wide angle lens for a 20d

[melissa_g]

<p>i have a 20d and have been endlessly frustrated with my limiting and ancient 24-105mm lens for a long time. i'm finally able to get a new one and want some advice... i rented the 14mm f/2.8 lens for a week and obviously fell in LOVE, but i can't afford it</p>

<p>i want a wide angle so i'm looking at the 15mm, but there are comments on amazon reviews about barrel distortion and an obvious fish eye look. how bad is it really? can anyone show me an example?</p>

<p>what are some other alternative options? are there off-brand lenses that are decent?</p>

<p>a little about my background - i'm a photography editor but i want to get back out and start shooting. my style is more documentary and i shoot people in their environments (street portraits, etc) and i also want to get more into travel photography. i'm not a professional (clearly, since i'm shooting with the 20d) but want to be able to produce good enough images to build a solid portfolio</p>

<p>any advice is greatly appreciated! thanks!</p>

[mark_t5]

<p>the 10-22mm efs lens might be something to look into.</p>

[tdigi]

<p>I agree with getting a 10-22 if you want wide on a 20D ( which by the way is a fine camera ) Coupled with a 24-105 you have a great combo. What is so ancient about the 24-105?</p>

<p>If you want to save some money I hear the Sigma 10-20 is very good as well.</p>

[JeffOwen]

<p>My Canon 10-22mm lens bought for my 20D and now used on my 40D is one of my favourite lenses if only for the superb wide angle it achieves with so little distortion and high IQ.<br>

There are cheaper equivalents but I have no expeience of these.</p>

[jonsjons]

<p>i shoot with a nikon, but i've heard good things about the canon 10-22. the tokina 11-16 f/2.8 is excellent (i have it in a nikon mount) and the fastest ultrawide around....probably a bit cheaper than the canon if you can find one.</p>

[bueh]

<p>Ultra-wide zooms are the way to go on the EOS 20D. The fast Tokina 11-16 is highly regarded, but virtually any lens from the reputable manufacturers will do a great job (I myself have the less expensive Tokina 12-24mm). There is also a Tamron 14mm full-frame prime, but I don't know much about it.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, unlike Pentax Canon does not offer dedicated super-wide primes for APS-C bodies. So if you are open to adding a second system, you can have image-stabilized Pentax DA 14mm f/2.8 and the new DA 15mm f/4 primes on any modern Pentax body (which itself is not that expensive on the used market).</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Also consider the Sigma 10-20mm. It may be "on sale" with a new model announced. I've got the present version and like it very much.</p>

[mbkissel]

<p>I just picked up a Canon 10-22 EFS and haven't had a chance to really take it for a good test drive. However, the few shots I've made so far are pretty impressive. I think this is going to be one that I'll find lots of uses for in my outings.</p>

[nathan_meador]

<p>I've used the Sigma 10-20mm, and liked it okay, but I actually bought the Tokina 11-16mm (mainly for the faster aperture), and have liked it very much. I really don't feel a need for as big a range as the 10-20 and 10-22 offer.</p>

[mphoto gallery]

<p>I have a 10-22. It is a very nice lens, sharp and fairly fast. I had a 15-30 (sigma) and thought that was wide enough, bought a 17-40 and missed the 2mm, then bought the 10-22. That is the perfect focal length for my purposes.</p>

<p>Some 10-22 examples:<br>

http://mphoto.ca/image-viewer.htm?Fgallery9-23</p>

<p>http://mphoto.ca/image-viewer.htm?Fgallery9-3</p>

<p>http://mphoto.ca/image-viewer.htm?Fgallery9-4</p>

<p>http://mphoto.ca/image-viewer.htm?Fgallery9-24</p>

[torin_olsen]

<p>I love the Tokina 11-16. The constant f/2.8 made it more desirable to me than the Canon 10-22. With the exception of my Canon 100mm macro, all my other glass is L series and the Tokina pulls its own weight.</p>

[tony11]

