Which F2.8 wide angle lens for my Rebel XT?

<p>I have owned a Canon Rebel XT since 2006, as well as a Canon 70-300 IS lens. My Sigma wide-angle F3.5, 18-55mm lens recently broke and I need another wide-angle lens. I would like to go down to an F2.8 because we may be moving to Germany and I want to be able to shoot in lower light such as inside castles and cathedrals or in dusk to capture lighted buildings. I would need as wide as possible to capture large rooms and buildings. My budget is roughly $400. What do you suggest?<br>

Thanks!</p>

<p>Tamron 17-50 F/2.8<br>

This is my current main lens, it works great.</p>

<p>You could buy a good used EF-S 17-85mm IS for your price range on eBay. As I just said on another post, it's a lens that those of us who use it love as an all-purpose lens. Despite its not being an f/2.8, it is very good for interiors because of the image stabilization. Sports, maybe not so much, but castles, churches, for sure. If you don't have the 50mm f/1.8 lens, it's great for low light and will be a short telephoto on your camera.</p><div></div>

<p>The Tamron mentioned is a great lens, but it sounds like you may be looking for something wider. Although its $150 more than what you're looking to spend, the Tokina 11-16mm 2.8 is outstanding. Possibly a used copy would be more in your range. I find it excellent for indoor shots of buildings, churches, etc. </p>

<p>I'm also looking for a wide angle lens, 2.8 or bigger aperture. I'm considering the Canon 28mm 1.8 (which I can't find anywhere right now), Canon 35mm 2.0, and the Sigma 30mm 1.4. The latter two can be found for around $300 - $400 or so. I have a Canon 50mm 1.8 and want a wider counter part. </p>

<p>Mike 28 is not really that wide on a crop camera but I am very fond of the 28 1.8. I use it on a full frame body and I love the results I get with it. I really wish Canon would produce a 24 1.8. Non L prime. I also suggest the Tamron 17-50 2.8. Very good fit for a Rebel or 40/50 D and its small and light too. </p>

<p>Yes, you're right Tommy, 28mm isn't real wide on a crop body. I use a 30D and a 28-135mm lens so I know what it looks like. I do have a 18-55mm for my outdoors wide angle. 28mm is "acceptable" most of the time, but I'm just looking for something faster for handheld indoor shots with no flash. Wider is prefered, but if it doesn't let in enough light it wouldn't do me any good. I'd like to have a lens faster than 2.8, but I know that's tough in this range without spending a lot. Since I'm not a pro, I'm looking to stay under $500, so something like a 24mm 1.4 isn't feasible. Eventually, I see myself going full frame and don't want to spend a lot of money on a lens that won't work with the bigger sensors. The Tamron isn't terribly expensive, but it's crop body only.</p>

<p>I hear you mike I took the same route to full frame but keep in mind lenses hold pretty good value. I owned only 1 ef-s lens, the 10-22 and I sold it for more then I paid.<br>

As to the 28, I did like the 28 1.8 on a 40D. It gets some flack here for some reason but I have pretty good luck with it ( on a 40D and 5D2 ) and in real world having 1.8 at 28mm is a good thing. I too would like an L prime but I cannot justify spending that much on a prime since I photography mostly for fun. I was very tempted to get a 35 1.4 for my 5D2 but I ended up getting the 28 1.8 a used 85 and 17-40 all for about the same price. all of them are excellent lenses.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Yeah, I'd like to have the 1.8 speed. The 28mm 1.8 isn't available anywhere I've seen right now though. I am considering the Sigma 30mm 1.4, even though it's crop body only, because of the speed. It's easier to justify it as a prime in my mind I guess. I've already got a wide zoom, albeit too slow for indoors without flash or tripod. I'm afraid the Tamron you mentioned wouldn't be fast enough at 2.8. <br>

Sorry, Gina, didn't mean to hijack your thread! :)</p>

<p>I hear a lot of good things about the Sigma ( i never used it ) but if you plan to go to full frame in the near future I would get the Canon even if you have to wait or maybe look for one used. I see them on craigslist from time to time and places like KEH or adorama sell used gear. The 35 2.0 is supposed to be good too but I tend to get frustrated with non USM lenses. I have the 50 1.4 and while its a sharp lens and all I most always go with the 28 or 85. </p>

<p>HA ha! Thanks guys. It is helpful to read about everyone's personal experience. I am going to ask a really ignorant question I don't always keep up with all the technical aspects of photography -- what is a crop body?</p>

<p>Also, do you really feel comfortable with buying off eBay and the like? Could you still get a MACK warranty from B&H to go with it? I've already gotten use out of my MACK warranty on my camera body, so if I spend more than $400, I think it is probably worth it.</p>

<p>Crop refers to the APS-C sensor used in the Rebels, 30/40/50ds and 7d cameras. Basically its a smaller sensor then a full frame 5D making the lenses give a longer effective focal length ( about 1.6 ) so a 50mm lens on a 5D would look like 80mm on your XT ( 50 x 1.6 = 80 )</p>

<p>Read this, Bob explains this very well<br /> http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/tutorials/crop_sensor_cameras_and_lenses.html</p>

<p>I personally never buy off Ebay, I have purchased used gear but only when I can inspect it in person. </p>

<p>I'd recommend the Tokina 11-16 2.8</p>

<p>Another vote for the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8.</p>

<p>Don't know about the Tokina 11-16 f/2.8, I've never tried that brand due to negative opinions and comments I've received from fellow photographers.</p>

