Cheap wide angle, does it exist?

Loggedonnow · Feb 18, 2004

I have 28-135 which I am very happy with but would like a lens that will function as a true wide angle. At this point, I don't want to invest in an L lens. All of the wide angle zooms I have looked at are not inexpensive. Is there anything available, prime or zoom, that will be significantly wider than 28mm, not fisheye, and affordable?

tasty donuts · Feb 18, 2004

often referred to as the "Plastic Fantastic" in these parts. it's a decent lens and quite cheap (under $200?).

cpr1954 · Feb 18, 2004

Yes.. i've seen someone post images of a cheap wide angle on here.. you'll have to do a search.. i believe it's 15mm fisheye.. or something like that.. can't recall the lens maker..
but the pics look good.. the lens was cheap..

cheers

Loggedonnow said:
I have 28-135 which I am very happy with but would like a lens that
will function as a true wide angle. At this point, I don't want to
invest in an L lens. All of the wide angle zooms I have looked at
are not inexpensive. Is there anything available, prime or zoom,
that will be significantly wider than 28mm, not fisheye, and
affordable?

--
some of my shots here
http://www.pbase.com/cpr1954/root

Gary Coombs · Feb 18, 2004

Loggedonnow said:
I have 28-135 which I am very happy with but would like a lens that
will function as a true wide angle. At this point, I don't want to
invest in an L lens. All of the wide angle zooms I have looked at
are not inexpensive. Is there anything available, prime or zoom,
that will be significantly wider than 28mm, not fisheye, and
affordable?

--
Gary Coombs
My Profile contains my Equipment List
http://GaryCoombs.com/10D/New
http://GaryCoombs.com/10D/Test

A good photograph is knowing where to stand. -Ansel Adams

plumcrazy20 · Feb 18, 2004

Logg, depends what you call cheap and what you are using it for, the 1.6 crop on the 10D (if thats what you use) makes finding a wide angle a bit harder. I would not go with anything bigger than a 24mm, and that isnt very wide on the 10D, the Canon 20mm f/2.8 is about 400.00.....the Sigma 20mm f/1.8 is about 350.00.....if your looking for a zoom instead of a prime the Tamron 17-35 f/2.8-4 seems to be well liked but it is closer to 500.00 Good luck

Loggedonnow said:
I have 28-135 which I am very happy with but would like a lens that
will function as a true wide angle. At this point, I don't want to
invest in an L lens. All of the wide angle zooms I have looked at
are not inexpensive. Is there anything available, prime or zoom,
that will be significantly wider than 28mm, not fisheye, and
affordable?

tpvaughn · Feb 18, 2004

Why "Not Fisheye"? It's a snap to defish. The 15mm Sigma Fish is about $330. Search around this forum for some samples. Otherwise the Tokina gets good reviews.

Loggedonnow said:
I have 28-135 which I am very happy with but would like a lens that
will function as a true wide angle. At this point, I don't want to
invest in an L lens. All of the wide angle zooms I have looked at
are not inexpensive. Is there anything available, prime or zoom,
that will be significantly wider than 28mm, not fisheye, and
affordable?

--
Tim

Brianthechemist · Feb 18, 2004

tpvaughn said:
Why "Not Fisheye"? It's a snap to defish.

What do you use to defish?

The 15mm Sigma Fish is

tpvaughn said:
about $330. Search around this forum for some samples. Otherwise
the Tokina gets good reviews.

Loggedonnow said:

I have 28-135 which I am very happy with but would like a lens that
will function as a true wide angle. At this point, I don't want to
invest in an L lens. All of the wide angle zooms I have looked at
are not inexpensive. Is there anything available, prime or zoom,
that will be significantly wider than 28mm, not fisheye, and
affordable?

Click to expand...

--
Tim

denisb178489 · Feb 18, 2004

I have the teo russians manual focus FishEyes in 8mm (Peleng) and in 16mm (Zenitar) they give me very good result.

And if it's easy to defish the 15mm, but I don't find a good technic on the 8mm. But some test I made give some what good result.

You can find my work on my portfoio on photo.net
: http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=360857
If you browse my other folders you can find picture made with FullFrame 35mm !

tpvaughn said:
Loggedonnow said:

I have 28-135 which I am very happy with but would like a lens that
will function as a true wide angle. At this point, I don't want to
invest in an L lens. All of the wide angle zooms I have looked at
are not inexpensive. Is there anything available, prime or zoom,
that will be significantly wider than 28mm, not fisheye, and
affordable?

