Affordable 14mm for 7D?

[marco_de_biasi]

<p>Hi there,</p>

<p>I'm thinking about a wide angle lens for my 7D, maybe a 14mm that with the crop sensor should be good enough as I don't like too crazy wide angle.<br>

The main usage would be videos but stills as well.</p>

<p>I've done some research and for my budget, i.e. $400 at most, it seems that Samyang (or any of the other brands variations around) could be quite a good solution. There's some distortion even though I guess that should be more noticeable on full sensor cameras.</p>

<p>Anyway, one downside I see is the use of filters as the only solutions I've found so far are not cheap.</p>

<p>What are your advices?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

[jimstrutz]

<p>The only 14mm prime lenses I'm aware of are designed as superwide full frame lenses and they are not cheap. That leaves zoom lenses and there are several that cover the 14mm range. To stay under $400 I think you would probably have to buy used though.</p>

 

[marco_de_biasi]

<p>Jim,<br>

not sure to understand your point about being only full frame.<br>

This is a 14mm that works on 7D as well, same thing as Mayang and others:<br>

http://amzn.to/QGFmzF</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>Last time I looked in the back of a photo magazine, Pro Optic 14mm @ $350 and Rokinon 14mm @ $399, were getting pretty good reviews. </p>

[marco_de_biasi]

<p>Yes,</p>

<p>I've read good things about both lenses, if I'm not mistaken they're same lenses as Mayang. I think I've to live with the filter issue and go with one of these.</p>

[peter_j2]

<blockquote>

<p>not sure to understand your point about being only full frame.</p>

</blockquote>

<p> I think Jim Strutz meant 'EF' lenses rather than "full frame".</p>

[philip_wilson]

The Samyang gets good reviews so it is probably not a bad buy for the price. There are used Sigmas around and this

lens is not bad but you have to make sure that it will work on EOS digital bodies (many - like mine did not get a chip

upgrade so they only really work on film bodies!). I have not used the Samyang so my opinion is just based on reviews.

 

The digital picture test charts

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?

Lens=769&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=0&LensComp=454&CameraComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0

 

Photozone test

http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/532-samyang14f28eosff

[brad_trostad]

I've posted several times regarding how happy I am with the Samyang 14mm lens. That being said, yesterday I went out to try my

hand at "4k" video via time-lapse with a 5d2. I really wanted to use the Samyang but I also wanted to slow the shutter down quite a

bit to get some motion blur in the images. I couldn't do it. At f16 and iso 100 it was still too fast. So the canon 17-40 came out. I was

able to use a polarizer and one (albeit crappy) cokin ND filter. I really wish I could have used the 14mm lens for this experiment but

until there is a filter solution, it just wasn't practical. I have seen a few posts showing front mount filter kits for this lens being

developed by Samyang - but I haven't seen them for sale. The other option is to place a filter at the rear of the lens. The canon

14mm and even the 17-40 support this. I have seen examples online of people mounting filters between the lens and mirror too.

 

My other thought is that 14mm on the 7d will be wide but perhaps just not wide enough - once you get it i think you'll know what I

mean. In this case, why not spend another $250 or so and get the tokina 11-16 f2.8. You'll have 14mm covered and hopefully more

filter options.

[Mark Keefer]

<p>Consider the Tokina 11-16mm, if you can find one used, may be hard finding someone parting with one. If you can save up another $175-$200 you can get a new one. It would be worth saving up for. It's a nice wide angle lens and f/2.8 so it's pretty good in low light. <a href="http://www.tokinalens.com/products/tokina/atx116prodx-b.html">Link </a></p>

[joseph_wisniewski]

<blockquote>

<p>not sure to understand your point about being only full frame.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Full frame 14mm are very large, vulnerable, and prone to flare. A 14mm APS (I believe Pentax makes the only one) is smaller, lighter, cheaper, optically better, and less flare prone. Whether that particular Pentax will work on a Canon with an adapter, I don't know.</p>

[h._p.]

<p>Joseph is correct about the large and vulnerable aspects of the 14mm but I've been using my Samyang 14mm for a year or so and it's surprisingly good at handling side and frontal lighting. My 8mm Samyang also handles awkward lighting quite well, the Koreans seem to have their priorities right when it comes to image quality.</p>

<p>So far as I can see, anything in that range, which will cover APS-C, is going to be bulky simply because of the inverted telephoto construction you require, to get round the distance between the flange and the sensor. I have a 15mm Voigtlander, which is designed for my Leica mount cameras and it looks like a toy next to the Samyangs.</p><div></div>

[vbi]

<p>Consider the Canon 10-22 which is a cracker and works extremely well with the 7D.</p>

[marco_de_biasi]

<p>Thank you all for your advices.<br>

Mark Keefer: I considered the Tokina, but is not easy to find a used one.<br>

Vincent Bester: The Canon is over budget, even for a used one :(</p>

<p>At this point I think the Samyang is a good solution and I can probably live with the filter problem, or in the worst case scenario I'll have to consider a matte box.</p>

<p> </p>