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Wide Angle for Digital (Not AGAIN!)


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I hate to keep beating the proverbial dead horse (but the very nature

of this forum is conducive to such beatings). I have just purchased a

Digital Rebel (Merry Christmas from the wife). I have extensively

searched threads concerning this subject and have yet to find a

definitive answer. I live in a wide-angle world and the "standard"

lens on my Minolta X700 is an old Vivitar 24mm f2. I am trying to

find something that will provide me with similar performance in my

new digital universe. It looks like the Canon 15mm f2.8 EF is going

to be my best bet (I do not particularly even want a zoom lens and

really do not need one). Any alternatives that anyone can suggest

would be appreciated. Does anybody have experience with the Sigma

14mm F2.8 or the 12-24mm zoom? As always, many thanks. Happy Holidays

to one and all!

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Yeah, is true that 15 mm Canon fish eye is a solution, but I will try to find a Canon 14 mm second hand. With your rebel this will became close to your 24, which I also love. The 14 is an L lense, so it's expensive, but it will deliver you better quality that 15 mm. With the 1.6 crop you will be taking out the worst of your lense. The sigma I didn't tried but I would bet that a planar 14, its doesnt matter if is Canon or Sigma, will deliver you better quality than a 15 mm fisheye.
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Bill, stitching works great with static subjects. Its useless for scenes with people or otherwise with moving things. Digital is still an emerging technology. I bought a Bessa L with a fantastic 15mm lens last year, and it's not being shortchanged by a crummy undersized sensor cropping the image. Something like 120 degrees coverage. And it uses this amazing recording medium - film. The B&W stuff is reputed to be archival for a century or more!
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A rather "off-beat" solution (worthy of consideration if cost is an issue) is to buy a manual lens - there are some reputedly excellent russian zenitar 16mm available for $100 or so with an M42 mount or $120 for EOS.

 

You can but M42/EOS adaptors, and the lenses, on EBay.

 

I'm awaiting delivery of one myself.

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