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Wide angle lens for a Canon 7 D II
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May 15, 2019 07:14:41   #
mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey
 
POVDOV wrote:
I have been torturing myself looking for a well built, picture sharp wide angle lens in 15 mm or lower. It could be a zoom with the low end being 15 mm or lower. Of course I would prefer not to pay L lens premiums if possible. It would be nice to be at least F 2.8 or 4.0. I know I'm a dreamer counting pixels in my sleep. Thanks for any help I can get.

If you want s zoom with a lower-end being 15 mm, there is the Canon EF-s 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM. It is sharp and I use it as my general walk around len's. It is also solidly built.

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May 15, 2019 07:57:11   #
foathog Loc: Greensboro, NC
 
POVDOV wrote:
I have been torturing myself looking for a well built, picture sharp wide angle lens in 15 mm or lower. It could be a zoom with the low end being 15 mm or lower. Of course I would prefer not to pay L lens premiums if possible. It would be nice to be at least F 2.8 or 4.0. I know I'm a dreamer counting pixels in my sleep. Thanks for any help I can get.


keep in mind to use the multiplier 1.6 x mm

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May 15, 2019 08:22:18   #
Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida
 
I recently purchased the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 AF version Wide Angle and I am very pleased with it . There is an earlier version that is Manual Focus and it sells in the $400 ranges. This newer model was around $625. The focusing is internal so your lens barrel stays the same length and never have lens creep. There is a focus ring but it is only activated if you switch from auto to Manual using the switch on the side of the lens otherwise it spins and does nothing at all. Weird !

It works like a wide angle or a Fisheye depending on your view angle approach. But it works straight-on up close in like 8" with crisp detail across the lens diameter with virtually no distortion. It will function on either FF or ASPC 's. It has a wicked almost 170 degree wide angle view to where if you are not careful, you will capture the tips of your feet in the bottom of the photo......hahaha What a shock ?

Good luck sir.

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May 15, 2019 08:35:17   #
bikerguy
 
I use the 10-22 mm as my in town lens of choice. I bought it originally in 2013 for a trip to Ireland. I would not trade that wide angle zoom for any other. Yes, it is costly, but not expensive and, IMHO, has great value. Once you use it you will want it.

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May 15, 2019 08:37:30   #
Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.
 
POVDOV wrote:
I have been torturing myself looking for a well built, picture sharp wide angle lens in 15 mm or lower. It could be a zoom with the low end being 15 mm or lower. Of course I would prefer not to pay L lens premiums if possible. It would be nice to be at least F 2.8 or 4.0. I know I'm a dreamer counting pixels in my sleep. Thanks for any help I can get.


Get it before the rebate expires.... Excellent lens.

https://www.adorama.com/ca1022afsunk.html?msclkid=6b643d17aa891606d57f61cbad5371cd&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=%5bSHOPPING%5d%20%5bADL%5d%20%5bPLA%5d%20-%20Long%20Tail&utm_term=4586750196597080&utm_content=%5bPLA%5d%20-%20Long%20Tail%20-%20Bing&adlclid=ADL-c73201d5-2e45-4bcd-81d9-09f4f2d279f3

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May 15, 2019 11:08:58   #
erickter Loc: Dallas,TX
 
I've owned (and I still use) the Canon EFS 10-22 and love it. Certainly "L" quality glass throughout its entire focal range. Paid $600 new 10 years ago from B&H. They're available new for $400 now (on sale) and even less used...an excellent buy for such a superb lens. No regrets. I do more pano stitching these days with prime lenses (24, 28, 35, 45, 50, etc), but I will always keep this lens for aspc use...especially for narrow street photography like past and recent Europe travels.

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May 15, 2019 11:32:11   #
rcarol
 
I have the Tokina 11-18mm F2.8 and love the IQ from this lens. Many hoggers use this lens and I'm surprised that I'm the first to suggest it.

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May 15, 2019 11:55:13   #
Architect1776 Loc: In my mind
 
POVDOV wrote:
I have been torturing myself looking for a well built, picture sharp wide angle lens in 15 mm or lower. It could be a zoom with the low end being 15 mm or lower. Of course I would prefer not to pay L lens premiums if possible. It would be nice to be at least F 2.8 or 4.0. I know I'm a dreamer counting pixels in my sleep. Thanks for any help I can get.


I enjoy my 10-18mm.
Great IQ and has IS.
No it is not f2.8 so if that is critical then it is not for you.
But it should satisfy pixel peepers with its quality.

