Best "Panoramic" lens for 300D ?

Just wondering what you consider the best Canon lens to use to shoot

panoramic shots of nature or sunsets.

Thanks for your time..

Zach

You can go wide but not acheive wide panoramic shots.

 

Most popular wide angle zooms are the 16-35 L or the 17 40 L. Both are L series lens "meaning the best of canon"

 

Remember there is a 1.6 crop factor for your camera.

Do you mean in one frame or stitching panoramas? If the latter, then your first consideration should be a suitable tripod and panoramic head (or at least some setup that gives you camera rotation about the lens nodal point). To understand the issues, take a look at Kaidan's site (www.kaidan.com), but don't get too frightened by the prices for their top-end kit and software - there are cheaper solutions. If you're shooting sunsets then flare performance of the lens is important.

If you're looking to stich some images together, just about any lens will do. The 18-55 kit lens will do this well. It's not a bad lens at all for $100.

 

It's hard to find a really wide lens for the 300D/D-Rebel. Sigma's 12-24 is as wide as you can go without resorting to a fisheye lens. There is cheap/free software that you can use to "de-fish" the fisheye images, but the resultant quality is not the best. It's not bad, just not great.

Unfortunately Canon in all their wisdom have released huge numbers of 1.6x factor cameras into the marketplace and have caught unsuspecting photographers off guard by not having released proper lenses to go with them! Even a ridiculously expensive Canon EF 14mm f2.8 L, which is appropriate for superwide "panoramic type" photos for film, only becomes marginally wide at 23mm on your 300D.

 

Canon is hoping they will be forgiven for abandoning 1.6 factor DSLR wideangle capability by providing a theoretical leap to their telephoto capability.

 

Canon is riding a fine line. Twenty years ago they ticked off all the FD photographers by abandoning them. Now they either abandon the 1.6 factor photographers by not providing the lenses they need, or they do give them the lenses they need only to abandon them later when they discontinue 1.6 factor cameras when the full frame DSLRs become affordable. Amazing what we allow Marketing to do to us! They expect us to pay $1000 USD for a disposable camera that will be useless within 3 years and we do it! (That's the royal "we", I personally have not bought into their shenanigans!)

 

Sorry for the rant, had to get it off my chest! Despite Canon's braincramp your 300D is an extremely useful tool. Like any tool it has its limitations and you learn to deal with them. Best of luck!

That last rant was something else.

Yes, that was el rant deluxe!

<p><i>Unfortunately Canon in all their wisdom have released huge numbers of 1.6x factor cameras into the marketplace and have caught unsuspecting photographers off guard by not having released proper lenses to go with them!</i>

<p>

I bought a 20/2.8 for my semi-wide angle needs.<br>

I am going to buy a 28/1.8 for my normal needs.<br>

I bought a 50/1.8 metal mount for my short range portrait needs.<br>

I bought a 85/1.8 for my long range portrait/short range tele needs<br>

I am going to buy a 200/2.8L for my longer range tele needs<br>

I *may* buy a 135/2L for between the 85/200 (I don't want the 135SF)

<p>

Canon has me pretty well covered with available prime lenses.<br>

What's missing?

<p>

I suppose an inexpensive 14mm would be nice. I would likely rarely use it though - and they do have a zoom for the 300D (the EF+S) that gets close to that.

Give me strength! A 20mm is only barely wide at 32mm and you are forced into spending megabucks for a 28mm f1.8 to give you a 45mm f1.8 standard focal length lens with standard aperture, which should only cost $75 USD. I know you are blessed in the telephoto range but that is exactly what I was talking about foregiving Canon for. Always trying to be positive though, you will have a phenomenal set of lenses when an affordable full frame DSLR becomes available. Have fun!

Sigma makes an interesting 12-24mm lens that, even on a 1.6 crop camera, will produce a wide shot. (~20mm equiv at 12mm)

I am considering the same conundrum right now... I like Landscape photography, own a Canon 300D, and my 24mm isn't anywhere NEAR wide enough.

 

I ended up buying the 17-40 F4 L based upon much reading and scouring photographs. It seemed like a good purchase as it's supposed to be tack-sharp, and 17mm would be a *decent* wide alternative. I am betting the farm than Canon will release a 1.3x 10D successor in the nest year, and then the 17-40 will be all the wide angle I need.

 

My first 17-40 L was worse in terms of sharpness than my kit lens! MUCH worse.

 

My second 17-40 L is in my paws right now. The few tripod mounted shots I did yesterday on a cloudy day were inconclusive as to color/contrast, and the L still had worse upper corner sharpness. The lower half of the image is better than the 18-55, tho, especially the lower corners.

 

Not sure why I'm having such bad luck right now, everyone seems to love this lens.

 

If this copy doesn't work out, I am going to consider the Sigma 12-24, because it would be a fun lens, or give up on WA entirely and just use the 18-55...

>>> What's missing?

 

Uh, anything wider than the equivalent of 22.4mm on 35mm. Or in your case, 32mm. Is this brain surgery?

Photo stitching together with pictures taken from a pan head are almost perfect, but of course this is only useful for shots where nothing is moving.

I`ve had some great results using a 50mm lens on my 300D(virtually distortion free at 80mm `equivalent`), then stitching with the canon pano stitch software. I dont use a pano head, just take care to keep the horizon & stuff more or less in the same plane, with around 30% overlap between shots ( the software is very tolerant with misalignment and varying light levels ). It`s also best to make sure you `lock` focus and exposure between frames. As has been pointed out already - moving objects within shot can make life difficult or even make the stitch impossible. Regards Terry G