Wide Angle Woes

[Traumuh]

Hey, first post deserves a short introduction. I stumbled upon Outdoor Photographer as an alternative to Digital Photographer, I'd rather spend money on my kit than imported magazines. Instantly fell in love with the user-friendly articles and the community, eager to help those in need. As a junior in high school, my interest for photography began to develop and here I am today seeking knowledge.

My rather small kit consists of a Canon EOS 30D and Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM. My 50mm is tack sharp but on a 1.6x frame the focal length is awkward and leaves something to be desired. That may be a lengthy zoom or a wide angle for those powerful landscapes. In search of the perfect wide angle, I find my self lost. I hope to upgrade to a full frame camera one day, just keep that in mind. Basically I'd like some input on these lenses, or the wide angle concept as whole.

[list=][*]Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
[*]Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
[*]Tokina AT-X 124 PRO DX II[/list]

I'd like something versatile, that will perform well on a 1.6x crop and a full frame sensor if possible. There is also the telephoto zoom option to consider. Before reading O.P. I thought all landscapes were shot with wide angles lenses, what a naive assumption. If any telephoto lenses come to mind for shooting wildlife and seascapes in particular, don't be afraid to speak up. Matching filter sizes are welcomed.

Sorry if this is demanding, but I wanted to put the issue to rest and maybe other people can use this thread as a resource. -Kelly.

[gldiana]

Hi Kelly,
welcome to the forum. Hope you will find all the answers you seek.
I own many different lenses and have owned the EF-S 10-22mm since it came out nearly 3 years ago and that one remains to the day one of my very favorite lenses. Before getting my 5D Mark II that was the lens I used 75% of the time, now that and the 24-105L are my favorites. The 10-22mm is a sharp and very versatile super-wide angle. Many times is has been said that the only reason why Canon didn't classify it a L lens is because it doesn't have weather sealing, but the sharpness is there as well a a beautiful Depth of Field.

[Traumuh]

Thanks for your input Luca. Any particular samples taken with the EF-S 10-22mm you don't mind posting? I quite like the glass, but the EF 17-40mm seems more versatile. I've read reviews that point out distortion and a loss of detail on the wide end. Is there any reason not to use the EF-S 10-22mm on a full frame DSLR? Is it too wide?

[bob_r]

Kelly,

Welcome to the Forum!!

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the lens on your list, but if you plan to go FF in the very near future, the 17-40 is the only one that will work. If you plan to go FF is "one day" then I wouldn't worry about that possibilty and buy equipment for what you currently have. When you decide to go FF, it's doubtful you will have problems selling any lenses that only work on cropped sensor cameras.

After removing the sensor restriction, it becomes a question of how wide do you want to go. A 17-40 is no where near as wide as a 10-22. I don't have a 17-40, but do have a 17-55 and there is a huge difference between 10mm and 17mm. You didn't say what other subjects you like to shoot besides landscapes, but having just a 10-22mm and a 50mm would have me changing lenses a lot.

Since you only have a 50mm at this time, I think I'd look at getting a "walk around" lens before a wide angle. You didn't say what you were budgeting for a lens, but if it's pretty tight, even the new 18-55mm IS kit lens could be a consideration. Combine that with a 55-250mm IS and you're pretty well set for many situations. Of course, if the budget can be stretched a little farther, a lot of other options become available.

[bob_r]

Is there any reason not to use the EF-S 10-22mm on a full frame DSLR? Is it too wide?

Any Canon lens with the "-S" in the name, is designed for a camera with a crop sensor.

[Traumuh]

For now, I'm dependent on Mom and Dad. When I'm done with college I plan to upgrade to a full frame Canon sensor, or maybe even another brand. I like Canon's quality customer service. As far as subject matter goes... I live in Davidson, North Carolina. A fun drive to the mountains, and not too terribly far to the beach. The Blue Ridge Parkway is home to much wildlife and pleasant fields. The mountains themselves appear to be rather dull and hazy during the summer time. I plan on going to school in Asheville, even closer to the parkway.