Click to expand...

--
Tim

The Big Bad · Feb 18, 2004

sigmas 15mm fisheye is very sharp even wide open as well as being quite fast at f2.8.

Its only $333 from delta international as well. Its cheap, fast and very wide and very sharp. in other words an ideal lens

On a 1.6x crop body, you hardly notice much fisheye effect and for those compositions that do suffer from it a little just use the panotools pluging and it fixes it perfectly.

You have to realize that basically all WA lens are going to have a bit of distortion as well
--
http://www.pbase.com/bigbad

Loggedonnow · Feb 18, 2004

I guess I was worried about distortion. I am not looking for the fish eye distortion look but if it is not too bad because of the 1.6 crop and it can be corrected, that may be my way to go!

The Big Bad said:
sigmas 15mm fisheye is very sharp even wide open as well as being
quite fast at f2.8.

Its only $333 from delta international as well. Its cheap, fast
and very wide and very sharp. in other words an ideal lens

On a 1.6x crop body, you hardly notice much fisheye effect and for
those compositions that do suffer from it a little just use the
panotools pluging and it fixes it perfectly.

You have to realize that basically all WA lens are going to have a
bit of distortion as well
--
http://www.pbase.com/bigbad

The Big Bad · Feb 18, 2004

there are tons of threads you can search with posted examples of fisheye shots "defished" and you can hardly even tell they were a fisheye. If the horizon is in the center of the frame theres no real distortion at all

the correction is automatic in panotools plugin for PS as well, just a simple mouseclick and its done.

Defished the fisheye lens gives a FOV of about 19-20mm
--
http://www.pbase.com/bigbad

tpvaughn · Feb 18, 2004

I use panotools (free) in Photoshop. Someone had a great tutorial but I can't find it right now, but it takes about 15 seconds to defish.

Also, a good article
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/imagealign.shtml

For some samples, look at my pics here, and you can see some before and after defishing. Keep in mind, I've only had the camera 6 weeks and I'm still learning. So other people on this forum have much nicer samples to show.

http://www.grovestreet.com/jsp/picview.jsp?album=37444

Bottom line is, I love this lens, it opens up a whole new perspective on things, so to speak.

Brianthechemist said:
tpvaughn said:

Why "Not Fisheye"? It's a snap to defish.

Click to expand...

What do you use to defish?

--

Tim

Doug Kerr · Feb 18, 2004

Loggedonnow · Feb 19, 2004

Well, I ordered the Zenitar. I just have to wait now for it to make the trek across the ocean. I figured this was the cheapest way to go for now and I can always upgrade later.

Thanks for all your help.

Loggedonnow said:
I have 28-135 which I am very happy with but would like a lens that
will function as a true wide angle. At this point, I don't want to
invest in an L lens. All of the wide angle zooms I have looked at
are not inexpensive. Is there anything available, prime or zoom,
that will be significantly wider than 28mm, not fisheye, and
affordable?

Velu · Feb 19, 2004

Or is that none not wide enough ?

Rgds
Velu

austex · Feb 19, 2004

Doug Kerr said:
Doug

--
Member of the 'I own a Canon and a Sony' Army

Max Fun · Feb 19, 2004

I just got it. It's not very sharp wide open, and there is visible CA, but at f/2.8, it's very sharp.

Loggedonnow said:
I have 28-135 which I am very happy with but would like a lens that
will function as a true wide angle. At this point, I don't want to
invest in an L lens. All of the wide angle zooms I have looked at
are not inexpensive. Is there anything available, prime or zoom,
that will be significantly wider than 28mm, not fisheye, and
affordable?

--
The Secret to Life is... Calcium!!
http://max-fun.fotopic.net
http://www.pbase.com/supperman

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Cheap wide angle, does it exist?

Loggedonnow

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tasty donuts

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cpr1954

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Gary Coombs

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plumcrazy20

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tpvaughn

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Brianthechemist

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denisb178489

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The Big Bad

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Loggedonnow

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The Big Bad

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tpvaughn

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Doug Kerr

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Loggedonnow

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Velu

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austex

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