Which wide angle lens?

[FunkyNige]

I'm interested in getting a wide angle lens for my film Canon EOS camera, but I'm a bit (OK, a lot) of a novice and don't really know what to look for.

Hunting round of Jessops gives the following in my price range:

Sigma 18-50mm f3.5-5.6 DC Canon AF £100 (Link)

Cosina 19-35mm f3.5/4.5 Canon AF £130 (Link)

Vivitar Series 1 19-35mm f3.5/4.5 (Canon AF) £170 Sod the smegging link.

My camera manual says the lens fitting is the Canon EF but this isn't available in the Jessops drop down menu, so will AF fit?

I'm leaning towards the Sigma as it's the cheapest and takes the same filters as I currently use (58mm), but the blurb says it's made for digital cameras, will it work OK?

Sorry about the numpty questions, I didn't know I knew so little until I started writing this!

Edited to fix code again, it looked OK on preview, honest it did.



>>> Edited by FunkyNige on Wednesday 2nd February 22:01

>>> Edited by FunkyNige on Wednesday 2nd February 22:10

[luca brazzi]

What EOS do you have?

What is your absolute budget?

Have you lots of filters? Are they cokin filters, or thread mounted?

What kind of pics do you want to take with the wide angle? City scape, landscape etc.?

LB

[nighthawk]

The AF bit refers to Auto Focus, as long as it's a canon mount it'll fit.

I don't think canon have done much to the mounting system of their cameras since autofocus came out.

[parrot of doom]

You can't use the Sigma, it will suffer from Vignetting at the wide end of the lens. Its designed to focus onto a CCD, which is smaller than 35mm film.

[luca brazzi]

Not sure if any of those will give great pics.

What have you got at the moment, lens wise?

LB

[FunkyNige]

luca brazzi said:

What EOS do you have?

EOS500

LB said:

What is your absolute budget?

About £150 really, I bought the camera second hand so I don't want to spend that much on lenses.

LB said:

Have you lots of filters? Are they cokin filters, or thread mounted?

I've got lots of different filters (Polariser, ND, B+W, Star...), some are screw in, some are the slide into the attachment thing ones.

LB said:

What kind of pics do you want to take with the wide angle? City scape, landscape etc.?

I'm thinking mostly landscapes and buildings, with cityscapes every now and again.

LB said:

What have you got at the moment, lens wise?

I've got a 28-135 and 70-300 Canon USMs, there's been a few occasions I've wish I'd had a bit wider lens.

FN.

[te51cle]

I've got a 24mm Canon lens for when I want something wider than my 28-135 provides. I found that I very very rarely need anything wider.

A secondhand one would be within your budget and it would probably be a better buy than, say the 19-35mm that Cosina/Vivitar/anyone else who wants to badge engineer a wideangle seems to go for. The Cosina works OK at a few apertures whereas the Canon 24mm will work well throughout its range and has a better close focussing ability.

[V6GTO]

If you really can't afford more, then I would look for a good quality second hand lens too. I do not think you will get the best results from the lenses quoted. It's a cliche, I know, but you get what you pay for. This is £400s worth.(Sigma 12-24 DG HSM). Appologies to those of you who've seen the photo a thousand times!



Martin.

[Andy M]

I've been considering buying a Sigma 15mm f2.8 EX Diagonal Fisheye:



Does anybody have any thoughts on this lens (£329.99 @ Jessops)?

I'm wanting a wide angle lens to compliment my newly acquired Canon 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 DO IS USM and the Sigma 18-125mm F3.5-5.6 DC I'll be taking traveling with me.

Martin's suggestion of the Sigma 12-24 DG HSM may also be of interest.

[FunkyNige]

te51cle said:

I've got a 24mm Canon lens for when I want something wider than my 28-135 provides. I found that I very very rarely need anything wider.

Thanks for that, I was hoping Canon did one! Do you find not having a zoom on it inhibits you at all or does a non-zoom lens produce better results? I can see a few 24mm Canon lenses on Ebay at the moment, though I'll probably get one from a camera shop as I prefer not to spend that much money on something second hand that I haven't seen.

One more thing, I've seen a website that has loads of different lenses reviewed on it, with readers reviews of pros and cons, etc. I can't for the life of me find in my history or trawling through the P&V archives, does anyone know the one I'm on about?

[Andy M]

www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/