<p>I also have the Canon 10 - 22 for my 20d, great IQ...Can't go wrong with this lens.</p>

[michael j hoffman]

<p>I second the recommendation for the Tokina 11-16/2.8 AT-X Pro. I have it; its a great lens!</p>

<p>Michael J Hoffman</p>

[William Michael]

<p><em><strong>"i want a wide angle so i'm looking at the 15mm, but there are comments on amazon reviews about barrel distortion and an obvious fish eye look. how bad is it really? can anyone show me an example?"</strong></em></p><div></div>

[richard_duncombe]

<p>im not sure how suitable a wide angle will be for street portraits and people in thier environments, you would be better off with a telephoto, perhaps a 70-200 or even a fast prime - the 50mm f1.8 is a gem and you can get it for £60 ($89). i have a sigma 10-20mm on my 20d and its a fun lens for architecture (its been employed by my surveyors office for all our site photos) - in this respect it makes for interesting street photos if mounted high or at ankle level on a busy street/junction etc - but it would be difficult to use it for individual people as you would need to get within 10 ft of them to capture them, which could be probmatical to your type of photography.</p>

<p>still the sigma is a good (if expensive at £400) option</p>

[steve_dunn2]

<cite>and an obvious fish eye look</cite>

 

<p>You can always de-fish it in software. But I agree with those who suggest a wide zoom would be more useful in general. How wide do you need to go? If you don't quite need to go as wide as the 14 you tried, there are 17-x and 18-x zooms, which qualify as wide but not ultra-wide. If you need to go wider than 17/18, you're looking for an ultrawide zoom; for 1.6-crop bodies, these typically start at 10 or 12 and go to somewhere around 20-24. I don't have one of these, and am not familiar with the reputations of the various third-party ones, but Canon's 10-22 is definitely a good one.</p>

 

<cite>there are comments on amazon reviews about barrel distortion</cite>

 

<p>You might get some wide-angle primes that have minimal distortion, but I doubt you'll find a wide or ultrawide zoom that doesn't have at least a fair bit of curvilinear distortion at some focal lengths - typically significant barrel distortion at the wide end and somewhat less pincushion distortion at the long end. This, too, can be fixed in software (although in some shots it makes no difference; if there aren't any lines that are obviously bent, there's often no need to fix it).</p>

[jack_nordine]

<p>Another vote for the absolutely wonderful Tokina 11-16mm 2.8. </p>

[claytontullos]

<p>My canon 10-22 on my 50d</p>

<p><img src="http://claytontullos.com/images/oregon/50d/_MG_0205.jpg" alt="" /><br>

<img src="http://claytontullos.com/images/oregon/50d/_MG_0447.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p><img src="http://claytontullos.com/images/oregon/50d/_MG_0184.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="556" /><br>

Here is another that was cropped.<br>

<img src="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fclaytontullos.com%2Fimages%2Foregon%2F50d%2F_MG_0258-3.jpg&h=56f4832979437e16dc89671f9566a7db" alt="" /></p>

 

[claytontullos]

<p>You may have to right click view"view image" to see the images not re-sized for the forum.</p>

[yakim_peled1]

<p dir="ltr">Another vote for the 10-22. I have it and simply can not praise it enough. </p>

<p dir="ltr"> </p>

<p dir="ltr">Happy shooting,</p>

<p dir="ltr">Yakim.</p>

[tyler_jean]

<p> (oops, a friend was logged in under their name and i accidentally posted under them - this is melissa, the original author of the post)

 

wow, thank you guys so much for all of the great responses! i'm going to rent both the canon 10-22 and the tokina 11-16 based on all of your opinions and examples.<br>

JDM von weinberg - i'm not that savvy about lenses... what are the differences between the sigma and the canon? i am assuming the sigma is less expensive, do you miss out on anything with that?<br>

Richard Duncombe - as robert capa said, "if your pictures aren't good enough you aren't close enough" i love being close to my subjects!<br>

steve dunn - i'm not locked in to getting a zoom lens, i could go with either a prime or a zoom.</p>