-24mm at f8 for front to back focus and at that aperture it's sharp, very sharp at the centre in fact and there's no need to actually focus, you just compose and shoot.

Filters are pretty much a non starter, really. I gave up years ago as my Cokin slim holder still caused problems. The lens is wide and the bucket arrangement dosn't help either but with such a huge piece of glass at the front I suppose it was the only way of doing it.

Cracking lens, IMVHO, even if filters are a problem and AFAIK you can't go wider on full frame with a corrected auto focus zoom.
 
Have a look at the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 for Canon EOS, 'UK Digital' stock/sell them, my Samyang 14mm arrived today for my full-frame Canon 5D/1.

The Samyang lenses are manual only (no autofocus), excellent construction quality and pretty cheap.

Check it out...
 
*cough* gravedigger :p

Since we're on the topic, if ever I go full frame I expect to buy a 12-24 for wide-angle.
 
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