Wide Angle Lens needed for the 5Dmkii

Dogdots · November 16, 2014

I'm looking for a good wide angle lens for the 5Dmkii - any suggestions? Thanks you

divamum · November 16, 2014

If it's wide enough for you SIgma 35mm 1.4 - GLORIOUS lens.

wtlwdwgn · November 16, 2014

It depends on several factors: budget, zoom or prime, and how wide and fast a lens do you really need. For a prime the Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM would be a good choice. Read Roger's Take here. The Sigma 35mm f/1.4 is a highly regarded lens too.

I'm on a tight budget so for a zoom I bought a used EF 24-85mm USM for $125. Lots of barrel distortion at 24mm but easily corrected in Lightroom. Before buying I'd recommend renting so you can get a feel for the lens on your 5D. Just my $0.02.

ziggy53 · November 16, 2014

I'm still very happy with my Canon 17-40mm, f4L USM. It's a relatively economical super-wide-angle FF zoom with solid performance and very good image quality. AF speed is nice and AF accuracy to match.

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM is next up, with excellent image quality and optical stabilization.

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM is (arguably) the current best super-wide-angle lens. While expensive, if you need the f2.8 in a Canon superwide, it's the current best choice. The older Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM doesn't quite have as good image quality, but it's still a great lens to have and prices have dropped in the used market thanks to the more recent version.

If you want even wider focal lengths, don't need AF, tolerate using a lens adapter, and have deep pockets, the Nikon Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED with a Novoflex EOS/NIK-NT Lens adapter can yield fantastic results for vista landscapes, etc.

Prime wide-angle lens recommendations run the gamut from inexpensive, third-party manual focus lenses with very nice optics to some excellent and costly primes that can lead to serious investments for a complete set. If you want a prime lens, it would be good to know your exact needs.

I can also suggest that for unmoving subject matter you might consider multiple images, stitched together to form any wide Angle-Of-View/Field-Of-View the scene requires. While both acquisition and post-processing requirements can be rather time intense, the results can be immensely satisfying. Generally I use a well-corrected prime of telephoto length or a true macro with fairly long focal length. I also use a tripod with a panoramic head to keep parallax under control.

To see truly splendid results from this process, I recommend looking at Baldy's thread:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=101529

Results:

http://dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=990541&postcount=274
http://dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=994328&postcount=293

Be sure to see what Baldy did here:

http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=1039964&postcount=362
http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=1039966&postcount=363

kdog · November 17, 2014

Personally, I'll be saving up for this bad boy -- Canon EF 11-24 USM

Link: http://petapixel.com/2014/09/16/rumor-photo-canon-11-24mm-f4l-lens-pops-online/

Matthew Saville · November 17, 2014

I'm surprised, nobody has asked the most important question yet. What on earth do you shoot? I clicked on your website link in your bio, but unfortunately the front page slideshow is thumbnail sized for me.

Anyways, this can dramatically affect which lens is right for you. A 2.8 ultrawide zoom might be needed for wedding photojournalism. An f/4 zoom would be much better for traditional landscape photography.. An f/1.4, f/1.8, or f/2 prime would be best for astro-landscape photography / timelapse photography, though. A not-so-wide prime or 2.8 zoom might be best for general portraiture and casual street photography.

So, where do we stand on that? From there, what's your budget, and what existing lenses do you already have? :-)

=Matt=

Dogdots · November 17, 2014

Thank you all for your suggestions

Ziggy I have tried stitching photos together, but most of my shots are in the daytime and I find the sky really varies across the horizon. It's something I've not been able to edit correctly or shoot properly. I'm working on it though and have lots of ideas I'm hoping to do in the next year.

My needs are for shooting the vast open ND landscape. I had the opportunity to ride along with my brother a few week-ends ago to visit all the old hunting sloughs he and my Dad hunted. I found I couldn't get the vastness nor the full slough/water hole in any of my shots. Unfortunately I didn't bring along my 40D with my 10-22 so I ended up coming home with partial shots and the need to return at a later date with a lens I can get the photo I want.