<p>Erwin Marlin</p>

<p>I have the Tokina 11-16 2.8. Its the first non Nikon lens I ever owned and its brilliant. I really don't know where people get these negative views.</p><div></div>

<p>And this</p><div></div>

<p>"18-55mm lens recently broke and I need another wide-angle lens"</p>

<p>From this comment I was assuming Gina meant 'another' lens within the same range. Of course, I could be wrong. Thus my recommendation for the Tamrom 17-50.</p>

<p>"I would need as wide as possible to capture large rooms and buildings."<br>

There are wider lenses than the 17mm. (the Tokina 11-16). However, it doesn't really replace a standard range zoom (17-50 or 18-55).</p>

<p>Gina, you are going to have to choose what is more important, a wider angle or a standard range, to replace the broken lens. Or ideally, if you have the money, both.</p>

<p>I vote against the EFS 17-85mm lens for most folks - especially those wanting f/2.8, obviously! - but for the Canon EFS 17-55mm f/2.8 IS.</p>

<p>About the former:</p>

<p>The 17-85 could be OK for a shooter who really, really wants to not change lenses, who won't make prints larger than about letter size and/or will only share small online jpgs, who isn't concerned about some significant barrel/pincushion distortion, who is OK with only two truly useful apertures (f/5.6 and f/8) at the long end, who really think that the 55mm-85mm range from their one lens is critical, and so forth. There are such semi-casual users for whom in could be a decent choice.</p>

<p>However, this lens has "issues." (Yes, I used one for about a year on an early DSLR - on the "XT," actually.) For a lens of this price, the resolution is truly sub-standard - especially in the typically very soft corners. It suffers from more than usual amounts of chromatic aberration. One review noted that it had worse pincushion/barrel distortion than they had ever seen before in such a lens. The rather small maximum aperture and variable aperture design means that at the long end you have little room to maneuver between "wide open" (at f/5.6) and the smallest aperture at which diffraction might not be a concern (f/8). All of this at a cost that is far higher than that of the optically-better EFS 18-55mm IS kit lens.</p>

<p>If you aspire to create prints larger than letter size or if you shoot subjects in which the bowing lines at the edges of the frame might be an issue, you would do well to heed the reviews of this lens.</p>

<p>Regarding the latter:</p>

<p>The Canon EFS 17-55mm f/2.8 lens is not cheap - a new one will cost close to $1000 before you are done. However, this lens is in a completely different league than the 17-85 lens. If you compare its optical performance in cropped sensor bodies (www.slrgear.com is one good source) you'll see that it equals or even exceeds the performance of the 17-40 and 16-35 L lenses. It provides a larger focal length range that is more or less optimized for general use on cropped sensor bodies. It gives you the f/2.8 aperture you specified <em>and </em> it includes image-stabilization, making this one of the best zooms available for low light work.</p>

<p>Going wider that this at f/2.8 is going to be tough, if not impossible. Yes, you would get 1mm wider with the 16-35, but that is hardly a compelling reason to get it instead of the 17-55.</p>

<p>Dan</p>

<p>G. Dan, some of the issues you raise are valid, if less than serious in real use.<br /> I don't understand the "softness" problem. My 17-85mm is very nearly as sharp as my 24-105mm and serves the same niche on the APS-C bodies as the latter on 35mm. Photozone.de in a new test finds some softness at the corners but still gives it a decent rating with acknowledgment of its compromises (<a href="http://photozone.de/canon-eos/402-canon_1785_456is_50d?start=1">link</a> )<br /> I have had no problems at all going to 13x19" glossy prints with this lens. I can only speculate that you must have got a "lemon" or at least one of lower than normal performance.</p>

<p>Can anyone tell me where I am going to find a 17-55 f/2.8 for the $400 budget the OP had in mind? I think that it is way overpriced at its actual cost, but I would buy one for $400.</p>

<p>We always go through this.<br>

A poster says they want a $400 lens, so immediately people who have actually spent a cool grand on a EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 post and say that the OP should get that lens.<br>

The 17-85 ain't perfect, but it <em>is</em> less than $400 used. It isn't f/2.8, I know, but the issue was the ability to cover interiors, which the 17-85 can do. Otherwise, f/2.8 or better is only possible for under $400 if you go to primes. Tripods are also usable for low light with any lens.</p>

<p>The Tamron 17-50 <strong>f/2.8</strong> is $450 New from Amazon.com</p>

<p>Another thread I started has me wondering now. How much advantage is there really between the Tamron 17-50mm (no IS) at 2.8 and the Canon 18-55mm IS at 3.5? If you liked the 18-55mm focal length, you could stay with it by getting the very inexpensive Canon lens. 3.5 isn't very fast, but there is IS.</p>

<p>There's also the Sigma 17-70mm, f/2.8 at the wide end. I use mine as my main lens and for closeups as it has macro capability.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hi, found a Tokina AF 11-16mm f/2.8 review at:<br>

http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/379-tokina_1116_28_canon?start=2<br>

I've already owned a Tamron 17-50mm: great zoom!<br>

Whatever your choice, if possible, buy it new!</p>

<p>Forgive me if this sounds like a stupid question, but I've never shot the interior of a large building and I really don't know. I understand about the low-light aspect of a wide aperture, but doesn't the shallow depth of field play hell with composition in this circumstance? I would have thought f/8 and a steady platform would give greater sharpness front to back.</p>