Short Version: Many types of wildlife inhabiting the Blue Ridge Mountains, large colorful fields, and somewhat hazy blue skies. I'm often asked to take pictures at family events, although rather boring, I do it. --- Does the 50mm perform well on a full frame DSLR?

[bob_r]

For now, I'm dependent on Mom and Dad. When I'm done with college I plan to upgrade to a full frame Canon sensor, or maybe even another brand. I like Canon's quality customer service. As far as subject matter goes... I live in Davidson, North Carolina. A fun drive to the mountains, and not too terribly far to the beach. The Blue Ridge Parkway is home to much wildlife and pleasant fields. The mountains themselves appear to be rather dull and hazy during the summer time. I plan on going to school in Asheville, even closer to the parkway.

Short Version: Many types of wildlife inhabiting the Blue Ridge Mountains, large colorful fields, and somewhat hazy blue skies. I'm often asked to take pictures at family events, although rather boring, I do it. --- Does the 50mm perform well on a full frame DSLR?

Kelly,

I know your area pretty well. I've made that drive from Statesville to Charlotte more times than I care to count. Ashville is a beautiful area too, plus you have Lake Norman where you live. You should have lots of opportunities for some great pics (and you need to post some of them on here!). Are you planning on going to school at UNC Ashville?

Kelly, I don't know what other camera brand you're considering or why, but I think I'd stick with either Canon or Nikon and you need to make up your mind before you start buying glass. Glass will be your biggest expense in this hobby. Camera bodies come and go every couple of years, but glass lasts forever (almost anyway). A 50mm on a full frame camera is a "normal" lens and has about the same focal length as your eyes. A 50mm becomes a short tele on a crop camera and I like that focal length, especially for portraits.

If you're planning on shooting wildlife, you're going to need a telephoto. I mentioned a 55-250 IS in my earlier post, but that will be pretty short for most wildlife. The ideal situation to capture wildlife is to get close enough to fill the frame and that will be pretty difficult to do without scaring away your subjects with just 250mm.

You might try renting/borrowing a zoom lens to see the focal length you like the most. If you have friends that are photographers, perhaps one would loan you a lens. I wouldn't recommend one of the super zooms, since you give up a lot of image quality for that convenience.

[Traumuh]

You live in Statesville? Gotta live Carolina BBQ if you do, lol. I do plan on attending UNC Asheville, and conveniently enough my grandparents own a house on Lake Norman.

I'll explore the telephoto zooms Canon has to offer, but I'd still like something wide to capture the seascapes during our yearly trip to the Bahamas. The people and traditions there are lots of fun. I'm just too shy to ask people if I can take there picture, working on that though. ;p The 50mm was originally recommended to me by a group of friends on Deviant Art, do you think that was such a good recommendation? :s

[gldiana]

Hi Kelly,

as Bob said the 10-22 is an EF-S and will not work on a Full Frame camera, EF-S are designed for APS-C size sensor (smaller than full frame). The 17-40 "might" be more versatile but it's not a super-wide angle, and almost at the end of the wide angle spectrum, on a cropped size camera it is an actual 27-64mm, while the 10-22 is an actuall 16-35. Yes, there is some distortion on the wide-end, that is true of every wide-angle camera (let's forget for a second lenses that have special glasses and sell for thousands of dollars). Just like you have distortion on a fish-eye. You can see as a limitation, or you can use it to your adventage. You creativity is the real limit. Distortion can be avoided completely if you don't shoot close to your subject. Here a shots taken with the 10-22.

In the first two I'm using the lens distortion to my advantage:

[Traumuh]

I'm gonna visit my not so local camera shop soon and try out the Tokina 16-50, Tokina 12-24, and Canon 10-22. I also plan to purchase the 70-200 f/4L for now, or possibly the sigma 70-200 f/2.8. I think that will cover a decent focal range until I upgrade to full frame in a few years. I'm looking at the 5D MkII, I just wish it had a higher fps. If a quality pro body turns up on craigslist I'll probably dive on it haha. The only local one right now has a deep scratch on the LCD and it's not priced accordingly so whatever... Thanks for the help guys, I'll let you know how it goes.