Which Wide Angle Zoom for 350D?

[robert_kramer]

Hello,

 

I have about decided I need to go ahead and get a digital SLR, and the

350D looks like the best of the less expensive options. One question

I have though, having not used a canon camera since my F1 back in the

'70s, is which wide angle lens should I get?

 

I will be shooting a lot of architectural subjects with the camera,

and will definitely need at least a 28mm (35mm equivilent)focal length

lens. Also the least amount of barrel distortion would be preferred

due to the straight lines of the building I want to photograph.

 

How do the new digital lenses stack up in this regard? Is the kit

EF-S 18-55mm lens offered adequate for my needs? This lens is so

inexpensive that I wonder how well it performs. How about the EF-S

17-85mm? Does anyone know if it handles distortion and flair well

enough to justify spending the additional $450 for this lens? The

EF-S 10-22mm lens is also tempting, but I wonder about distortion when

using a lens this wide.

 

I would appreciate any thoughts you guys might have who have used

these lenses.

 

Thanks!

[edward_h]

The 18-55 should be more than enough (until you get fussy with the quality). Then you should go for the Sigma 18-50/2.8 which is absolutely wonderful to use and sharp, too. :)

 

Other than that? The 16-35 I imagine, unless you want a dark 17-40.

[peter_phan]

There are a lot of wide angle options for DSLR cameras these days. I think most of the wide angle zooms perform pretty well, especially stopped down. I have the Canon 17-40/4L, which is simply superb, but even that lens has some distortion at the wide end. I also have the 10-22mm, which is also excellent. But in the distortion department, you might consider PTLens, which is a Photoshop plug-in which corrects for distortion. It works great. It determines which camera/lens combo you were using and which focal length you were shooting at based on the DSLR's EXIF information and will apply the correction parameters specific to that lens and focal length, using a library of camera/lens profiles. It corrects for distortion and vignetting. Take a look here: http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/

[Greg M]

A "dark" 17-40 that still works a couple years from now on your EOS camera is better than any Sigma that may or may not...

[Brad_]

<I>The EF-S 10-22mm lens is also tempting, ...</I><P>

 

The 10-22 is my normal street lens. <a href= "http://pages.sbcglobal.net/b-evans/

Images11/SFWeb%203-20-05/">Click for some recent pix</a>.

[alexdi]

Wonderful shots, Brad.

 

DI

[johnb]

Robert <br>

I recommend the Canon 17-40L f/4 <br>

It is very sharp and excellent contrast <br>

It will fit on all EOS cameras <br>

<br><center>

<A href="http://www.photo.net/photo/3202143" title="Click to see photo specs" target="_blank"><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/3202143-lg.jpg"

border=0 alt="Click to see Photo Specs" style="WIDTH: 500px; HEIGHT: 333px"><br>

Taken with 17-40L & 10D

</A>

</center>

[mikeb380]

I just got a MC Zenitar 3.5/16mm lens for my 300d. I like the photos i get from it and it is sooooooooooo much less expensive than the ones named here. I paid $130 for mine and it is a normal eos mount. Of course it is manual focus but set it at f8 and it is in focus from camera to eternity. I shot directly into the sun with it and had almost no flair, check it out.

 

Michael :-)

[robert_kramer]

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. They are a big help!