Prime Wide Angle options

[Professional]

Hey all,

Just would like to get your recommendation about the following options for prime wide angle lens(es):

1. TS-E 24mm + EF 15mm fisheye
2. EF 24mm
3. EF 35mm + EF 15mm
4. EF 14mm
5. TS-E 17mm
6. Another options [open for discussion]

I am planing to keep the budget say below $2000, but if it is worthy i can spend up to $2000 [more or less] for the best option above.

[Traumuh]

Definitely EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM, if you can afford it the EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM is insanely wide on a pro body. I'm confused by your first option though, because you coupled the most expensive of the bunch with a another lense instead of comparing the TS-E to a set of two lenses of similar value. Just a mistake? Ha..

[bob_r]

If you're not sure how wide you want to go, why not get the 16-35 zoom. This would allow you to try the various focal lengths to see if you would like a fixed focal length and which would fit your style of shooting. Once you find out your favorite focal length, you could sell the zoom and buy the prime if the zoom doesn't meet your needs. You didn't mention what your main use for the wide angle lens will be, but if it's landscapes, I doubt that you'll miss the speed of the primes.

If architectural photography will be your main use for this lens, disregard the above and go for a TS lens - 17mm if many of your shots will be interiors. I've tried shooting interiors with a 10-22 on a crop and the distortion is outrageous at 10mm. A TS would have been a dream for those shots.

[Traumuh]

I'd try the 16-35 out in-store or rent it, seems like a hassle to buy it just for testing.

[gldiana]

Not sure why you picked the TS lenses since, other than being very specialized lenses which require a lot of time to learn, and not your everyday wide-angle, are $2500 each.

[bob_r]

I'd try the 16-35 out in-store or rent it, seems like a hassle to buy it just for testing.

"Trying it in a store" would certainly not give you the information you need to make a $2000 decision.

"Renting it" could give you that information, if you rented it long enough. The problem is that the cost of renting it for any extended period would probably exceed the cost for buying and reselling. I've bought and sold a lot of used equipment and you don't lose much when reselling quality equipment.

There is also the possibility that the zoom would actually meet his needs since he hasn't been able to decide on one particular focal length.

[Professional]

Sorry that i was not so clear enough.

First of all i have 16-35L my best ultra wide angle lens and i don't look for another UWA zoom at all, even i have Sigma 12-24 and i don't use it [i sold Sigma 17-35 when i got 16-35], even Nikkor 14-24 which is best Ultra wide zoom is not in my list.

Second, my main usage of the lenses i mentioned above are: Landscape, Architecture, Urban, Cityscape, Interior Designs,..... etc.

I added 2 TS lenses as i know in many cases of Archit. and interiors i need to have straight not distorted shots, so that i put 24 and 17 TS in my options, about fisheye in fact i love that 15mm results a lot, used mostly in cityscape and some landscapes so i was hoping to do that results, not interested to use photoshop for that fishy results, but from what i see in many many forum many of people love to use either 14mm f1.4L II or EF 35mm f1.4 or 24mm f1.4L II, so that i was confusing if i should go with lenses that are dedicated or specialized such us 17, 24, 45 TS or fun effect like fisheye 15mm, about wide i think 16mm is more than enough using it on my any of FF or even 1.3x bodies, Sigma 12-24 can be the widest i can use if i want, but many times in landscape i end up to use my 24-70/24-105 more than my 16-35, and really don't know why some people may have 16-35 or 17-40 went with 24mm or 35mm or even want to have 14mm, 15mm fisheye is wider than 14mm in corners.

Anyway, now after you know what are my main usage what do you think i should go with? again, i don't want to go over $2500, also i am not looking to get another brands like Sigma 15mm as someone recommended or Tokina 11-16 or even Tokina fishy 10-16 i think, i just want to stay with Canon now [not talking about Hasselblad].

[Professional]

So i want to look for a prime, in my mind was TS 17mm, TS 24mm, Fisheye 15mm, but i added 24mm 1.4+35mm 1.4+14mm 1.4 because those last 3 primes are most popular or say top rated to be wide/ultra wide prime lenses with Canon shooters, so don't know with which i have to go, and i am sure many tested all those 5 lenses but due to certain usage some prefer one lens over another, and just as a note, 15mm is less than $800 so i consider it as cheap and i like to have fun with that fisheye for some shots, and i may buy more lens next year like for example if i bought 15mm + 24mm i can buy 35 next year, or after 3 months i can add 14mm and so, i will buy most of these lenses sooner or later but i just want to see which is more or higher priority for specific shots.

