Wide Angle Lens Advice

I'm considering adding a wide angle lens to my collection sometime soon. I was wondering if anyone has any advice or recommendations as to what would be a good lens or make to get. Apart from a couple of Pentax kit lenses (18 -55mm) I have only bought Sigma lenses (a macro and a zoom) which I am very happy with and I was considering Sigma again - but I'm not sure!!

Hi Kirsty

I am in a similar boat, I am after a wide angle but just can't make my mind up

So far I have found the following that are on my final list;

Sigma 10-20 - seems good, distortions are higher than some other but in the most part correctable - good price too

Pentax 15mm ltd - I love primes,and this may be the winner for me, a bit expensive but the flare resistance is meant to be excellent, the only thing is I am not sure if 15mm will be better than say 21mm for my use.

Pentax 21mm ltd - maybe not as good as the 15 but the field of view may suit my needs better.

Pentax 12-24 - meant to be great but a bit steep.

Pentax 16 - 45 - it suffers fringing but this is correctable with software - sweet spot is around 24mm - cheap in comparison to others which may swing it this way.

Samyang 14mm - mf lens - not a bad price - very sharp - distortions can be an issue.

Personally I check out the lens review on various websites and listed to the advice here but I am only favouring these as they may suit me

A number of members here have advise that the really wide lenses are not what they prefer for landscapes and some suggest 20mm upwards may be better.

As I said at the start - I cannot make my mind up but maybe the above give you a start point.

Cheers



Stu

Recall this from a recent thread Stu. I think the ultra wides are great. I'm using the 12-24 just now as opposed to the Sigma 10-20. Two of the shots I posted earlier today were at 12mm. The Sigma is a super lens too. Most shots can have the distortion corrected quite eaasily in lightroom

One you missed off the list if an ultra wide is not needed is the Tamron 17-50. Probably the best in terms of image quality per £

I think it's 'horses for courses' - some prefer the ultra-wides and some don't. For me, the Pentax 16-45 does everything I want it to do and produces wonderfully sharp images. It's my 'best buy' lens by a mile and produces more 'keepers' than any other lens I own.

Regards
David

I've had the Samyang 14mm a couple of months now, and as I've reported here before am very pleased indeed. Check out the previous posts and examples :

link

link

Distortion keeps getting referred to. On the test charts I saw before buying it is limited to the outer reaches, and after all for now we will be shooting on APS-C (I assume you're shooting digital). For my landscapes I havn't really seen any issue. Bear in mind the Samyang actually covers a 'full frame' sensor size, so it will be a truely super-wide lens on any future FF DSLR, or indeed even now on a 35mm film camera!

I can highly recommend the Pentax DA 14mm/2.8. Excellent image quality and rarely produces bland images. An undersung member of the Pentax Lens line up IMO.

The Sigma 10-20mm is a very good lens, but since I've bought a DA 15mm Ltd. I don't use it very often. The 15mm is so good, and so light, that it's become one of my most used lenses. It's also superb for IR if thats a consideration at all.

I've got the Pentax 10-17 which I have been very pleased with and got some great results with. Can't compare it with any primes though.

Thanks everyone, I will have a look at all your suggestions! I would like to start doing a bit of landscape photography so I'm looking for a lens to get me started, nothing too flash as money will also be a factor, but thank you for your recommendations - definitely given me something to think about!

You could always try taking multiple adjacent portrait shots (on a tripod of course) using your 18-55mm set at say 20mm, then stitching them together to create a panorama.

I'm not suggesting this as a permament solution to your query but as a way of determining what angle of view suits your taste in landscapes.

Once you know the angle of view you can then calculate/lookup the corresponding focal length that you need. A useful chart is on the following link :-

http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/99585-plots-focal-...

Then you're left with 'can I afford it'


regards
Bernard

Thanks Bernard, I hadn't thought of that - I'll give it a go!

I love my 10-17. A really fun and useful lens.

I have both the Sigma 10-20 (f4-5.6), and the Pentax 16-45. As has been said elsewhere I think, they can both give you excellent results, but are quite different beasts.

I tend to use the Sigma 10-20 as my go to landscape lens, and pretty much use it as a 10mm prime. It's an out and out ultra-wide, and I love how it sees the world.

The 16-45 is also a great lens. I use it more as an allrounder, an excellent upgrade to the 18-55 kit lens, if you like, with a couple of (very useful) extra millimetres at the wide end.

As I say, they're both very decent lenses. I use them both stopped down most of the time and they're sharp.