Wider angle prime

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ash39

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Was at a party last night and got some great shots with my 50mm 1.8 but missed out on a few shots due to being too close (unavoidably) to the subject. Also missed a few because the focus is a bit slow and inaccurate, especially in low light. Obviously accuracy is important at wide apertures, I ended up with a few out of focus shots.

There seems to be a lot out there in terms of wide primes, 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, with variable minimum apertures. I've only looked at Canon ones but I'm guessing Sigma will do some worth considering as well.

What can people recommend to me? Test shots would be great too :)
 
What's your budget? The Canon EF 24mm f/1.4 L II USM is abslutely terriffic, but then for £1300 you would expect it to be...
 
Good question. I don't really have a budget but value for money is important, don't want to spend £100's more for a slight increase in aperture/optics. I'd say about £300-400, don't mind used. Based on that, any spring to mind?

Going to try my kit lens at different focal lengths to see which I think I'd be happiest with, but in terms of quality and, as mentioned above, value, what is the best length to go for?
 
Might be a bit wide 20mm, I have a 10-20 for ultra wide stuff, just looking for an everyday lens I can leave on the camera and know I can use in any situation. Thinking between 24-35. Actually fancy hiring the 24 or 35mm f1.4L from Stuart over xmas but know I'll end up wanting one if I do!
 
Can't argue with that, especially with a 7 year warranty for £10 extra. Wouldn't normally go for anything like that but you hear a lot of horror stories with Sigma (my 2nd hand 10-20 is a peach though).

I'll have a look at some sample shots tonight, thanks for the replies :)
 
ash39 said:
Actually fancy hiring the 24 or 35mm f1.4L from Stuart over xmas but know I'll end up wanting one if I do!
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You'd be very welcome. We're currently offering two weeks for the price of one over Christmas, PLUS hire one and get one half price. So you could try them both! And it would be a real bargain. We currently have three 24s, two 24 Mk IIs, and two 35s available over Christmas / New Year.
 
Stewart, thanks for the info. I think I'd go for the 35mm if I did. The family stuff starts on xmas eve and I'm going to London on 15th Jan so I wouldn't mind having one for this perioid, although I appreciate it's a bit unusual 3 weeks and a day. How much could you do that for ?
 
ash39 said:
Stewart, thanks for the info. I think I'd go for the 35mm if I did. The family stuff starts on xmas eve and I'm going to London on 15th Jan so I wouldn't mind having one for this perioid, although I appreciate it's a bit unusual 3 weeks and a day. How much could you do that for ?
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Actually that's 3 weeks and 2 days by my calculation: Fri 24th, Sat 25th, and then three whole weeks of Sun-to-Sat ending on Sat 15th. So it's 23-day hire but with our Xmas offer you pay for 16 days.

It would cost £112 including insurance and VAT but not delivery. We have a range of delivery options starting from £9. (Or £0 if you're local to us in Maidenhead!)

And if you wanted a 24mm f/1.4 L to compare it with, that would only be an extra £48 for the same 23-day period.
 
Think I'll save that towards the Sigma 30mm and just use my 50 for xmas, but thanks for getting back with the prices, appreciate it :)
 
The canon 35mm f/2 is very attractively priced but the lack of USM/HSM bothers me, as I want it to be quick, and accurate to focus.

What's the consensus on the Canon 28mm f/1.8 USM? It's closer to the Sigma in terms of focal length than the 35mm, and it's also priced toe to toe with the Sigma 30mm, on Jessops site at least. Worth a look?
 
Sigma 30mm f1.4 is very nice, I had it for a long time Always shot with the central focus point, avoiding recomposing when wide open. Now I mainly use Zeiss primes (there is a whole new world out there :))
 
I went through exactly the same dilemma recently.

The Sigma does have some reports of it being slow to focus (at the time I had a 7D). Bought the lens secondhand from Mifsuds on a 10 day approval.

I used the lens for some mountain bike action shots, and it was slow to focus, probably about 50% of the shots were slightly out of focus.

When it did focus , it produced good images.