I'm getting old and the IS is important to me. I don't know if a prime lens would be needed or not. I know I should be shooting on a tripod and more then likely I will for my shots out in the country side, but there are other times I don't want to take the time to set up/take down a tripod. Especially when it's -30. I know .. I should take the time to set it up right

Dogdots · November 17, 2014

Matthew Saville wrote: »

I'm surprised, nobody has asked the most important question yet. What on earth do you shoot? I clicked on your website link in your bio, but unfortunately the front page slideshow is thumbnail sized for me.

Anyways, this can dramatically affect which lens is right for you. A 2.8 ultrawide zoom might be needed for wedding photojournalism. An f/4 zoom would be much better for traditional landscape photography.. An f/1.4, f/1.8, or f/2 prime would be best for astro-landscape photography / timelapse photography, though. A not-so-wide prime or 2.8 zoom might be best for general portraiture and casual street photography.

So, where do we stand on that? From there, what's your budget, and what existing lenses do you already have? :-)

=Matt=

Hi Matt -- just posted what I wanted to shoot

Budget is not an issue really, but I don't want to over spend either.

Matthew Saville · November 17, 2014

Dogdots wrote: »

Thank you all for your suggestions

Ziggy I have tried stitching photos together, but most of my shots are in the daytime and I find the sky really varies across the horizon. It's something I've not been able to edit correctly or shoot properly. I'm working on it though and have lots of ideas I'm hoping to do in the next year.

My needs are for shooting the vast open ND landscape. I had the opportunity to ride along with my brother a few week-ends ago to visit all the old hunting sloughs he and my Dad hunted. I found I couldn't get the vastness nor the full slough/water hole in any of my shots. Unfortunately I didn't bring along my 40D with my 10-22 so I ended up coming home with partial shots and the need to return at a later date with a lens I can get the photo I want.

I'm getting old and the IS is important to me. I don't know if a prime lens would be needed or not. I know I should be shooting on a tripod and more then likely I will for my shots out in the country side, but there are other times I don't want to take the time to set up/take down a tripod. Especially when it's -30. I know .. I should take the time to set it up right

So, you have both a Canon 40D and a 5D mk3, and a 10-22 for the 40D, but nothing that wide for the 5D mk3.

It sounds like the best lens for you is, by a VERY long shot, the new Canon 16-35 f/4 L IS. The stabilization will allow you to shoot at very slow shutter speeds hand-held, when necessary, and the lack of f/2.8 won't be missed at all since your main goal is better DOF anyways. Besides, the Canon 16-35 f/4 L IS is wayyyy sharper than anything else Canon has ever offered wider than 24mm...

A tripod is useful when you have the time to set it up, but I never scoff at shooting "walk-around" travel images at higher ISO's or faster apertures, as long as you can achieve the sharpness you need. I don't mind a little bit of grain, and I think other people blow it out of proportion.

Good luck!

Dogdots · November 18, 2014

kdog wrote: »

Personally, I'll be saving up for this bad boy -- Canon EF 11-24 USM

Link: http://petapixel.com/2014/09/16/rumor-photo-canon-11-24mm-f4l-lens-pops-online/

I looked this one up. Sounds like it's going to be a great lens, but expensive at a little under $3000.

Dogdots · November 18, 2014

Matthew Saville wrote: »

So, you have both a Canon 40D and a 5D mk3, and a 10-22 for the 40D, but nothing that wide for the 5D mk3.

It sounds like the best lens for you is, by a VERY long shot, the new Canon 16-35 f/4 L IS. The stabilization will allow you to shoot at very slow shutter speeds hand-held, when necessary, and the lack of f/2.8 won't be missed at all since your main goal is better DOF anyways. Besides, the Canon 16-35 f/4 L IS is wayyyy sharper than anything else Canon has ever offered wider than 24mm...

A tripod is useful when you have the time to set it up, but I never scoff at shooting "walk-around" travel images at higher ISO's or faster apertures, as long as you can achieve the sharpness you need. I don't mind a little bit of grain, and I think other people blow it out of proportion.

Good luck!

I agree with you. After looking at the options I've decided to get the Canon 16-35mm F4 IS.

Thank you all for all your help. I'm hoping the 16-35 is as good as my 10-22 is on my 40D (only reason I'm keeping my 40D).

Wide Angle Lens needed for the 5Dmkii

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