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May 15, 2019 13:04:14   #
amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA
 
POVDOV wrote:
I have been torturing myself looking for a well built, picture sharp wide angle lens in 15 mm or lower. It could be a zoom with the low end being 15 mm or lower. Of course I would prefer not to pay L lens premiums if possible. It would be nice to be at least F 2.8 or 4.0. I know I'm a dreamer counting pixels in my sleep. Thanks for any help I can get.


If you must have f/2.8, you have choice of....

1. Tokina AT-X Pro 11-28mm zoom... $469. Check the reviews, I've never tested one. It appears larger than most (82mm filters). Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 is an earlier model, sharp but extremely susceptible to flare. I have heard the newer lens improves on this.

2. Samyang/Rokinon 14mm f/2.8... $399 (chipped version). This lens sells under other names such as Bower, Vivitar (who call it a 13mm) and more. IT IS A MANUAL FOCUS, MANUAL APERTURE LENS. As such, it's slower to work with and limits you to using Manual, M with Auto ISO, or Av exposure modes (Tv and P cannot be used, nor can full "Auto" or any of the "scene" mode presets). There is a cheaper version without a "chip", but I recommend spending the little bit extra for the version with chip, which allows the camera's Focus Confirmation to help with manual focus. This lens is full frame capable. If you buy this lens, test it carefully. Quality control problems have been noted by users.... usually uneven sharpness across the image area, suggesting a de-centered lens element. Sometimes it's necessary to swap an unacceptable lens for another copy, but after that many users are happy with it.

3. Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L USM... $2099. Great lens, full frame capable, but WAAAAYYY expensive.

4. Zeiss 15mm f/2.8 Distagon... $1879 (after more than $1000 discount!).... Superb lens, full frame capable, manual focus only.

5. Zeiss 15mm f/2.8 Milvus... $2699. Another high priced, premium lens, manual focus only.

If you can live with f/4, there are...

6. Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 HSM... $399. Used to be a lot more expensive, but they are now discounting it a lot. It's one of the larger, heavier lenses of this type. There was also an earlier one with a slower, variable aperture (f/4.5-5.6, if memory serves), a bit smaller, lighter and with pretty good image quality, but no longer available new... only used.

7. Tokina AT-X Pro 12-28mm f/4... $430. Seems a very nice lens, though I haven't used it personally. It's a little smaller, lighter than the 11-20mm, but still has the look and feel of a Canon L-series. There was an earlier 12-24mm version, which I used for a number of years and found to be pretty good (I chose it for it's build, price and image quality, after comparing to Sigma 10-20mm, Tokina 11-16mm, Tamron 10-24mm and Canon EF-S 10-22mm).

8. Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM... $399. Used to be a lot more expensive, but is currently discounted. This lens has good build quality and the best image quality of any of the ultrawides. It's sharp from corner to corner and better corrected than any of the others. It also is the most flare resistant. I replaced my Tokina 12-24mm with this Canon lens when I had opportunity to buy a used one at a reasonable price. At the 22mm end, it's 1/3 stop slower than you'd like... but I've never found that to be a problem. With ultrawides, I'm stopping down to f/5.6 or a little smaller most of the time, anyway. That's just in the nature of how this type of lens is usually used. (An exception might be someone doing astral or other night photography, who wants an f/2.8 lens for a brighter viewfinder... but Live View can compensate for a slower lens even in those situations.) I also originally wanted a non-variable aperture lens, which the Tokina offered, because it's easier to use with manual flash and studio strobes. However, I found I actually never used this lens for that type of shooting (I tend to use primes and short telephotos or macro in studio, far more than I use an ultrawide... also, once a variable aperture lens is set to stop down, the variable aperture won't matter even with manual strobes and flash.) The only thing I don't like about this lens is it's matched hood, which is quite large (however, it's also important and effective... so I use it.)

9. Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 VC HLD.... $499. This is currently the only other ultrawide for Canon that has image stabilization. I haven't used it, so can't say how it performs or its image quality. I wasn't impressed with the image quality of the Tamron 10-24mm that preceded it. I felt the Sigma and especially the Tokina and Canon all had better IQ. I do use a couple Tamron macro lenses and have been pretty happy with them.

10. Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L USM... $1249. It's an ultrawide, but it's a FISHEYE with strong distortion effects. If you shop used, you'll also find a now discontinued Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 fisheye.

Slower lenses include....

11. Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM... $269. This is the smallest, lightest and least expensive lens of this type. It also was the first ultrawide with IS and still is one of only a few that have that have stabilization. It's pretty plasticky, but that's what makes it affordable and keeps the weight down. It has surprisingly good image quality for such a low-cost lens... equal to the more expensive Canon 10-22mm... making it one of the very best available. This lens was a major breakthrough when Canon intro'd it a couple years ago... it's the reason many of the other lenses listed here are now discounted. Nikon copied Canon and intro'd their own inexpensive Nikkor 10-20mm VR ($307)... The other ultrawide Nikkors are better built, but are ridiculously expensive: 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 for almost $900 and 12-24mm f/4 for $1147! Of course, they're irrelevant because they won't even fit a Canon 7D Mark II.

12. Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 HSM... $569. This is the widest of the ultrawides (short of a fisheye lens). It's got pretty heavy wide angle exaggeration and distortion effects, so be sure it's what you really want.

Some of the lenses mentioned have convex front elements that preclude using standard filters with them. In some cases there are special filter holders offered... but those and the oversize filters they use add a lot of cost.

#8... the Canon EF-S 10-22mm... is what I use and am quite happy with. But for various reasons, you may want to consider some of the others. And, frankly, I haven't compared them all!

Have fun shopping!

EDIT:

rcarol wrote:
I have the Tokina 11-18mm F2.8 and love the IQ from this lens. Many hoggers use this lens and I'm surprised that I'm the first to suggest it.


There's no such lens.... there's a Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8, which I mentioned above. Yes, it's quite sharp. BUT, it's also got the narrowest range of focal lengths of any of the UWA lenses... AND it's the most prone to problems with flare. I know folks who tried to use it, but gave up because of the flare and returned or traded it for something else. In contrast, the Canon EF-S 10-22mm is the MOST flare resistant of the UWA zooms. To be fair, I have not tried and compared the newer Tokina 11-20mm f/2.8, which superseded the 11-16mm, supposedly handles flare better and obviously improves upon the focal length range as well.

The older Tokina 11-16mm was the only f/2.8 UWA for APS-C cameras for many years... and it's quite popular among night shooters for that larger aperture and its sharpness. Astral or aurora photography rarely have to deal with flare problems. However, one photog I know tried it but stopped using it for night time cityscapes, due to the lens' susceptibility to flare.

I opted for the Tokina 12-24mm f/4, in part for it's better resistance to flare (also a lower price at the time... plus I really didn't NEED f/2.8). However, I've more recently switched to the Canon EF-S 10-22mm because it's even more resistant to flare, sharper from corner to corner and has almost no chromatic aberration, while the Toki 12-24mm has some.

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May 15, 2019 13:20:27   #
PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA
 
I chose the Tamron 11-20mm f/2.8 Pro and am very happy with it. This is an EF-S lens, fine for the 7DII

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May 15, 2019 13:41:56   #
amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA
 
Blair Shaw Jr wrote:
I recently purchased the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 AF version Wide Angle and I am very pleased with it . There is an earlier version that is Manual Focus and it sells in the $400 ranges. This newer model was around $625. The focusing is internal so your lens barrel stays the same length and never have lens creep. There is a focus ring but it is only activated if you switch from auto to Manual using the switch on the side of the lens otherwise it spins and does nothing at all. Weird...


Samyang/Rokinon have recently introduced some reasonably priced auto focus lenses.... I'll be interested to hear how they perform (and if they have the quality control/copy variation issues with earlier lenses solved).

The lens you mention is one of the least expensive 14mm with autofocus that's full frame capable. It appears quite well made, too.

Compare to the Canon 14mm f/2.8L II (over $2000) or the manual focus Zeiss 15mm f/2.8 Distagon or Milvus ($1800 to $2600).

Actually, it's fairly common with lenses that use a micro motor auto focus drive to mechanically disconnect the focus ring when set to autofocus. That's because manually overriding AF with micro motor lenses will damage the focus mechanism. Disconnecting the ring in AF mode protects the mechanism. Tokina does the same with all their lenses (well, except for one, but it's only made in Nikon F-mount). For a lens to be safe to manually override AF without first turning AF off, it needs to use a stepper or ultrasonic focus drive motor (such as Canon STM or USM).

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May 15, 2019 15:20:16   #
josquin1 Loc: Massachusetts
 
I have the Canon 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 and it works really well. It can be purchased for 279.00 most anywhere. It also has image stabilization and auto focus. Great little lens and works really well on the EOS F.

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May 15, 2019 17:58:25   #
OKsprat Loc: Oklahoma
 
I have had the EF-S 10-18 for 3 years now for wide angle use on my 7D mkII, and I like it. It produces good colors and I haven't seen much softness in the corners, and very little distortion. It is made of plastic so care is needed but the price new was $279. This picture was taken @10mm, f10, 1/200.


(Download)

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May 15, 2019 18:08:40   #
POVDOV
 
Thanks for the help

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May 15, 2019 20:11:16   #
MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama
 
Tokina 11-16 2.8 is very sharp and a steal at the price... be a little careful with the flare and it will amaze you at the price point. Mine stays on my 60D.

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