Fast Wide-Angle Lens

The exposure was 80 seconds at f5.6 ISO 200. Overkill really. Had to darken it up a bit. Yeah, it was fairly bright. Off to the left is a school with sodium lamps lighting up the parking lot and across the street my neighbor has a motion sensing flood light that is a bit oversensitive - you can see it illuminating the front of the house.

SuperScott said:

Nice shot! Not bad at all, especially if it were from a
semi-bright suburban/city area like it kind of appears to be. What
was the exposure? Thank you for the sample, this helps out a
bunch. I was all ready leaning towards the Sigma, even more so now!

Click to expand...

--
'Me fail English? That's unpossible!'

Here is my problem: I love flashless indoor photography. For that I mostly use EF 35mm f2.0 This lens is pretty sharp and very contrasty wide open (in fact I always use it @f2.0). However due to it's DC motor it does not focus accurately with typical tungsten light indoors. My USM lenses focus fine, but they are too dark. It's not the "front/backfocus issue", because when light is good, my 35mm focuses very accurately.
So I was thinking about replacing it with 28mm f1.8, because it's got USM.

1. How accurate is AF with it?
2. Can you post a full-res sample @f2.0?

Thanks!

--
Eugueny

well I have used a 50 1.8 but you need w i d e.
I shoot an S2 but read here about lenses.

the below was taken with a sigma 15-30 @ 15 wide open - 3.5??? can't remember. about 10 to 15 seconds @ ISO 1600.

http://photoworks.instantlogic.com/Images/Photos/ {ED8557F6-1147-42FE-85C1-2EA91AF61494} {F00A4369-E5BC-40F0-BA18-22BB50FBF344}.jpg

taken on the liard river near the Blackstone in the northwest territories of Canada. It helps to have good aurora and not much background light ;-)

SuperScott said:

Sorry folks, this question has probably been asked in the
not-so-distant past, but the search engine is down so please bear
with me...

I'm looking for suggestions/recommendations for a good, fast,
sharp, semi-cheap wide-angle lens. Anyone have any favorites? My
main purpose is for shooting the Northern Lights with my 10D.

Thanks,
Scott

--
Capture the beauty of the world one frame at a time.

Click to expand...

--
Leonard

In relation to this, has anyone tried the Sigma 14mm f2.8 EX? It's not cheap, but cheaper than the Canon 16-35. --BDZ

Great picture; makes me wonder if perhaps having a faster lens is not all that neccessary...

Anyway, I took the plunge and went for the Sigma 20mm f1.8 (even though it's not all that W I D E), along with the Canon 50mm f1.8. I'll post some photos when the opportunity presents itself (when the snow and clouds disperse and the earth's magnetic field acts up appropriately...).

Scott

leonard callow said:

the below was taken with a sigma 15-30 @ 15 wide open - 3.5???
can't remember. about 10 to 15 seconds @ ISO 1600.

http://photoworks.instantlogic.com/Images/Photos/ {ED8557F6-1147-42FE-85C1-2EA91AF61494} {F00A4369-E5BC-40F0-BA18-22BB50FBF344}.jpg

taken on the liard river near the Blackstone in the northwest
territories of Canada. It helps to have good aurora and not much
background light ;-)

SuperScott said:

Sorry folks, this question has probably been asked in the
not-so-distant past, but the search engine is down so please bear
with me...

I'm looking for suggestions/recommendations for a good, fast,
sharp, semi-cheap wide-angle lens. Anyone have any favorites? My
main purpose is for shooting the Northern Lights with my 10D.

Thanks,
Scott

--
Capture the beauty of the world one frame at a time.

Click to expand...

--
Leonard

Click to expand...

--
Capture the beauty of the world one frame at a time.

I had the same requirements, it turns out that the 28mm does actually focus better (faster) than the 35mm in low light situations (although it is a slow focuser compared to other USM lenses). At f/2 there is a pretty large difference between the 28mm and the 35mm, on a tripod. Handheld you won't notice.

BTW: Id'd keep the 35mm eben if you get the 28mm, the 35mm is a better lens for outdoor low light (static subjects) where sharpness starts to matter again...

