Reasons for f2.8 or Faster on a Wide Angle Lens: I've always thought of why would someone want fast lens for wide angle lenses? First of all, let me tell you my reasoning of why I...

skingfong Loc: Sacramento

I've always thought of why would someone want fast lens for wide angle lenses?

First of all, let me tell you my reasoning of why I don't need a fast wide angle lens. I always use a WA lens on a tripod to shoot landscapes. I don't have to worry about slow shutter speeds. When shooting landscapes, I don't want shallow DOF. I want everything in focus for wide shots. That means I'm going to use f8-f16.

I can only think of one situation where it would be nice to have a fast WA lens. That would be to get a shot of the Milky Way. I'm sure there must be other reasons to have a fast WA lens. What are they?

Darkroom317 Loc: Mishawaka, IN

Indoor sports. Especially basketball. It is needed for wide shots of players under the net

Big Stopper Loc: London

I agree with you - my favourite and most used lens is Canon's 16-35, f2.8 and I was thinking, "why have I got the f2.8 rather than the cheaper f4," and then I remembered - I'm going to Iceland to shoot the Northern Lights in a few days time, that's why I have the f2.8!

Bill_de Loc: US

What about a landscape on a windy day. Fall foliage comes to mind. Of course we no longer have to deal with Kodachrome 25, but you may not want to push the ISO all the way.

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joehel2 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

I shoot the Aurora and night sky at 2.8 to keep the shutter fast enough that I don't have the stars trailing.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

skingfong wrote:

I've always thought of why would someone want fast... (show quote)

Well, first of all, wide angle lenses are used for more than landscapes. Interior architecture comes first to mind. Even in landscape photography a fast lens will make it easier to focus and compose pictures taken in low light, as at sunset. Even when you are shooting at f16, the lens is wide open while you are composing and focusing.

Jim Bob

mcveed wrote:

Well, first of all, wide angle lenses are used for more than landscapes. Interior architecture comes first to mind. Even in landscape photography a fast lens will make it easier to focus and compose pictures taken in low light, as at sunset. Even when you are shooting at f16, the lens is wide open while you are composing and focusing.

Excellent answer.

skingfong Loc: Sacramento

mcveed wrote:

Well, first of all, wide angle lenses are used for more than landscapes. Interior architecture comes first to mind. Even in landscape photography a fast lens will make it easier to focus and compose pictures taken in low light, as at sunset. Even when you are shooting at f16, the lens is wide open while you are composing and focusing.

Great answer! I didn't think about the lens being wide open when composing and focusing. I learned something new. I do understand focus points respond better to f2.8 or faster in low light situations.

skingfong Loc: Sacramento

joehel2 wrote:

I shoot the Aurora and night sky at 2.8 to keep the shutter fast enough that I don't have the stars trailing.

Another good reason.

skingfong Loc: Sacramento

Bill_de wrote:

What about a landscape on a windy day. Fall foliage comes to mind. Of course we no longer have to deal with Kodachrome 25, but you may not want to push the ISO all the way.

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Yes, that's the reason I avoid shooting on windy days.

asiafish Loc: Bakersfield, CA

Indoor, night, street. Wide angle lenses are not just for landscape. There is also subject isolation that is not possible at smaller apertures.

Even shooting landscape, I often shoot my Carl Zeiss 25mm f/2 Distagon wide-open or nearly wide-open for creative reasons. You won't create a wall of blur with most wides, but you can definitely emphasize your subject with selective focus.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

skingfong wrote:

I've always thought of why would someone want fast... (show quote)

Apart from all the excellent reasons already given, most of the pro lenses are made in 2.8, not because you will ever shoot at 2.8, but because that's the f-stop that all the pro bodies are designed around. Pro bodies are able to utilize all of the sensitive cross-focus and duel-cross focus points that are NOT available with the slower f4 lenses. That many not be important to a landscaper/bug-chaser, but it's extremely important to nature and action shooters. That's why the 400 f2.8 is the sport shooters workhorse and not the longer but slower 500 f4.
Focus is not all that important in a wide angle that goes into infinity at 3 feet out, but again, it's not that you ever shoot them at 2.8 but that the focus is more sensitive and less chance of a miss-focus at 2.8. ;-)
SS

SteveR Loc: Michigan

I think SS said it all. It's all about being able to focus in a dimmer light, also.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Dupe. I don't know what's up with these duplicate posts when I only post once.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

SteveR wrote:

Dupe. I don't know what's up with these duplicate posts when I only post once.

LoL..., go for 3!!!! :lol:
SS