I returned the Sigma as I wasn't prepared to accept this slow focus issue.

Since changed camera body and bought a Canon 28mm f1.8 - can't fault the Canon - would highly recommend.
 
My 20D isn't exactly the latest or fastest thing and I don't often shoot moving things but when I have I've never found the Siggy 30mm f1.4 to be slow to focus. I mostly use the centre point so maybe that helps.

Anyway, moving dogs at f1.4 wasn't too much of a problem. I love this shot...

DF1-4.jpg
 
Cheers for the replies everyone. Denis99 has thrown a spanner in the works, swaying towards the canon now. Was supposed to be sorting one out for xmas but probably won't decide in time!

Long shot I know but does anyone have any shots from a xxxD with a 28mm f/1.8? I'd ask Denis but not much point comparing to a 1D.
 
Lots of 28mm f1.8 USM examples here: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=157746

Verdict from photozone of 28mm f1.8

Verdict
Generally the verdict for the Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM cannot be better than for its Sigma counterpart (30mm f1.4) - high center performance but substantially worse borders. This is more so disappointing because this full frame lens was tested on an APS-C DSLR. The sweet spot effect has a positive effect on vignetting which is nothing to worry about. The distortion figures are pretty low but chromatic aberrations are hefty comparable to ultra-wide zoom lenses. So in total the lens may be good but we expect more from a fix-focal lens even though the design of a large aperture lens with a moderate pricing was certainly far from being simple.
 
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Argh I can't decide.

Might just use the 50mm over xmas and learn to squash myself up to walls/furniture! or borrow a 5D , now there's another idea :lol: :nono:
 
ash39

If you live local to me (South Wales), you're welcome to meet up and try the 28mm on your camera.

Just been out in the snow with it earlier this afternoon, sharp as a pin. Very pleased with the 28mm.

I really did like the Sigma, and would have gladly kept it - on review of the images it just wasn't fast enough to focus for me. Static shots were fine though.
 
I would definitely have taken you up on that offer, but I live in North Yorkshire :lol:

Speed of focus is definitely important, it's mainly going to be used for parties and indoor low-light type stuff with people moving around.. would be useless if it was slow to focus, hence why I need USM.

Just had a mess around with my 70-200mm f/2.8, was contemplating selling it but it's out of this world when it comes to focus speed and sharpness. I found myself moving round the room on AF-servo just to see if I could catch it out, I couldn't :lol: Shame I don't get much chance to use it at the moment, too cold
 
Strange as reviewers have commented on the 30mm's speed of focus (see Ken Rockwell for one) which ties in with what I've found. It's got HSM and should be fast and I found it to be fast so I can't really understand complaints about slow focus. You don't hit moving dogs at f1.4 unless the lens is fast.

Such is life.
 
I suppose it's possible that I had the odd duff one, may not be totally representative of the 30mm as a whole.

Afraid mine was slow though - would like to have kept it (when I had the 7D), but the 28mm is just a good.

Personally , I wouldn't fret too much over it - if you get the chance to try the 30mm before you commit your cash, this might be the best option.
 
No question the dog shot is pin sharp, how many times do you reckon it would have nailed that shot out of 10?

I'm really gonna have to try before I buy I think. Shame my local jessops only stock cheap Tamron zoom lenses :razz:
 
ash39 said:
No question the dog shot is pin sharp, how many times do you reckon it would have nailed that shot out of 10?

I'm really gonna have to try before I buy I think. Shame my local jessops only stock cheap Tamron zoom lenses :razz:
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How many of those dog shots out of 10? Dunno, but that one was a one shot keeper and on the day I got a lot of keepers and not too may duffs.
 
Update, just ordered a Canon 28mm f/1.8. Next day delivery, hoping it comes xmas eve but probably be 27th, which is a shame but at least I have it for NYE.

It was the speed of focus that swung it for me. The Sigma probably just edges it on quality judging by the pics I've seen. Plus I like Canon lenses, it was the reason I didn't go Nikon when I bought my SLR ;)
 
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