• Fabio

softtower said:

Here is my problem: I love flashless indoor photography. For that I
mostly use EF 35mm f2.0 This lens is pretty sharp and very
contrasty wide open (in fact I always use it @f2.0). However due
to it's DC motor it does not focus accurately with typical tungsten
light indoors. My USM lenses focus fine, but they are too dark.
It's not the "front/backfocus issue", because when light is good,
my 35mm focuses very accurately.
So I was thinking about replacing it with 28mm f1.8, because it's
got USM.

1. How accurate is AF with it?
2. Can you post a full-res sample @f2.0?

Thanks!

--
Eugueny

Click to expand...

Hi Scott,

I would suggest not shooting wide open or near it. You will notice Brian C's and Leonard's pictures were shot at or around f4.

This will prevent the star lights from blooming.

Duke

SuperScott said:

Anyway, I took the plunge and went for the Sigma 20mm f1.8 (even
though it's not all that W I D E), along with the Canon 50mm f1.8.
I'll post some photos when the opportunity presents itself (when
the snow and clouds disperse and the earth's magnetic field acts up
appropriately...).

Scott

leonard callow said:

the below was taken with a sigma 15-30 @ 15 wide open - 3.5???
can't remember. about 10 to 15 seconds @ ISO 1600.

http://photoworks.instantlogic.com/Images/Photos/ {ED8557F6-1147-42FE-85C1-2EA91AF61494} {F00A4369-E5BC-40F0-BA18-22BB50FBF344}.jpg

taken on the liard river near the Blackstone in the northwest
territories of Canada. It helps to have good aurora and not much
background light ;-)

SuperScott said:

Sorry folks, this question has probably been asked in the
not-so-distant past, but the search engine is down so please bear
with me...

I'm looking for suggestions/recommendations for a good, fast,
sharp, semi-cheap wide-angle lens. Anyone have any favorites? My
main purpose is for shooting the Northern Lights with my 10D.

Thanks,
Scott

--
Capture the beauty of the world one frame at a time.

Click to expand...

--
Leonard

Click to expand...

--
Capture the beauty of the world one frame at a time.

Click to expand...

--
Duke

Pekka Saarinen is using it (photography-on-the.net). I can't post the link to his gear notes (it's huge), so I'll copy&paste:

"I had to go though three units before I found a good one. Sigma has a lot to improve in their factory quality control - their customer service in one of the finest, though. This is a lens for capturing small spaces, architecture and making special perspective effects. It's sharp from f/3.5 upwards, and f/8 has very good sharpness. It has an inbuilt lens hood which is not enough in many cases - colorful and strong lens flares are a big problem with this lens if you're not careful."

Here are few of his shots with it (they can be resized, see at the bottom):
http://www.photography-on-the.net/gallery/photo.php?photo=22&exhibition=1
http://www.photography-on-the.net/gallery/photo.php?photo=207&exhibition=1
http://www.photography-on-the.net/gallery/photo.php?photo=82&exhibition=1

--
Eugueny

Since you say you'll mostly be taking night shots, picking either lens over the other is a wash. Both are excellent lenses, wide enough for what you want to do (32mm equivalent on the 10D), and reasonably cheap: ~$400 for the Canon, ~$350 for the Sigma.

If you ever want to take it indoors, I'll drop the Canon and recommend the Sigma alone. That extra stop and a half is huge for indoor shooting, and I personally prefer the Sigma's finish (rougher; easier to grip; less likely to drop, not that I've ever).

Happy shooting!

Mark

I don't have it but here is some gallery. Seems to be a good lens.
In Japan cost 44 000 yen.

http://album.nikon-image.com/nk/NImageAlbum.asp?pos=22&key=669.78066&un=27834&m=2&pos0=1&cnt=1522

fabio riccardi said:

BTW: Id'd keep the 35mm eben if you get the 28mm, the 35mm is a
better lens for outdoor low light (static subjects) where sharpness
starts to matter again...

• Fabio

softtower said:

Here is my problem: I love flashless indoor photography. For that I
mostly use EF 35mm f2.0 This lens is pretty sharp and very
contrasty wide open (in fact I always use it @f2.0). However due
to it's DC motor it does not focus accurately with typical tungsten
light indoors. My USM lenses focus fine, but they are too dark.
It's not the "front/backfocus issue", because when light is good,
my 35mm focuses very accurately.
So I was thinking about replacing it with 28mm f1.8, because it's
got USM.

1. How accurate is AF with it?
2. Can you post a full-res sample @f2.0?

Thanks!

--
Eugueny

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
Eugueny