[Professional]

Definitely EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM, if you can afford it the EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM is insanely wide on a pro body. I'm confused by your first option though, because you coupled the most expensive of the bunch with a another lense instead of comparing the TS-E to a set of two lenses of similar value. Just a mistake? Ha..

1st option has the most expensive? heheh, LOL, Man, that EF 14mm 2.8L II is more expensive than first option both lenses, TS 17mm is more expensive than option 1 or option 3, from where did you get that TS 24mm is the most expensive of the bunch? if that is so then i will never include it with another lens, i checked all the prices and found that each option can be around $2000 more or less, even that TS-E 17mm was not in my mind as it is new lens and no much reviews about it and also it doesn't accept filters normally so i don't feel it is worthy that much really over the other lenses.

[bob_r]

I don't think you can go wrong with any of these lenses, so which focal length do you prefer when shooting with your 16-35? If you don't know which focal length you use the most, you can download a free program called ExposurePlot from here: http://www.cpr.demon.nl/prog_plotf.html and it will show you.

BTW, why does the 16-35 not work for you? Except for the architectural shots, I don't see why the zoom wouldn't work for your other applications. If you're planning on getting a TS-E 24, did you know that Canon has recently introduced a new version. The new one is priced near $2,200 while the older model is listed at about 1/2 of that. The new model is supposed to have a number of improvements over the older version.

[Traumuh]

Professional, I was referring to the cost of the new TS-E lenses. Sorry for the confusion.

[gldiana]

even that TS-E 17mm was not in my mind as it is new lens and no much reviews about it and also it doesn't accept filters normally so i don't feel it is worthy that much really over the other lenses.

If I had that kind of money to spend I'd get a TS-E 17 now, I make my own reviews. Frankly on a lens like that I don't care about filters, my fisheye doesn't take filters either. I have all the lenses I want except for a Tilt Shift and the MP-E 65 Macro. I'd go first with the TS since that I'd use for work and the macro would be for fun.

[Professional]

I don't think you can go wrong with any of these lenses, so which focal length do you prefer when shooting with your 16-35? If you don't know which focal length you use the most, you can download a free program called ExposurePlot from here: http://www.cpr.demon.nl/prog_plotf.html and it will show you.

BTW, why does the 16-35 not work for you? Except for the architectural shots, I don't see why the zoom wouldn't work for your other applications. If you're planning on getting a TS-E 24, did you know that Canon has recently introduced a new version. The new one is priced near $2,200 while the older model is listed at about 1/2 of that. The new model is supposed to have a number of improvements over the older version.

If you read my above post completely you will understand, i love 16-35 and i use it for landscapes and even cityscape and so, but i was looking for specific shots where i don't want any distortion in wide focal length without using software, on another forums people said that the only way is to use Tilt&Shift lens, but if you can get non distortion shots at say 16mm or 20mm or 35mm by using 16-35 without using photoshop or software then show me.
Also if you see my options you will see that i included TS-E 17mm which is the new TS Canon lens that costs about $2200 as you said, but it is really very expensive and i was not sure if i better buy another lenses than this new or 2 lenses equivalent for the price.

[Professional]

Professional, I was referring to the cost of the new TS-E lenses. Sorry for the confusion.

It's ok, i knew or expected that

[Professional]

even that TS-E 17mm was not in my mind as it is new lens and no much reviews about it and also it doesn't accept filters normally so i don't feel it is worthy that much really over the other lenses.

If I had that kind of money to spend I'd get a TS-E 17 now, I make my own reviews. Frankly on a lens like that I don't care about filters, my fisheye doesn't take filters either. I have all the lenses I want except for a Tilt Shift and the MP-E 65 Macro. I'd go first with the TS since that I'd use for work and the macro would be for fun.

At the first i saw the lens i decided to buy it no doubt, but i don't know why then i canceled, first when i read that it doesn't take filters i dumped it down, while the another TS lenses can take filters, and about 15mm fisheye yes i know it doesn't take filters but i don't think to use filters with it anyway if i will use it, it is just for some shots for fun.

Now really i got confused if i should go with new TS only or choose another options, but what i am sure is that i need a TS lens and i want a fisheye lens from Canon only.